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The Essex Six Hours Endurance Race
Italian driver wins Premier Award.
Birkin wins The Barnato Cup.
Published in "Motor
Sport", May 1928
EXCELLENT weather conditions helped to make the
Essex Six-Hours Race the success it undoubtedly was,
and a considerable crowd enjoyed a fine day's sport.
The entry of forty-six provided a very representative
field, with an international flavour, as Italian drivers
were competing on Alfa Romeo cars, Campbell and Lord
Curzon were on Bugattis, an AustroDaimler team was entered,
and a German entry was present in the big 36/220 Mercedes.
There were few non-starters, notably Miller's second
entry—the Delage to be driven by Clowes, the fourth
Alfa Romeo, Leitch's four-seater Lea-Francis, and Major
Harvey on his Alvis.
The start proved highly diverting to the spectators.
L. Headlam, on the saloon Alfa Romeo, was off first,
followed almost instantly by the Bentleys, Rubin, Barnato
and Birkin getting away in that order.
Lord Curzon followed, and then Mason's AustroDaimler
led the ruck.
The beginning of the race was sensational. Much had
been expected of the Mercedes, and it was with some
astonishment that we realised the car was the identical
machine road-tested by Motor sport last month, with
some 25,000 miles, without an overhaul, to its credit.
Miller made a very late start, being well back in the
crowd, lying about twenty-fifth as he passed the stand.
At the end of the first lap, Lord Curzon led Campbell,
and a length behind him—the Mercedes! This seemed
too much to expect from a cold engine, and the jubilation
of the Mere. supporters was changed to consternation
when the German car blew up on the next lap, and pulled
in to its pit. Frantic work was done, and after a quarter
of an hour the car carried on, smoke belching from the
louvres and surrounding the driver with a pall of blue
fumes. Miller completed nine laps intermittently, and
gave it up, the trouble proving to be a hole in a piston,
owing to hitting a valve which had warped through the
inner valve spring breaking. Thoroughly hard luck for
this marque.
Meanwhile, Campbell had taken the lead, hotly pursued
by the Bentleys, with Lord Curzon falling back. Particularly
noticeable at this early stage was the splendid running
of the Rileys—especially S. C. H. Davis —and
the Alfa Romeos. Signor Ramponi was evidently going
to live up to expectations, for he looked easily the
fastest through the banks, and his little car was lapping
at rather more than seventy-three.
Another early retirement was the Lagonda entry, F. King
driving. This was particularly bad luck, as the trouble
was eventually traced to a lump of brass in the carburettor
which must have been there when the instrument was fitted.
This put the Lagonda hors de combat on its third lap.
Lord Curzon's supercharged Bugatti was the next to fall
by the wayside, his trouble being ignition, and he retired
after sixteen laps. After doing twenty laps, R. R. Jackson
had trouble with his Frazer Nash. Capt. Frazer Nash,
on the other car of this marque, stopped in front of
the stands on his 21st lap, but afterwards got going
again. At the end of an hour four cars were out, and
Campbell was leading Barnato, while a lap behind came
Birkin, two AustroDaimlers, Clark on an 0.M., and Ramponi
leading the smaller cars. Jack Dunfee on No. 25 Alfa
was tucked in behind Hayward on the big Excelsior, and
these two thundered round and round lap after lap, never
varying their positions by more than a yard at a time.
The Excelsior was altogether an impressive spectacle,
being tall and cumbersome in comparison to the smaller
fry. Perhaps the most awe-inspiring sight of all was
the Alfa Romeo saloon handled by Headlam, as it swept
through the sand banks by the stands. The car rocked
to the full extent of its springs, and it appeared that
he must shed a tyre on each lap. Headlam's small boy
passenger seemed extremely apprehensive, and clutched
the window frame with determined grasp. R. F. Skelton.'s
three litre Sunbeam was disappointing, and, while not
being particularly fast, spat and misfired from the
first lap. The H.E. driven by Clease was going extremely
well, despite the nasty metallic sound of its exhaust.
By the time two hours were gone, Barnato's Bentley was
on its fifty-seventh lap, with Birkin on his heels a
lap behind, then came Mason's Austro, and Giullio Ramponi.
R. R. Jackson's Frazer Nash burst finally on his forty-seventh
lap, W. B. Scott's Bentley—the old "Number
Seven" — went out with plug trouble on his
thirty-seventh, and Lionel Martin (Riley) on his thirtyeighth
lap.
Cornering past the grand stand was sometimes amusing
and always instructive. Campbell was not particularly
fast; Ramponi's Alfa seemed by far the fastest, but
the front wheels of these motor cars dithered badly
on the approach and the getaway. Headlam rolled worse
than ever, the Excelsior only running him close in this
respect. The Rileys were fast, but Wilkinson's machine
suffered from terrific front wheel flap immediately
after the last turn before the stands. On one occasion
Headlam's saloon created a mild furore by approaching
the first turn almost broadside, and only just got round.
After four hours the outlook was greatly changed. The
only other Bugatti, driven by Malcolm Campbell, had
developed trouble with its fuel pressure and forced
a retirement. Davis was out with his Riley, Newman's
Salmson had given up, and the next retirement was Newsome's
Lea-Francis driven by Frank Hallam. This car had just
come off the Members' Banking and was travelling at
a good eighty, when it burst into flames. The mechanic
flung himself clear, and escaped injury, and Hallam
was able to pull up and jump out unscathed. His chief
anxiety was for the Pyrene brigade to arrive before
twenty-two gallons of good fuel went up with a bang.
Something was wrong somewhere, because the car was blazing
for a good twenty minutes before help arrived!
At this point, Birkin's Bentley had taken the lead,
and Clease's H.E. was pounding along in great style,
rejoicing that both Bugs. were dead. Perhaps it was
pure light-heartedness that caused the H.E. to fling
away its spare wheel on the railway straight.
By four o'clock, barring accidents, it was obviously
Birkin's race, while Ramponi was far ahead in his class,
being actually only three laps behind the Bentley. The
Bentley team was running in close formation, the order
being, Birkin, Cook, Rubin and Barnato, each separated
by a lap. The Austro-Daimlers had been having bother
during the afternoon, and ran some ten laps behind the
Bentleys.
Ramponi was holding Barnato, and the other two Alfa
Romeos ran steadily together; a lap behind ran the surviving
Lea-Francis. Mrs. Dyke's Alvis was putting up a splendid
show, having accomplished 135 laps in the five hours.
Lt. Rooper's car of the same make was running in company
with Vernon Ball's Amilcar on lap '15. Peacock's Riley
was on the same lap, running well, but Wilkinson had
dropped out. The other Riley four-seater driven by Eyston
was a few laps behind, and right at the tail came Dingle's
little Austin Seven.
During the last hour there was not much incident to
note, and we took the opportunity of watching the cars
from the Byfleet bridge. The Bentleys were running strongly,
and the Austro-Daimlers, which seemed so much faster
on acceleration after the turns, were unable to lessen
the Bentleys' lead on the straight. The Alfa Romeos
were especially steady, travelling half way up the banking.
Vernon Ball's Amilcar was beginning to flap at the rear,
Peacock's mechanic was observed, by the aid of glasses,
to be prone on the bonnet at the beginning of the straight,
fastening the front number plate, what time the driver
grasped his ankle, and drove with the other hand.
Back at the stands we saw the Sunbeam. describing .arcs
of a circle in negotiating the turns, and almost turned
completely round. just before the end, Ramponi burst
a tyre while accelerating under the foot-bridge, but
he carried on, performing wonderful skids on the top
corner. He completed the lap, and changed his tyre at
the pit; there were strange tales afoot after this of
the Italian hurling jacks into the pit, together with
strange oaths, what time the pit attendants took cover
from the bombardment.
And so the race drew to a close, beneath a threatening
sky and a hint of thunder. At five minutes to five the
chequered flag was lowered, and then the maroon banged
; the race was over. The results are as follows:
RESULTS
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