Major Sir Malcolm Campbell was a British racing motorist and motoring journalist. He gained the world speed record on land and on water at various times, using vehicles called Blue Bird, including a 1921 Grand Prix Sunbeam. His son, Donald Campbell, carried on the family tradition by holding both land speed and water speed records.
Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith, nicknamed Smithy, was an Australian aviation pioneer. He piloted the first transpacific flight and the first flight between Australia and New Zealand.
Charles Franklin Kettering sometimes known as Charles Fredrick Kettering was an American inventor, engineer, businessman, and the holder of 186 patents. He was a founder of Delco, and was head of research at General Motors from 1920 to 1947. Among his most widely used automotive developments were the electrical starting motor and leaded gasoline. In association with the DuPont Chemical Company, he was also responsible for the invention of Freon refrigerant for refrigeration and air conditioning systems. At DuPont he also was responsible for the development of Duco lacquers and enamels, the first practical colored paints for mass-produced automobiles. While working with the Dayton-Wright Company he developed the "Bug" aerial torpedo, considered the world's first aerial missile. He led the advancement of practical, lightweight two-stroke diesel engines, revolutionizing the locomotive and heavy equipment industries. In 1927, he founded the Kettering Foundation, a non-partisan research foundation, and was featured on the cover of Time magazine in January 1933.
The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor racing event organised in the United Kingdom by Motorsport UK. First held by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Championship every year since 1950. In 1952, following the transfer of the lease of the Silverstone Circuit to the British Racing Drivers' Club, the RAC delegated the organisation of races held at Silverstone to the BRDC, and those held at Aintree to the British Automobile Racing Club. This arrangement lasted until the RAC created the Motor Sports Association in the late 1970s and it reclaimed organising control of the event. The RAC MSA was renamed Motorsport UK in 2019 when it formally split from the RAC.
Herbert John Louis Hinkler, better known as Bert Hinkler, was a pioneer Australian aviator and inventor. He designed and built early aircraft before being the first person to fly solo from England to Australia, completed on 22 February 1928, and the first person to fly solo across the Southern Atlantic Ocean. He married in 1932 at the age of 39, and died less than a year later after crashing into remote countryside near Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy during a solo flight record attempt.
The Dewar Trophy is a cup donated in the early years of the twentieth century by Sir Thomas R. Dewar, M.P. a member of parliament of the United Kingdom (UK), to be awarded each year by the Royal Automobile Club of the United Kingdom "to the motor car which should successfully complete the most meritorious performance or test furthering the interests and advancement of the automobile industry".
The Australian Automobile Association (AAA) is an Australian motoring organisation that lobbies for road users across Australia. This includes advocating for the safe maintenance of land transport networks and increasing transport affordability. It was established in 1924.
Sir Henry O'Neal de Hane Segrave was an early British pioneer in land speed and water speed records. Segrave, who set three land and one water record, was the first person to hold both titles simultaneously and the first person to travel at over 200 miles per hour (320 km/h) in a land vehicle. He died in an accident in 1930 shortly after setting a new world water speed record on Windermere in the Lake District, England. The Segrave Trophy was established to commemorate his life.
Ralph Tony Sarich is an Australian automotive engineer, inventor, and businessman who developed the orbital engine and the orbital combustion process engine. Sarich founded the Orbital Engine Company, which developed the orbital combustion process (OCP) engine, based on the two-stroke concept.
Francis Richard Henry Penn Curzon, 5th Earl Howe,, styled as Viscount Curzon from 1900 to 1929, was a British naval officer, Member of Parliament, and racing driver and promoter. In the 1918 UK general election he won the Battersea South seat as the candidate of the Conservative Party, which he held until 1929. While in Parliament he took up motor racing, and later won the 1931 24 Hours of Le Mans race. He ascended to the peerage in 1929, succeeding his father as the 5th Earl Howe. Earl Howe co-founded the British Racing Drivers' Club with Dudley Benjafield in 1928, and served as its president until his death in 1964.
Sir Patrick Gordon Taylor,, commonly known as Bill Taylor, was an Australian aviator and author. He was born in Mosman, Sydney, and died in Honolulu.
The Hawthorn Memorial Trophy is an annual award honouring the achievements of a British or Commonwealth driver in Formula One motor racing. The Royal Automobile Club (RAC) launched it on 1 May 1959 as a memorial for Mike Hawthorn, a racing driver who retired immediately after becoming the first British Formula One World Drivers' Champion in the 1958 season as a result of the death of his teammate Peter Collins. The gilt and silver trophy, created by K. Lessons of the Goldsmiths Company in 1960, is mounted on a wooden pedestal and features chequered flags and the Union Flag. It is presented to the most successful British or Commonwealth driver of the previous year's Formula One World Championship. The trophy was initially presented at an annual ceremony held at the RAC's headquarters and club in London, but Motorsport UK currently awards it at the following year's British Grand Prix at Silverstone Circuit. The award is considered prestigious in the motor racing world.
The RAC Tourist Trophy is a motor racing award presented by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) to the overall victor of a motor race in the United Kingdom. Established in 1905, it is the world's oldest automobile race. The 18-carat gold trophy is based on Giambologna's sculpture of the Greek god Hermes. Series to have featured the trophy include the World Sportscar Championship, the FIA GT Cup, the World Touring Car Championship, the European Touring Car Championship, the FIA GT Championship, the British Touring Car Championship, the FIA GT1 World Championship, and the overall winners of the British GT Championship in the 1999, 2000, 2003 and 2004 seasons. It has been presented to the overall winners of the Silverstone Circuit round of the FIA World Endurance Championship from 2013 on.
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.
Henry Sutton was an Australian designer, engineer, and inventor credited with contributions to early developments in electricity, aviation, wireless communication, photography and telephony.
Arthur John Rowledge was an English engineer who designed the Napier Lion aero engine and was a key figure in the development of the inter-war Rolls-Royce aero piston engines, including the Rolls-Royce Kestrel and the Rolls-Royce Merlin.
Gilbert William Bayes was an English sculptor. His art works varied in scale from medals to large architectural clocks, monuments and equestrian statues and he was also a designer of some note, creating chess pieces, mirrors and cabinets.
Charles Douglas Barnard was a British pilot, who took part in 1920s air races and record-breaking flights.
The Torrens Trophy is awarded to an individual or organisation for demonstrating "Outstanding Contribution to the Cause or Technical Excellence of Safe and Skilful Motorcycling in the UK". It is named in honour of The Motor Cycle editor and Royal Automobile Club (RAC) vice-president Arthur Bourne, who wrote a column under the pen name Torrens. The RAC established the trophy to recognise "outstanding contributions to motor cycle safety" before extending its purpose to include individuals considered to be "the finest motor cyclists". The trophy, an eight-pint silver tankard, has been awarded infrequently since 1979 by the Torrens Trophy Nominations Committee, which is composed of a panel of experts; it is only presented if, in the opinion of the RAC, the achievement can be justified to deserve the award. The winner is honoured at a ceremony at the RAC's Pall Mall clubhouse and headquarters in London.
