BENJAFIELD’S 500

To Southern Spain for a unique race

PerhaPs as famous for their consumption of Champagne as they were for their racing, the Bentley Boys took the roaring 1920s by storm – and inspired a generation of motoring enthusiasts. Even today their legacy lives on in the Benjafield’s Racing Club, named after Bentley Boy and BRDC founding member Dr Dudley Benjafield.

Inspired by the Brooklands 500 race that last took place in 1937, this year’s Benjafield’s 500 was held at the Ascari circuit in Spain and saw 24 pre-war cars (including some that raced at Brooklands in period) individually waved off the line for an eight-hour endurance race, where the first car to achieve its set handicap mileage would take home the silverware.

They weren’t all Bentleys, as stand-out cars included the 1931 Talbot 105 ‘Team Car’ driven by Christopher Lunn and Julian Grimwade, which took part in the original Brooklands 500, and the 1925 Bentley 3 Litre ‘Team Car’ of Jonathan Turner and Bert Degenaar, which was the first works Bentley to race at Le Mans. Martin Overington’s 1929 Blower Bentley looked extremely aggressive, running without panels during the race to increase airflow thanks to an overheating issue. The lighter-bodied cars took full advantage of their agility round Spain’s longest circuit, which dips and peaks spectacularly for 5.5km near Ronda. Gerd Buehler’s BMW 328 in particular proved consistently late on the brakes to find itself shoulderto-shoulder with the Bentley giants in the corners.

At the startline, Gareth Burnett’s 1933 Talbot 105 Alpine began leaking fluid and, within a handful of laps, had to return limping to the paddock. Yet that couldn’t stop Burnett subsequently achieving fastest lap when he got back out on the track.

With tea-breaks in-between and sometimes during stints, the race saw man and machine battle through the Spanish sun for top honours. As the final entrant crossed the line, corks popped and Champagne flowed; Robert Abrey and Julian Riley were overall winners in a 1930 Bentley 6½ Litre.

Later in the evening, a pair of freshly raced vintage Bentleys looked upon the black-tie dinner party as drivers and guests celebrated – before the long drive back to England the next day beckoned. The Bentley Boys wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Clockwise from above Bentleys dominated the entry list at Ascari; winners Robert Abrey and Julian Riley; Christopher Lunn’s Talbot 105 Team Car flanked by Georg Weidmann’s 1929 Bentley 4½ Litre (left) and William Medcalf’s 1925 Super Sports; 1936 Pacey-Hassan Special pace car lays rubber.

‘lighter-bodied cars took full advantage of their agility, running shoulderto-shoulder with the bentley giants’