Lewes Speed Trials

Last updated

The racecourse used for the trials Lewes Racecourse - geograph.org.uk - 71560.jpg
The racecourse used for the trials

The Lewes Speed Trials were speed trials held on a defunct course in Lewes, Sussex, England, sometimes known as "The Motor Road."

Contents

History

The first meeting took place on 27 July 1924, on "a private road near Lewes", location unidentified. The event was organised by the Brighton & Hove Motor Cycle and Light Car Club, on a quarter-mile course. Fastest time of the day was set by J.A. Hall, Frazer Nash-GN, in a time of 16.6 secs. [1]

"Speed trials were held on the Race Hill at Lewes three or four times a year from 1925 to 1939, at the instance of the Brighton & Hove MC, the Kent & Sussex LCC, the Bugatti Owners' Club and the Vintage Sports Car Club,..." [2]

In 1933 The Autocar reported:

"The course bends slightly to the left, is one-third of a mile long, narrow, none too smooth, and slightly uphill. It leads directly off the London-Newhaven road just before reaching Lewes." [3]

Jean Bugatti attended the races on 21 October 1933. [4] Denis Jenkinson, motor racing journalist, attended his first motor sport event here in 1936. [5] The Autocar reported from the meeting on 12 June 1937: "The first appearance in competition of the new four-wheel independent-suspension Atalanta was at Lewes. G.A.T. Weldon drove this 1½-litre model." [6] Bill Boddy, editor of Motor Sport, drove the original HRG sports car, 1,497 c.c., at Lewes on 4 September 1937 with a best time of 27.4 sec, finishing third in the novices class. [7] On 15 July 1939, Sydney Allard took a class win in a time of 22.12 secs. [8]

The Lewes Record

Comparisons of times recorded at different meetings and by different clubs are problematic. There were differences in the method of timing (the electric Bachelier method favoured by the Bugatti O.C. allowed the competitor to start in his own time) and even differences in the length of the course. [9]

Lewes Speed Trials past winners

YearDriverVehicleTimeClubNotes
1932R.G.J. NashFrazer Nash Terror20.0 sec RKent & Sussex LCC [10] 7 May
N.W. GardinerDelage22.7 secBugatti O.C. [11] 11 June
R.G.J. NashFrazer Nash Terror20.2 secKent & Sussex LCC [12] 18 June
R.G.J. NashFrazer Nash Terror21.0 secKent & Sussex LCC [13] 10 September
1933R.G.J. NashNash Special21.0 secKent & Sussex LCC [14] 13 May
R.G.J. NashNash Special21.0 secKent & Sussex LCC [15] 25 June
R.G.J. NashAnzani-Nash Special21.0 secKent & Sussex LCC [16] 9 September
Richard NashAnzani-Nash The Spook20.4 secBugatti O.C. [17] 21 October
1934R.G.J. NashAnzani-Nash 1,496 c.c.22.4 secKent & Sussex LCC [18] 12 May
John Bolster Bolster Special20.2 secKent & Sussex LCC [19] 16 June
R.G.J. NashNash Special21.6 secKent & Sussex LCC [20] 26 August
Charles MartinBugatti 2.320.13 secBugatti O.C. [21] 8 September
1935A.G. BaintonBugatti 11⁄2-litreKent & Sussex LCC [22] 11 May
S.E. Cummings Vauxhall-Villiers S/C19.4 sec RKent & Sussex LCC [23] 15 June
Kent & Sussex LCC24 August
S.E. CummingsVauxhall-Villiers S/C18.13 sec RBugatti O.C. [24] 7 September
1936R.G.J. NashFrazer-Nash-Union Special19.06 secKent & Sussex LCC [25] 9 May
Robin Jackson Alta 1,500 c.c. #1719.18 secKent & Sussex LCC [26] 13 June
A.G. BaintonBugatti 2.3-litre S/C20.7 secBugatti O.C. [27] 15 August
Geoffrey TaylorAlta 1,488 c.c.19.81 secKent & Sussex LCC [28] 22 August
1937J. Lemon BurtonBugatti 2.3-litre19.12 secKent & Sussex LCC [29] 8 May
Geoffrey TaylorAlta19.3 secKent & Sussex LCC [30] 12 June
Geoffrey TaylorAlta 2-litre18.75 secKent & Sussex LCC [31] 21 August
Arthur BaronBugatti 3,300 c.c. S/C18.4 secBugatti O.C. [32] 4 September
1938Arthur BaronBugatti 3,300 c.c.18.61 secKent & Sussex LCC [33] 7 May
John BolsterBolster Special19.32 secKent & Sussex LCC [34] 11 June
H. Whitfield-SemmenceSemmence-Special-A.C.22.0 sec Vintage S.C.C. [35] 9 July
Peter MonkhouseE.R.A. 11⁄2-litre18.27 sec RKent & Sussex LCC [36] 20 August
1939Norman LewisBugatti 2,300 c.c.18.47 secKent & Sussex LCC [37] 13 May
Ned LewisBugatti 2,300 c.c.18.88 secKent & Sussex LCC [38] 17 June
Stuart WiltonM.G.21.60 sec Vintage S.C.C. [39] 15 July
Arthur BaronBugatti 3,300 c.c.18.75 secKent & Sussex LCC [40] 19 August

Key: R = Course Record; S/C = Supercharged.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Chiron</span> Monégasque racing driver (1899–1979)

Louis Alexandre Chiron was a Monégasque racing driver who competed in rallies, sports car races, and Grands Prix.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shelsley Walsh Speed Hill Climb</span>

The Shelsley Walsh Speed Hill Climb is a hillclimb in Shelsley Walsh, Worcestershire, England, organised by the Midland Automobile Club (MAC). It is one of the oldest motorsport events in the world, and is the oldest to have been staged continuously on its original course, first having been run in 1905. On that first occasion, the course was 992 yards in length, but in 1907 it was standardised at 1000 yards, the length it remains today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prescott Speed Hill Climb</span>

Prescott Speed Hill Climb is a hillclimb in Gloucestershire, England. The course used for most events is 1,128 yards (1,031 m) in length, and the hill record is held by Wallace Menzies who took the outright hill record in a Gould GR59M single seater with a time of 34.65 seconds on Sunday 5 September 2021. The track was extended in 1960 to form the present Long Course. There is also a "Short Course" of 880 yards (804.7 m), now used only by meetings organised by the Vintage Sports-Car Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Mitchell-Thomson, 2nd Baron Selsdon</span>

Patrick Peter Mitchell-Thomson, 2nd Baron Selsdon won the 1949 24 Hours of Le Mans together with Luigi Chinetti in a Ferrari 166 MM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sydney Allard</span> British founder of the Allard car company & rally driver (1910-1966)

Sydney Herbert Allard was the founder of the Allard car company and a successful rally driver and hillclimb driver in cars of his own manufacture.

Great Auclum National Speed Hill Climb was a motorcar course close to Burghfield Common in the English county of Berkshire.

Barbon Hillclimb is a hillclimb held near Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria, north-west England. The event is held on the Barbon Manor estate with the course ordinarily being used as a driveway to Barbon Manor, a Victorian shooting lodge.. The course is 738 yards in length, making it the shortest of the British Hill Climb Championship tracks outside the Channel Islands. Since 2013, the car events have been promoted by Liverpool Motor Club in addition to their popular Sprints at Aintree.

Craigantlet Hillclimb, a speed event organised by the Ulster Automobile Club, was first held in 1913. It is the only such venue in Northern Ireland to host a round of the British Hill Climb Championship, which started in 1947.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael C. Chorlton</span> British film editor (1913–1951)

Michael C. Chorlton was an English film editor and occasional director. He was born in Disley, Cheshire. He particularly worked with Powell and Pressburger, including editing The Silver Fleet and the motorcycle sequences for A Matter of Life and Death

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Eyston</span> British racing driver and speed record holder (1897–1979)

Captain George Edward Thomas Eyston MC OBE was a British engineer, inventor, and racing driver best known for breaking the land speed record three times between 1937 and 1939.

William Boddy, was a British journalist who was the editor of Motor Sport from 1936 to 1991. After 1991 he still contributed regularly to Motor Sport magazine, continuing a career that lasted eighty-one years. He also co-founded the Vintage Sports Car Club, and founded the Brooklands Society in 1967 among numerous contributions to the emerging vintage car scene. At his death he was considered the longest-serving journalist in the UK, having submitted his first article in 1930 and his last one just a week before his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brighton Speed Trials</span>

The Brighton Speed Trials, in full The Brighton National Speed Trials, is commonly held to be the oldest running motor race. The first race was held 19–22 July 1905 after Sir Harry Preston persuaded Brighton town council to tarmac the surface of the road adjacent to the beach between the Palace Pier and Black Rock to hold motor racing events. This stretch was renamed Madeira Drive in 1909 and the event is still held there, normally on the second Saturday of September each year. In 1936 Motor Sport described the event as: "undoubtedly the most important speed-trials on the British Calendar."

The Brighton and Hove Motor Club (BHMC) is best known as organiser of the Brighton Speed Trials.

Mont Ventoux Hill Climb is a car and motorcycle hillclimbing race course near Avignon in France. The course, up Mont Ventoux, starts from the village of Bédoin and rises 5,289 feet (1,612 m) for 13.4 miles (21.6 km), to the observatory at the summit, for an average gradient of 7.4%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth</span> British racing driver (1909–1940)

Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth was a racing motorist, aviator and prolific collector of veteran cars and aircraft. His collection forms the nucleus of the Shuttleworth Collection. He was killed in an air crash on a night RAF training exercise in 1940.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rest and Be Thankful Speed Hill Climb</span>

Rest and Be Thankful Hill Climb is a disused hillclimbing course in Glen Croe, Argyll, Scotland. The first known use of the road for a hillclimb was in 1906. The event used to count towards the British Hill Climb Championship. It is named for the Rest and be thankful, a section of the A83.

Bo'ness Hill Climb is a hillclimbing course on the Kinneil Estate (site of the historic Kinneil House near Bo'ness, Scotland. It is sometimes referred to as Kinneil Hill Climb. Opening in 1932, it was Scotland's first purpose-built motorsport venue.

Firle Hill Climb is a disused hillclimbing course near Lewes, East Sussex, England, sometimes referred to as Bo Peep Hill Climb. The event was celebrated on 20 September 2015 by the Bo Peep Drivers Club.

The event will consist of a timed climb of the metalled road known as Bo-Peep Hill, situated near the village of Selmeston, on a turning off the A27. Map reference No. 183/498053. Each competitor will be permitted two timed runs in addition to practice."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucy O'Reilly Schell</span> American racing driver, team owner, and businesswoman

Lucy O'Reilly Schell was an American racing driver, team owner, and businesswoman. Her racing endeavours focused mainly on Grand Prix and rallying. She was the first American woman to compete in an international Grand Prix race and the first woman to establish her own Grand Prix team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivy Cummings</span> British racing car driver

Ivy Cummings (1901–1971) was an early racing car driver, reputedly the youngest person ever to lap Brooklands. In 2009 her Bugatti car sold for over £2m.

References

  1. ↑ T.R. Nicholson, Sprint – Speed Hillclimbs and Speed Trials in Britain: 1899-1925, Page 236, David & Charles, 1969.
  2. ↑ T.R. Nicholson, Sprint – Speed Hillclimbs and Speed Trials in Britain: 1899-1925, Page 241, David & Charles, 1969.
  3. ↑ The Autocar, 27 October 1933, Page 853.
  4. ↑ The Autocar, 27 October 1933, Page 853.
  5. ↑ D.S.J. letter to Motor Sport, November 1939, Page 308.
  6. ↑ The Autocar, 18 June 1937, Pages 1196–1197, including picture.
  7. ↑ Motor Sport, October 1937, Pages 433–434; Bugatti Owners' Club Lewes Speed Trials, Saturday 4 September 1937, Results.
  8. ↑ Motor Sport, August 1939, Page 232.
  9. ↑ Autocar, 28 August 1936, Pages 396–397.
  10. ↑ Motor Sport, June 1932, Pages 358–359. For an interview with R.G.J. Nash see Motor Sport, December 1958, Pages 825–826.
  11. ↑ The Autocar, 17 June 1932, Pages 1020–1021; Motor Sport, July 1932, Page 431. For N.W. Gardiner see also: Great Auclum National Speed Hill Climb.
  12. ↑ Motor Sport, July 1932, Pages 431–432.
  13. ↑ Motor Sport, October 1932, Page 556.
  14. ↑ Motor Sport, June 1933, Page 388.
  15. ↑ Motor Sport, August 1933, Page 467.
  16. ↑ Motor Sport, October 1933, Pages 554–555.
  17. ↑ The Autocar, 27 October 1933, Page 853.
  18. ↑ Motor Sport, June 1934, Page 374.
  19. ↑ The Autocar, 22 June 1934, Page 1089. For an obituary of Richard Bolster, brother of John Bolster, see: Motor Sport, September 1941, Page 240.
  20. ↑ Motor Sport, September 1934, Page 526.
  21. ↑ Motor Sport, October 1934, Page 572. Two runs by Martin were "unofficial" and FTD went to A.H.L. Eccles in 21.28 sec.
  22. ↑ The Autocar, 17 May 1935, Page 984.
  23. ↑ Motor Sport, July 1935, Page 417.
  24. ↑ Motor Sport, October 1935, Page 553.
  25. ↑ Motor Sport, June 1936, Page 314; See also: J.V. Hewes, "The Lewes Races," The Motor, 22 November 1944, Pages 228–290.
  26. ↑ The Autocar, 19 June 1936, Page 1150. 586.6 yard course.
  27. ↑ Motor Sport, September 1936, Page 428.
  28. ↑ Motor Sport, September 1936, Page 435.
  29. ↑ Motor Sport, June 1937, Page 257.
  30. ↑ Motor Sport, July 1937, Page 308.
  31. ↑ The Autocar, 27 August 1937, Page 394 (see Page 386 for photograph); Motor Sport, September 1937, Pages 376–377.
  32. ↑ Bugatti Owners' Club Lewes Speed Trials, Saturday 4 September 1937, Results.
  33. ↑ Motor Sport, June 1938, Page 226.
  34. ↑ The Autocar, 17 June 1938, Page 1109.
  35. ↑ Motor Sport, August 1938, Page 296.
  36. ↑ The Autocar, 26 August 1938, Page 389. For an article on Peter Monkhouse see: Motor Sport, February 1947, Pages 35, 38.
  37. ↑ Motor Sport, June 1939, Page 184.
  38. ↑ Motor Sport, July 1939, Page 221.
  39. ↑ Motor Sport, August 1939, Page 232.
  40. ↑ The Autocar, 25 August 1939, Page 319; Motor Sport, September 1939, Page 281.

Bibliography

50°53′10″N0°01′39″W / 50.88622°N 0.02738°W / 50.88622; -0.02738

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.