The exploits of one of Britain’s pioneering speed record breakers – Sir Henry O’Neal de Hane Segrave – will be celebrated at this summer’s Royal Automobile Club Concours on Wednesday 8 July at the Club’s picturesque Woodcote Park estate.

Fighter pilot, Grand Prix-winning racing driver, Land Speed Record holder and powerboat racer, Segrave is a national hero knighted by King George V in recognition of his groundbreaking achievements and as a standard-bearer for British engineering excellence. A century after Segrave set his first Land Speed Record in 1926, visitors to Woodcote Park will be able to experience a special display dedicated to this towering figure from the heroic age of speed. At the heart of this tribute, Segrave’s 1926 record-breaking machine will take centre stage.

Segrave’s legendary leviathan has recently been on show at the RAC’s London clubhouse Photo Sunbeam Register Archive

Born in 1896, Henry Segrave made history as the first Briton to win a Grand Prix in a British car, claiming victory at the 1923 French Grand Prix in Tours driving a Sunbeam, and one of the Sunbeams he raced at Brooklands in 1922 will also be on show at the Concours. Further Grands Prix triumphs followed before he then turned his attention to speed records and, in 1926, set his first Land Speed Record at 152.33mph on Ainsdale Beach, Southport.

Then, in 1927, Segrave regained the record that by then had been lost to rival Malcolm Campbell. On Daytona Beach in the US he fulfilled a long-held ambition by becoming the first person to travel at more than 200mph on land, recording 203.79mph in the 1000bhp Sunbeam ‘Mystery’, also known as ‘the Slug’. He returned to Florida in 1929 to push the record further still to 231.45mph in the iconic Golden Arrow.

Turning his focus to water speed, the newly knighted Segrave again made history aboard Miss England II, powered by a mighty Napier Lion aero engine. On Lake Windermere, he achieved an unprecedented average of 98.76mph over two runs. Tragically, during a subsequent attempt, the boat capsized at speed, costing Segrave his life at just 33 years of age.

His enduring legacy prevails, however, through the prestigious Segrave Trophy, established in 1930 by his wife, Lady Doris Segrave. Awarded annually by the Royal Automobile Club, it recognises British nationals who demonstrate ‘Outstanding Skill and Courage on Land, on Water, in the Air, or even in Space’.