The Way We Were
Goodwood Circuit,August 1950
The third British Automobile Racing Club (BARC) Goodwood Members’ Meeting was held at the Sussex circuit on 12 August 1950, with a selection of five-lap scratch and handicap races.
Following the opening of the Goodwood motor racing circuit by Freddie March, the Ninth Duke of Richmond, on 19 September 1948, the first of the BARC meetings was held there and a total of 71 such events took place until 2 July 1966, after which the course closed for competitive motor racing.
Members’ Meetings were revived at Goodwood in 2014, keeping alive the spirit of the original racing with some of the historic cars seen in this 1950 scene continuing to race there at the Goodwood Revival weekend each autumn – don’t miss next week’s CCW for 2019’s highlights.
In our atmospheric image the flag is raised for the start of the second five-lap scratch race of the day, for sports cars 1101-1500cc, with MG T-types well represented.
Note the variety of headgear among the drivers – or lack of it in some cases. Different times.
The car to watch in this race proved to be the 22 car in the second row – a Harry Lester-prepared MG TAC, KJH114, driven by relative newcomer and wealthy amateur driver, Jim Mayers. Jim had originally raced the MG with its 1250cc engine in April 1950, but by the following month Lester had swapped it for the first 1466cc XPAG power plant.
In his fascinating book, Harry Lester and the Monkey Stable, Stewart Penfound tells how Lester had shrunk the cylinder heads to fit by putting them in his butcher friend’s freezer for a few days!
Lester was a garage owner well known for tuning and racing MG cars. Lester himself came second in the opening race at the August 1950 Goodwood BARC meeting driving one of his self-prepared MGs, but after making a good start in the fivelap scratch race for sports cars up to 1100cc, gave way to R. Jacobs in his MG at Woodcote Corner and never regained sufficient momentum to overtake. Jacobs went on to win by two seconds.
Mayers had arrived at the Goodwood meeting that day with ten points under his belt towards the Motor Sport Brooklands Memorial Trophy.
As the flag fell, Mayers made his move towards the front and soon found himself behind John Cooper’s MG-engined Cooper T14. Mayers hung on in there, even though his car’s performance was down. Cooper won by 9.8 seconds.
Ken Downing should have taken part in the race in his 1949 L2 2.5-litre Connaught, OPC3, but was a non-starter following radiator trouble.
Seen second from left in the front row at the start is the well-known blue 1935 Riley 12/4 TT Sprite (AVC 17), racing number 21. The Riley Sprites were built to take part in the TT races of the mid-1930s, based on the 12/4 but with low, sportier bodywork. The first six cars were registered with consecutive numbers – AVC 15-20.
At this meeting, the 1496cc Riley, driven by Mrs Nancy Binns, was pushed out from third place after two laps by Gerry Ruddock’s Singer-engined HRG Le Mans, which also achieved fastest lap. Ruddock was followed home in fourth by Derek Parker’s Frazer-Nash named ‘Patience’.
Mrs Binns had faired better at the BARC Goodwood meeting held in June 1950, when she achieved a narrow victory in a three-lap handicap race. It was her first win with a mere 1.4-second lead over Gerry Ruddock’s HRG, with J. Coomb’s 1100cc Rover-engined Cooper not far behind.
It was also at the June 1950 BARC gathering that Jim Mayers achieved a couple of first places and valuable points towards the Motor Sport Brooklands Memorial Trophy that he clinched in August. His first win in June was in a three-lap scratch race for cars not exceeding 1500cc, beating John Cooper in a 1250cc Cooper. He then went on to win again in a three-lap race for MG cars beating R.W. Jacobs in a blown 1087cc T-type and the 1250cc TC driven by G.E. Phillips.
Lester offered KJH 114 up for sale in the September 1950 edition of Motor Sport magazine from his business in Thatcham, Berkshire, as Mayers was keen to move onto greater things.
Mayers and Lester would subsequently form the Monkey Stable, but sadly it ended in tragedy when Mayers was killed driving a Cooper at the Dunrod TT in 1955.