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The Junior Car Club's Double Twelve Hour Race
Alfa Romeo driven by
G. Ramponi wins from Bentley
Published in "Motor Sport", June 1929
The Junior Car Club who conceived the idea of organising
a British twenty-four hour race, deserve all the credit
they have been given for taking such a bold step as
to run a race of this kind for the first time in the
history of British Motor Racing.
The Winner, G. Ramponi, Alfa-Romeo, At Speed
For many years now we have had the Le Mans 24 hours
race, which has always been well supported by British
entrants, and which they have won on more than one occasion,
and this, no doubt, encouraged the Junior Car Club to
organise such an event which, however, is not quite
so strenuous as the Le Mans event in that the French
Classic is 24 hours straight off the reel, whereas the
Junior Car Club event has to consist of two succeeding
races each of 12 hours since the Brooklands authorities
are unable to permit racing throughout the night. The
start took place at 8 a.m. on Friday, May 10th. The
cars were lined up in front of the pits and on receiving
the signal to go the drivers, who were lined up opposite
their cars sprinted across the track, raised their hoods,
and midst the roar from their exhausts and the whine
from the superchargers they began to sort themselves
out.
Kaye Don and G. Ramponi, both on supercharged Alfa Romeos,
were first away closely followed by the four Bentleys.
The Lombards were slow in getting away and the big six
Bentley, which had taken the lead, had completed its
first lap before they started. The big six Bentley was
closely followed on its first lap by the Alfa Romeos,
the other Bentleys and Earl Howe's 2 litre Bugatti.
The drivers now settled down to some fast steady laps
during which they jockeyed for position and obtained
their team formation, while the chefs dequip in the
pits anxiously worked out innumerable calculations and
then signalled to the drivers faster, slower. After
the first ten laps or so the drivers came in one by
one, lowered their hoods and were off again in a few
seconds. Immediately the hoods had been lowered the
speeds rose, and it was very soon apparent that the
battle was going to be between the Bentleys and the
Alfa Romeos who were lapping at 87 m.p.h. and 80 m.p.h.
respectively. Since the regulations demanded that every
car had to cover one quarter of its minimum distance
in each period of six hours each driver was now endeavouring
to exceed his schedule as much as possible so as to
have time in hand to stop for repairs or adjustments
should this become necessary.
The race being run on a handicap basis was rather difficult
to follow since the fastest car was not necessarily
the leader, but matters were made very much easier in
this respect by the new score board, on which, not only
the three leaders numbers were painted every three hours
but also all the individual class leaders. Towards the
end of the third hour what might have been a very serious
accident occurred to Captain A. G. Miller, who was driving
a supercharged Lombard. Captain Miller was approaching
the bend at high speed when suddenly one of his front
wheel brake shoes siezed which caused the car to swing
around and narrowly escape hitting some of the other
competitors.
At the end of the first three hours the cars came in
for refueling and in most cases for a change of driver.
The six cylinder Bentley was now in the lead with two
41/2 litres second and third, and Ivanowsky on Alfa
Romeo No. 54 fourth. The Alfa Romeos pit work was very
neat and they were off again in about 11/2 minutes,
whereas the Bentleys were about twice this time, since
it took very much longer to fill their tanks and compensate
for their voracious appetite.
Shortly after the first change over the speed of the
cars began to increase. The Rileys who were leading
the 1,100 c.c. class began lapping at 74 m.p.h., the
Alfa Romeos, who were leading the 1,500 c.c.
JUNIOR CAR CLUB'S DOUBLE class, 84 m.p.h., the 41/2
litre Bentleys 90, and the big six Bentley at 94-95
m.p.h. Earl Howe's Bugatti paid several visits to the
pits, A. 0. Saunders Davies' Invicta lost its silencer,
and then G. E. T. Eyston who had taken over Alfa Romeo
No. 55 from Kaye Don was seen pushing his car into the
pits with engine trouble. At the end of the sixth hour
the six cylinder Bentley was still holding the lead,
S. C. H. Davis on a 41/2 being second, and Ivanowsky
on Alfa Romeo No. 54 holding third place. It was here
that bad luck overtook the Bentley team for soon Benjafield
was seen coming into the pits on the big six Bentley.
He and his mechanic quickly got to work and removed
the radiator and dynamo only to find that the dynamo
coupling had sheared. They quickly replaced the radiator
and resumed their wonderful run but were, unfortunately,
stopped shortly afterwards by the officials who would
not allow them to continue without the dynamo. Thus.
what was easily the fastest car in the race was put
out of action and now Ramponi assumed the lead on his
Alfa Romeo closely followed by his team mate Ivanowsky
with the 41/2 litre Bentley No. 5 in third place.
Shortly after the eighth hour the Riley driven by Staniland
and Cobb, which was leading the 1,100 c.c. class, was
forced out of the race with big end trouble, thus allowing
Riley No. 75 to lead its class and shortly afterwards
reach third position in the general classification when
Bentley No. 5 was forced to retire also with big end
trouble. After nine hours Ramponi and his Alfa Romeo
still held the lead closely followed by Bentley No.
6 in second place and Riley No. 75 third. W. M. Couper
on a Lagonda was leading the 2 litre class and the two
Studebakers were lapping very consistently without any
apparent fuss or bother at 73-74 m.p.h. Shortly after
the tenth hour Riley No. 75 was forced to retire with
big end trouble which let Birkin 's No. 12 into third
place. His mechanic was, unfortunately, badly burned
about this time through his clothes, over which he had
spilt some petrol whilst refilling, becoming ignited.
He fortunately rolled on the ground and after a time
the flames were extinguished with Pyrenes but not before
he had been badly burned and had to be removed to hospital.
The retirement of Riley No. 75 allowed Salmson No. 82,
which had been going very steadily, to assume the lead
in the 1,100 c.c. class and fourth place in the general
classification. At 8 p.m. when the maroon was fired
G. Ramponi streaked down the finishing straight on his
Alfa Romeo having won the first day's race at an average
speed of 77-57 m.p.h. Bentley No. 6 driven by S. C.
Davis and Sir R. Gunter finished second with lvanowsky
on Alfa Romeo No. 54, and H. R. S. Birkin on Bentley
No. 12 was third. The two Studebakers who were the sole
survivors of Class B. (up to 8,000 c.c.) finished in
perfect condition having averaged 72 m.p.h. and run
with clocklike regularity. The Aston Martin was close
behind Ivanowsky's Alfa Romeo, and R. R. Jackson still
held the lead in the 2 litre class on his Lagonda closely
followed by W. M. Couper on another car of the same
make. The Salmson still held the lead in the 1,100 c.c.
Class closely followed by Riley No. 74, and the lone
750 c.c. Class entrant, Austin No. 86, driven by the
Barnes brothers had run with remarkable steadiness throughout
and averaged nearly 50 m.p.h.
So ended the first day's race. All the cars less the
seventeen retirements were now pushed into their allotted
stalls in the Paddock where they were wrapped up so
as to ensure an easy start in the morning. The next
morning all the cars were lined up again outside their
pits and at 8 a.m. the starter's flag dropped for the
start of what turned out to be one of the most exciting
races in history. The little Austin was first away closely
followed by the Invicta, Birkin's Bentley and the two
Alfa Romeos, Nos. 53 and 54. For the first two laps
the drivers toured round at a steady speed so as to
warm up their engines as carefully as possible and then
on being signalled from their respective pits they increased
their speed to normal. The race now resolved itself
into a terrific duel between S. C. H. Davis on Bentley
No. 6, and the two Alfa Romeos driven by Ramponi and
lvanowsky who in turn were closely followed by Casse
on the Salmson. Round after round they circled, first
one leading then the other. To make matters much more
difficult for the drivers rain now began to fall and
as a result the speed im mediately began to decrease.
S. C. H. Davis on Bentley No. 6 narrowly escaped disaster
when his Bentley developed first a front wheel skid
followed by a rear wheel skid which caused the tail
of his car to slither round and hit the sandbank. Sand
shot high in the air but the Bentley continued unhurt
save for the loss of the accumulator box lid. Mrs. Chetwynd
who drove a Frazer Nash with her husband was another
unfortunate competitor who developed a serious skid
when her car nearly turned round as she was nearing
the bend. She, however, managed to right her car and
continued. All the other cars appeared to be skidding
very badly and a sigh of relief went up when the rain
stopped and the track began to dry. After fifteen hours
Ramponi on his Alfa Romeo was still in the lead and
in spite of his having driven without a change of driver
was going better than ever. S. C. H. Davis' Bentley
was hot on his heels, followed by Bentley No. 12. J.
Dunfree was unfortunately forced to retire with his
Alfa Romeo owing to stripped timing gears, and T. E.
Rose Richard's Lagonda was also forced out of the race
by engine trouble. Ivanowsky Alfa Romeo spent some time
in the pits but again resumed the race at the same high
speed as Ramponi. The 0. M's were very regular in spite
of persistent misfiring which, how ever, did not increase
in intensity. Earl Howe 's Bugatti paid several visits
to the pits but in spite of this his speed got slower
and slower. The Frazer Nash's also paid several visits
to the pits but managed to keep going albeit slow compared
with the other 1,500 c.c. cars. The two F.W.D. Alvis
were very regular but very noisy mechanically, and the
Lea Francis team who were going well appeared to be
suffering from either weak springing or loose shock
absorbers. And in front of all lap after lap drove Ramponi
and Davis each cornering magnificently and gradually
increasing their lap speeds.
After eighteen hours Ramponi was still leading on his
Alfa Romeo but Davis on Bentley No. 6 was very near
now and it was evident that if he continued at his present
high speed he would soon overhaul the fleet little Italian
car. The Salmson had now worked up into third place
since H. R. S. Birkin on Bentley No. 12 was forced to
retire with bearing trouble. The Lagondas' began to
pay frequent visits to their pits but were off again
without any waste of time. Earl Howe's Bugatti appeared
to be going up in a cloud of smoke but he struggled
on grimly in spite of being nearly suffocated. And now
misfortune overtook Ramponi and he was forced into his
pits with a loose accumulator box which he and his mechanic
after much feverish work managed to secure with strap
and rope, but not before Davis' Bentley had passed and
gained a useful lead over him. Soon after Ramponi had
resumed the race Bentley No. 6 came into the pits with
a flat tyre and thus the Alfa Romeo regained the lead
which it again held at the twentyfirst hour. The Alvis
driven by Mr. and Mrs. Dykes was forced to retire with
axle trouble. Now started the most exciting race that
has been seen for many years. Lap after lap the Alfa
Romeos reeled off, superbly driven and cheered on each
circuit with cries of Viva ! Viva ! from a knot of Italian
supporters Their cornering was magnificent and their
gear changing perfect. It was noticeable how the Italian
drivers always picked exactly the same course and always
changed gear at exactly the same spot Their method was
to start the corner well over on the right, cut it very
close in the centre, and finish the turn with the aid
of the banking, down which they then swept so as to
increase their speed, but in spite of all their wonderful
efforts Bentley No. 6 was slowly gaining on them. 'The
Alfa Romeo pit now signalled to Ramponi to go all out
and as a result he began to drive like a demon, closely
followed by his team mate Ivanowsky. Faster ancl faster
they cornered, their mechanics opening the doors and
leaning right out in an effort to steady the cars. The
majority of the other cars appeared to be crawling around
as the little red Alfas passed them one by one on the
corner all except the Bentley, which in spite of being
a much heavier car was handled equally as well and was
if anything even faster on the corner. Down the railway
straight the Bentley passed the Alfas who tucked themselves
in behind it so as to benefit by its slip-stream only
to be shaken off when the bigger car got well over the
100 m.p.h. mark. And so little by little the British
car began to gain on formula until the stewards noticeing
that the bonnet clip of the Bentley was undone ordered
Davis into the pits to do it up. This piece of bad luck
probably cost Davis the race since Ramponi made full
use of every second and began to increase his lead again,
and now, try as he might, Davis could not catch the
Italian car in spite of the Bentley going faster than
ever. Thus were the cars tearing around when the maroon
sounded, the flag was raised and one by one they stopped
at their pits to await the result ! it was nearly a
quarter of an hour before the timekeepers, who had worked
out the results to three places of decimals, announced
that the Italian car had won by .003 on the fcrmula
basis, which will give some idea of the terrific struggle
which had taken place. The Salmson which had been gradually
increasing its speed was third. and Ivanowsky on the
other Alfa Romeo finished fourth. The 4/2 litre Bentley
covered 1,950 miles at an average speed of 8139 m.p.h.,
and the Alfa Romeo 1,824 miles at an average speed of
76 m.p.h. The two Studebakers finished in perfect condition
both having made wonderfully consistent runs. W. M.
Couper was first home in the 2 litre class on his Lagonda
and the unsupercharged Aston Martin put up a really
wonderful performance by finishing third in the 11/2
litre class at an average speed of 6936! RESULTS:—
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