Raymond Mays Shows Then How

The R.S.A.C.’s speed hill-climb at Rest and Be Thankful on July 9th was quite unique in this country, for the very difficult course (May’s admission!) was over a mile long, compared to our usual 1/2 or 1/2-mile climbs, and was reminiscent of an Alpine event. Unfortunately, although over £2,000 was said to have been spent on the road, it possessed some bad bumps and the surface became slippery-probably due to the sun-so that fast cars were at a disadvantage. However, the climb was an experiment, a bold one, this year – next year we can expect an improved surface, when this climb should be really first-class and could with advantage, one feels, count towards the R.A.C. HillClimb Championship. As it was, this year Allard made a run on only six of his Steyr engine’s eight cylinders and was still fourth fastest-a rare test of driving skill but not of the car.

In practice Basil Davenport left the road and bent the Spider’s front axle, which was repaired locally in time for a class win on the day. Peter Walker made best time on the Friday, in the E.R.A., clocking 67.9 sec., Poore got the 3.8-litre Alfa-Romeo up in 68.2 sec. and. Mays contented himself with 68.8 sec.

In the more slippery circumstances of the day, however, Mays displayed his skill to the full and was a popular winner, the famous D-type E.R.A. making fastest time, in. 68.6 sec. Poore tried very hard, but couldn’t better 68.6 sec., and Walker’s first ascent, in 69.4 sec. was third fastest, the E.R.A. stopping on its second run. Sydney Allard broke two connecting-rods on his second practice run due to a balance weight coming adrift, but elected to go up on six cylinders-remember Parry Thomas uncoupling two of the Leyland-Thomas’ pistons at Montlhèry when he found his engine was too large for the race in which he wanted to compete? – and sheer good driving made him fourth fastest, in 71.9 sec. J. S. Fry’s Bugatti did a rousing 75.0 sec., and the 4 1/2-litre Frazer-Nash-base Chassels Special 75.4 sec. Ken Hutchison, making a welcome re-appearance after talking of retiring from racing, was fastest R.S.A.C. member, clocking 76.4 sec. in his P2 Alfa-Romeo, and Warburton’s climb in his Allard in 78.9 sec. and Davenport’s identical time in the V-twin Spider were noteworthy, as was Pott’s 79.3 sec. in his Cooper 500.

Results:
£100 and “Motor World” Challenge Cup for F.T.D. – Raymond Mays (2-litre E.R.A.).
£75 for Second F.T.D. – R. D. Poore (3,800-c.c. Alfa-romeo).
£50 for Third F.T.D. – Peter Walker (2-litre E.R.A.).
£25 for Fourth F.T.D. – S. H. Allard (3,700-c.c. Allard).
Albion Challenge Cup (for best time by a member of the R.S.A.C.). – K. Hutchison (2,994-c.c. Alfa-Romeo).

Class Results:

Class 1 (up to 500 c..c). – 1st: J. Potts, Jnr. (Cooper), 1 min. 19.3 sec.; 2nd: D. B. P. Prosser (Cooper), 1 min. 20.6 sec.
Class 3 (1,100 c.c. Supercharged). – 1st: J. R,. Carmichael (M.G.), 1 min. 21.5 sec.; 2nd: T. Land (Lund Special), 1 min. 23.4 sec.
Class 4 (1,500 c.c. Unsupercharged). – 1st: N. Ewart McCartney (Singer), 1 min. 23.2 sec.; 2nd: I. B. Page (M.G.), 1 min. 24.2 sec.
Class 5 (1,500 c.c. Supercharged). – 1st: F. S. Mort (M.G.), 1 min. 26.9 sec.; 2nd: Ian Napier (Aston-Martin), 1 min. 36.2 sec.
Class 6 (3,000 c.c. Unsupercharged). – 1st: B. H. Davenport (G.N. Spider), 1 min. 19.8 sec.; 2nd: Alex Reid (Omega), 1 min. 21.9 sec.
Class 7 (3,000 c.c. Supercharged). – 1st: Raymond Mays (E.R.A.), 1 min. 8 sec.; 2nd: F. D. C. Walker (E.R.A.), 1 min. 8.4 sec.; 3rd: J. S. Fry (Bugatti), 1 min. 15 sec.
Class 8 (Unlimited Unsupercharged). – 1st: S. H. Allard (Allard), 1 min. 11.9 sec.; 2nd: G. Warburton (Allard), 1 min. 18.9 sec.; 3rd : N. Bean (Jaguar), 1 min. 23.2 sec.
Class 9 (Unlimited Supercharged). – 1st: R. D. Poore (Alfa-Romeo), 1 min. 8.6 sec.: 2nd: M. R. Chassels (Chassels Special, 3,91 c.c.), 1 min. 15.4 sec.