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The UK series where F1's pioneers made their mark

Before the likes of Colin Chapman, Gordon Murray and Patrick Head became fixtures of the Formula 1 paddock, they all cut their teeth in the UK's now longest running championship - which is still going strong despite 2020's global pandemic

Less than two months after the inaugural Formula 1 world championship race was held at Silverstone, the former Second World War airfield played host to another, rather more low-key, motorsport event.

There were no Alfa Romeos or Ferraris on the grid at this one, no drivers of the same calibre as Juan Manuel Fangio or Giuseppe Farina or even the presence of royalty. Nevertheless, the maiden race for the 750 Formula on 3 June 1950, featuring 16 cars and won by Charles Bulmer, was a significant moment and few could have imagined that 70 years later it would be the longest continuously running national racing championship not only in the UK, but quite possibly the world, depending on how you regard the different eras of Indycar competition.

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