miscellany, May 1997

Bette Hill, mother of Formula One World Champion Damon, and widow of 1962 and 1968 title holder Graham, has opened the new Pilbeam Racing Designs factory at Bourne. The Lincolnshire town is steeped in racing history. It was the birthplace of ERA prewar, and BRM afterwards. Raymond Mays was the link between these marques, and the chain continues, for Mike Pilbeam designed BRM F1 cars in the 1970s before starting his own company 20 years ago. Pilbeams have won 16 British Hillclimb Championships since 1977 but Mays won the first two national hill titles, with ERA R4D in 1947 and 1948.

MOTORSPORT returns to Crystal Palace on Monday, May 26, in the form of a sprint organised by the Sevenoaks & District Motor Club in association with the BRSCC. Some of the original circuit, which closed in September 1972, will be used, and cars with Crystal Palace history are being encouraged to turn out.

The ultimate Jaguar E-Type racer, the 450bhp Group 44 V12 roadster which took Bob Tullius to victory in the 1975 Sports Car Club of America’s National Championship Run Offs, is competing at Goodwood. Now part of the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust collection, the Quaker State Oil-backed machine has been prepared for the event by top marque specialist Don Law.

A two minute ‘noise’, featuring the chorus of all the engines in the paddock, will celebrate the life of Denis Jenkinson at Goodwood’s Festival of Speed on `Jenks Day,’ Friday, June 20. We think he would have approved.