Final curtain

LAST BRITISH GRAND PRIX AT BRANDS HATCH, WON BY NIGEL MANSELL

13 JULY, 1986

THE British Grand Prix will be on the move again in 2010, leaving Silverstone for its new home at Donington, but the famous race is no stranger to alternative venues.

While Silverstone has been the most regular circuit for the British Grand Prix since the start of the Formula 1 championship in 1950 – the first time drivers were competing for the official World Championship – it alternated with Brands Hatch between 1964 and 1986, and also with Aintree between 1955 and 1962. The last chequered flag for the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch was waved in 1986. The Kent circuit's farewell to Formula 1 was an appropriately poignant one, with Frank Williams, the founder and manager of the Williams F1 team, making his first public appearance since the car accident that left him in a wheelchair only four months earlier.

British driver Nigel Mansell and his Brazilian team-mate and rival Nelson Piquet were the two top drivers in Williams cars, and the pair were locked in an acrimonious battle for team and championship superiority. In qualifying, Piquet led the way, overshadowing his team-mate to snatch pole position. Mansell's hopes of a home grand prix triumph seemed to have died on the grid when his driveshaft packed in. Mansell, however, was to gain a reprieve, although his slice of luck came at a terrible price for another driver.

Veteran Ligier driver Jacques Laffite was involved in a serious crash and the leg injuries he sustained would end his Formula 1 career on the spot.

A restart was ordered and that gave Mansell the opportunity to climb into the team's spare car. Piquet was first away again, with Mansell slipping to third by the first corner. But the Briton worked his way into contention and the two warring team-mates were locked nose to tail in an epic duel for several laps.

Mansell's chance arrived when Piquet botched a gear change, and the 115,000 crowd went wild when their home hope seized the lead then held off the Brazilian to take the chequered flag.

Williams' wife Ginny climbed the podium to accept the constructor's trophy on the team's behalf, while Mansell basked in glory. However, the 1986 title was to elude him and Piquet, as their bitter struggle ended in disappointment.