Second B.A.R.C. Members' Meeting At Goodwood

The second Members’ Club Meeting at Goodwood was held in bright sunny weather on May 1st. The racing was keen, which led to a certain amount of farming and one attempt to remove the brick wall in the chicane, but no personal injuries were received.

The meeting was the second round of the 1954 Motor Sport Brooklands Memorial Trophy. The leaders are as follows:
R. Watling-Greenwood (R.W.G.) … 12 points
J. Coombs (Connaught) … 10 points
J. R. Stewart (XK120C) … 8 points
A. D. Stevens (Lea-Francis) … 8 points
J. DeeleY (Austin-Healey) … 8 points

The third round takes place on August 21st and is the final round this year.

Event 1 — a 5-lap handicap for closed cars — started exactly on time, as did every event. L. M. D. Janke led for two laps in his Morris Minor, but was passed on the third lap by I. A. Forbes in his Jowett. Alan Brown, starting from scratch in I. Erskine’s Jaguar XKI20 coupé, was beginning to pull through the field-lap four saw him in fifth place, driving very fast-and when the chequered flag fell he was in second place, with I. A. Forbes well ahead.

Result
1st: I. A. Forbes (Jowett) … 63.02 m.p.h.
2nd: Alan Brown (Jaguar XK120 coupé).
3rd: G. M. Walters (Aston Martin DB2-4).
Fastest lap: Alan Brown (Jaguar XK120 coupé). 78.12 m.p.h.

Event 2 was the first of the scratch races for cars over 3,000 c.c. In practice the two Ecurie Ecosse C-type Jaguars driven by J. Stewart and N. Sanderson set up the fastest time, with Duncan Hamilton only a second behind. On the first lap Sanderson took the lead, only to lose it at Madgwick on the second lap to team-mate J. Stewart. Duncan Hamilton’s C-type Jaguar was 200 yards behind in third place, followed by T. Sopwith in his Sphinx, which slowed up in the last two laps and was not seen again during the afternoon. On the fourth lap Sanderson dropped back behind Duncan Hamilton, and in that order they finished.

Result:
1st: J. R. Stewart (Jaguar XK120C) … 83.56 m.p.h.
2nd: J. Duncan Hamilton (Jaguar XK120C).
3rd: N. Sanderson (Jaguar XK120C).
Fastest lap: J. Stewart (Jaguar XK120C), 84.54 m.p.h.

Event 3 was a scratch race for cars up to 1,500 c.c. This turned out to be rather a procession as the leading cars never altered from lap one to the end. J. Coombs in his Connaught was second into Madgwick behind J. Fiander’s Tojeiro, but went into first place almost immediately afterwards and remained there until the end. In third place was the R.W.G., being driven very smoothly by R. Watling-Greenwood.

Result:
1st: J. Coombs (Connaught) … 75.33 m.p.h.
2nd: J. Fiander (Tojeiro).
3rd: R. Watling-Greenwood (R.W.G.).
Fastest lap: J. Coombs (Connaught). 76.07 m.p.h.

Event 4 was the big race of the day — a 10-lap scratch race for cars over 1,500 c.c.. and up to 3,500 C.c. On the front of the grid were the two Ecurie Ecosse C-type Jaguars, R. J. Chase’s Cooper. Bristol driven by Alan Brown, and Duncan Hamilton’s C-type Jaguar. In practice these four cars were within 2 sec. of each other, and a grand tussle was almost certain. As the flag fell the three Jaguars squeezed out Alan Brown in the Cooper-Bristol, leaving J. Stewart and N. Sanderson in the Ecurie Ecosse Jaguars to reach Madgwick first and second, with Duncan Hamilton only a car’s length behind. At the end of the first lap Stewart’s dark blue Jaguar was already pulling ahead, followed by team-mate Sanderson, who was being pushed by Duncan Hamilton and Alan Brown. Lying fifth and driving very well was R. E. Berry in his ordinary-looking XK120. With each succeeding lap Stewart drew further ahead and was never challenged for first place. On the third lap Duncan Hamilton passed Sanderson into second place, and had to drive exceedingly fast to keep it. Alan Brown’s Cooper-Bristol was fourth. and pushed Sanderson’s Jaguar through the corners but dropped away on acceleration down the straight. This order looked as though it would not change, until on the last lap Sanderson tried to overtake Duncan Hamilton going into the chicane. He did not succeed, but hit the centre brick wall with his near-side front wheel, buckling a front suspension arm, and ran off the track. This let Brown into third place and Berry (XK120) into fourth place.

Result:
1st: J. R. Stewart (Jaguar XK120C) … 84.54 m.p.h.
2nd: Duncan Hamilton (Jaguar XK120C).
3rd: Alan Brown (Cooper-Bristol).
Fastest lap: J. R. Stewart (Jaguar XK120C). 85.54 m.p.h.

The next four events were handicaps. The first of these, event in the programme, was won by A. D. Stevens in his Lea-Francis. Second place should have gone to R. Watling-Greenwood, but as be accelerated towards the finishing line, passing the second and third cars, he ran out of petrol and was passed again before he could coast over the line.

The next two handicaps were won by J. Deeley in an Austin-Healey. This was mainly due to the generosity of the handicappers and because Alan Brown in the Cooper-Bristol, who could have caught him in event 7, spun at St. Mary’s, thus losing considerable time.

The last event, No. 8, went to the winner of event 5, namely A. D. Stevens in his Lea-Francis. In this race J. H. Bailey in his 4 1/2-litre Bentley gave an exciting demonstration of cornering with a big car. — M. J. T.

Results:
Event 5:
1st: A. D. Stevens (Lea-Francis) … 68.84 m.p.h.
2nd: R. B. Watson (M.G. Special, s/c.).
3rd: G. V. Colos (M.G.).
Fastest lap: R. Watling-Greenwood (R.W.G.), 73.22 m.p.h.

Event 6
1st: J. Deeley (Austin-Healey) … 72.60 m.p.h.
2nd C. Davies (M.G. Special).
3rd M. J. C. Keen (Cooper-Bristol).
Fastest lap: M. J. C. Keen (Cooper-Bristol), 81.51 m.p.h.

Event 7:
1st: J. Deeley (Austin-Healey) … 72.60 m.p.h.
2nd: D. E. Howard (H.W.M.-Alta).
3rd: Alan Brown (Cooper-Bristol).
Fastest lap: Alan Brown (Cooper-Bristol), 83.40 m.p.h.

Event 8
1st: A. D. Steven, (Lea-Francis) … 69.45 m.p.h.
2nd: W. J. Watson (Alvis).
3rd: J. H. Bailey (Bentley).
Fastest lap: A. P. O. Rogers (Cooper-Bristol), 78.12 m.p.h.