Charterhall (August 6th)

The drive from London to Charterhall is not a very pleasant one at any time, but in the middle of the summer it is at its worst with a continual stream of heavy lorries and “Mimsers” grinding along at 25 m.p.h. causing long queues at all the innumerable bottlenecks on England’s Al road.

The weather was good for the International Charterhall Meeting on August 6th, but, alas, the racing for the most part was poor. The number of non-starters was such that the two 500-c.c. heats were merged into one heat, all mechanically sound cars going into the final.

In the 500-c.c. heat, Parker took the lead from the start and stayed there until the end, followed by A. F. Ferguson. The final, which was the most exciting race of the day, saw four cars in the lead with less than a second between them, and a continual changing in the order. The drivers in this four-cornered battle were Hall, Parker, Ferguson and Allison. Before the end, however, had luck eliminated Parker with a broken chain and the race settled into a line-ahead finish for Hall and Ferguson.

There were four sports-car races, up to 1,500 c-c., up to 2,700 c.c., unlimited, and a special team race which was added at the last moment. The 1,500-c.c. race proved an easy win for Les Leston in Bell’s Connaught. In under three laps Leston began to lap the tail of the field, which indicates the difference in speed of these under 1,500-c.c. cars. In the Le Mans start, one car was seen to push start, which would seem to be the Scottish version of the true regulations.

The up to 2,700-c.c. race was an easy win for Archie Scott-Brown in the well-known Lister-Bristol. From the middle of the field at the start he cut right through to lead on the first lap, and there he stayed to the end. A fight was developing for the second and third places between Michael Anthony (Lotus-Bristol) and Cunningham-Reid (Lister-Bristol). Cunningham-Reid took the lead early on, but by the halfway mark Anthony managed to get past and finish second not far behind the flying leader.

The four main contenders for the unlimited sports-car race were the two Ecurie Ecosse D-type Jaguars, Parnell in a works DB3S Aston Martin and Louis Rosier in his 3,000-c.c. Ferrari. To these must be added the Lister-Bristol of Scott-Brown, for what it lacked in c.cs. it made up in other qualities, which was shown when Archie led for the opening laps against cars much more potent than his. On the first lap Parnell’s DB3S came into the pits and restarted almost immediately but at the tail of the field where he stayed to the end. Titterington in the D-type Jaguar eventually passed the Lister-Bristol as did Louis Rosier driving the Ferrari faster than usual. The Sanderson Jaguar was unable to catch Scott-Brown and came in fourth.

During the afternoon an extra race was included. It was an International Team Race, between England, Scotland, Australia and France, with two in each team. The result proved very satisfactory for we Sassenachs, as Parnell (DB3S) came first with Archie Scott-Brown third, thus giving England a clear points win.

The Formula 1 race consisted of two heats and a final. These were disappointing in so far as the number was made up of sports cars. In fact in the first heat Anthony, in his Sports Lotus-Bristol, won with comparative ease. The second heat was more balanced with Gerard (driving the Moss Maserati), Gould (Maserati), L. Marr (Connaught), Brabham (Cooper-Bristol) and Rosier (Maserati). The first four finished in that order, but Rosier retired with dirt in the fuel system which his mechanics repaired before the final. The final was led from start to finish by Gerard (Maserati) followed at about 10 sec. gap by Gould (Maserati), who was being tailed by Rosier (Maserati). Leslie Marr and Brabham were struggling for fourth place. After Marr spun Brabham was assured of fourth place.

M. P.