Damon Hill pays tribute as Brands Hatch turns 100

Former Formula One world champion Damon Hill has described Brands Hatch as "one of the great circuits of all time" as the venue celebrates its centenary.

Hill said he had a connection with the circuit stretching back almost his entire life. "I probably was a baby when I first went there," he told BBC Radio Kent.

The son of Formula One champion Graham Hill, he recalled his father giving him a toy motorbike at the West Kingsdown track.

"He presented me with a motorbike, a little monkey bike, which he bought for me, and he presented it at Brands Hatch," he said, adding that it changed his life.

The motorbike had been a reward for passing his 11-plus, he said.

"It was a small motorbike, but I was quite young, so it was perfect."

The family had a weekend cottage near Ashford, and he said: "I basically rode that all over the place in the fields and stuff, and I never got off that bike for years."

He recalled visiting the circuit throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

"I would have been going to Brands Hatch from a very early age because the Grand Prix was held there and I used to go to see my dad race as well," he said.

Hill was aged 15 when his father died in a plane crash in 1975, but he went on to follow him into motorsport.

After racing at Brands Hatch "an awful lot", he became Champion of Brands in 1984, racing motorcycles.

He went on to become Formula One world champion in 1996 and won 22 Grands Prix during his career.

Hill described being in a racing car as "a little bit of a surreal world".

He said: "It's a different dimension when you're driving a car, especially somewhere like Brands Hatch, you get a real sensation that you're flying."

Brands Hatch is celebrating its centenary with a year-long "Century of Power" programme.

The anniversary season will include race meetings, championships and guest appearances, celebrating 100 years of motorsport history.

Reflecting on the significance of the track, Hill said: "Brands Hatch was one of the great circuits of all time.

"It had a beautiful, flowing nature to it, uphill, downhill and through the woods and then popping out into view through this fantastic, banked arena."

Hill said Brands Hatch had millions of fans, adding, "long may it continue to be a place for people who love motorsport".

As it marks its centenary, he said: "Happy birthday, Brands, and thank you very much for everything you've given me."

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