Rolls-Royce Archives
         « Prev  Box Series  Next »        

From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Report from 'The Motor' magazine covering the R.A.C. T.T. race, including an illustration and half-hourly race statistics.

Identifier  ExFiles\Box 90a\1\  Scan061
Date  10th September 1935
  
The Motor
September 10, 1935.
Continued

THE R.A.C. T.T. RACE

come!" Seaman led E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} D.{John DeLooze - Company Secretary} Evans (Magentte) past the pits by the length of a bonnet. The 15th T.T. was on.
Following the practising, all eyes were on Dixon's Riley. The whole race seemed from the very start to resolve into whether the 5-litre cars could catch him and, if so, which? Could Hall beat the Lagondas again, or would the sports 3.3 Bugattis of Lord Howe and Brian Lewis sweep the rest off their feet?

### The Singers' Advantage
In the first half-hour the Singers led by dint of their four-lap start, fighting a battle with the surprisingly swift Fiats (but the Singers had power in hand). On handicap improvement Dixon shot into the lead at once, Paul a few seconds behind on another Riley. Then came the two beautiful Bugattis, Becke's Riley and Hall's Bentley taking it easily behind.
The Aston-Martins ran in close company, Martin and Brackenbury went through the square at Newtownards almost abreast. On the second lap Lord Howe smashed the 5-litre lap record (unsupercharged cars) at 81.55 m.p.h. The Bugattis could go! (three seconds faster than Hall's Bentley record last year). Davies' Miller's Lagonda Rapier skidded badly at Newtownards. French Davies (Fiat) did similar things at Comber. Everywhere excited crowds cheered exciting cornering. Everywhere speeds were up on last year's race.
Falkner and Rose-Richards (Aston-Martins) went round and round wheel to wheel. Then, on the third lap, "Bira's" Aston gouted smoke and oil, and he came into the pits to mend a broken oil pipe. This was the beginning of several stops for this trouble and resulted in the car's retirement after seven laps.

### Class Records in First Hour
More class records in the first hour. Dixon lapped at 77.81 m.p.h. (1,500 c.c. Riley). Howe went up to 81.82 m.p.h. (3.3 Bugatti). Dixon replied with 78.85 m.p.h.—and went across Newtownards Square sideways.
Still the speed went up and up. Maclure (1½-litre Riley), offered 78.68 m.p.h. Hindmarsh (4½ Lagonda) clocked 82.20 m.p.h.—smashing his existing absolute lap record of 83.20 m.p.h. with the blown Alfa in 1932—to which Maclure replied with 79.10 m.p.h.
Among the big cars the battle was developing around the Bugattis. Howe led team-mate Lewis by 2 secs. The Delahaye-cum-Talbots were out of adjustment owing to a broken key). Hall lay back in the group, waving O.K. to his pit as he passed, measuring his opponents and watching events.
Brackenbury and Martin (Astons) lapped closely together until Martin's car produced smoke ("Bira's") and stopped to see about it. Falkner's Aston then had oil trouble and eventually gave up after five laps. Fires bleed. After nine laps the Fiat V.{VIENNA} Singer scrap was in full swing, French Davies (Fiat) half a length ahead of Black (Singer), with Sammy Davis (Singer) a length or so behind them.
A lap later Black, Davies and Ffrench Davies arrived at the pits abreast and went down to Quarry Corner in that order.
Donkin, pluckily driving his Aston with 15 stitches in his face after his crash in practice, had a pit stop but went on again just as Shelley came to grief with the dwindling troubles. Added to which, the Rapier ran a big-end at Dundonald.

### Lewis Leads the Big Cars
On their eighth lap, Lewis led the big cars by 2 secs. from Howe. Then came Hindmarsh and Dodson (Lagondas), and 7 secs. behind this, Hall's Bentley, still waiting.
Then early the questions were: Could the Bugattis go (a) at last at this amazing gait and (b) catch Dixon, and whether Dixon could last at this velocity? He was averaging over 77 m.p.h.
There was a new Dixon to-day, a Dixon of steady speed and determined driving. Here was his big chance to win the T.T., and Freddie was playing no games (bar an occasional slide now and then).
After an hour and a half, Lewis took a hand in breaking records with a lap at 82.51 m.p.h.—the lap record for the day and an amazing speed for an unblown 3.3-litre car.
Just before 1 p.m. a murmur swept through the stands. Lord Howe was seen swinging his car to the pit. Hindmarsh bulleted from behind and shot past to lead the big stuff, Dodson followed. Hall next—and then Brian Lewis also slowed and came to his pit. Both Bugs. were at rest after nine laps.

### Howe Confident; Lewis Despairing
Howe changed wheels and was away in just over three minutes. Lewis was not so happy. His car was booming on the road, and the gearbox was vigorously leaking oil into the clutch. A fire extinguisher lashed in the clutch slip and at 1 o'clock he was away again, smoking a cigarette.
All this time, the French Davies's Fiat and C. H.{Arthur M. Hanbury - Head Complaints} Dobson-Singer were steadily leading the race, in the sense that with their credit laps they were nearest the finish. Dixon was leading on handicap, but Arthur Fox's Hindmarsh-driven Lagonda was fast catching him on handicap, and at 1 o'clock slipped ahead by 17 secs. with Hall third and Dodson fourth. As the Lancastrian Cyril Paul, tailing Dixon as hard as he could pelt, was knocking out a steady 78-79 m.p.h.
Then Hindmarsh came in for a rapid tyre change. The Lagonda expected two changes during the race, Hall was trying to go through with only one. On such matters are races lost and won.
Lewis's clutch was at it again, and once more he came to the pit. The French mechanics gesticulated. More fire extinguishers was applied, and he carried on, eventually to give up after 15 laps and three fire extinguishers.

**Image Caption:** Dixon's one mistake: Driving the race of his career, Freddie made one error in the closing stages, when Hall was straining every nerve to catch him. Coming down the tricky hill to Dundonald Bridge, his front nearside hub cap just touched the buttress of the arch which joins the road. The Riley shot sideways across the road, but Dixon recovered control with complete calm and shot away down to Dundonald itself. Dixon's autograph on Bryan de Grineau's drawing can be seen on the left.

## THE RACE HISTORY EVERY HALF-HOUR
### Changing Positions on Handicap of the First Six

**11.30 a.m.**
1. Dixon (1½-litre Riley), 77.08 m.p.h.
2. Hindmarsh (Lagonda), 81.19 m.p.h., 19 secs. behind leader.
3. Hon. Brian Lewis (3.3 Bugatti), 79.54 m.p.h., 39 secs. behind.
4. Lord Howe (3.3 Bugatti), 79.44 m.p.h., 39 secs. behind.
5. Von der Becke (1½-litre Riley), 75.58 m.p.h., 39 secs. behind.
6. Hall (Bentley), 79.25 m.p.h., 39 secs. behind.

**12 noon.**
1. Dixon (1½-litre Riley), 77.08 m.p.h.
2. Lord Howe (Bugatti), 80.79 m.p.h., 37 secs. behind leader.
3. Hon. B. E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} Lewis (Bugatti), 80.75 m.p.h., 39 secs. behind.
4. Hindmarsh (4½-litre Lagonda), 80.61 m.p.h., 42 secs. behind.
5. Dodson (4½-litre Lagonda), 80.52 m.p.h., 43 secs. behind.
6. Hall (Bentley), 80.58 m.p.h., 46 secs. behind.

**12.30 p.m.**
1. Dixon (Riley), 77.45 m.p.h.
2. Hon. B. E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} Lewis (Bugatti), 81.26 m.p.h., 16 secs. behind leader.
3. Lord Howe (Bugatti), 81.21 m.p.h., 17 secs. behind.
4. Hindmarsh (Lagonda), 81.19 m.p.h., 18 secs. behind.
5. Dodson (Lagonda), 81.18 m.p.h., 19 secs. behind.
6. Hall (Bentley), 80.70 m.p.h., 48 secs. behind.

**1 p.m.**
1. Hindmarsh (Lagonda), 81.31 m.p.h.
2. Dixon (Riley), 77.58 m.p.h., 17 secs. behind leader.
3. Hall (Bentley), 80.94 m.p.h., 30 secs. behind.
4. Dodson (Lagonda), 80.76 m.p.h., 45 secs. behind.
5. Paul (1½-litre Riley), 75.72 m.p.h., 48 secs. behind.
6. Brackenbury (1½-litre Aston-Martin), 75.42 m.p.h., 2 mins. 57 secs. behind.

**1.30 p.m.**
1. Dixon (Riley), 77.27 m.p.h.
2. Hall (Bentley), 80.61 m.p.h., 16 secs. behind leader.
3. Paul (Riley), 77.07 m.p.h., 54 secs. behind.
4. Hindmarsh (Lagonda), 79.74 m.p.h., 2 mins. behind.
5. Brackenbury (Aston-Martin), 75.59 m.p.h., 3 mins. 30 secs. behind.
6. Penn-Hughes (Aston-Martin), 75.48 m.p.h., 3 mins. 40 secs. behind.

**2 p.m.**
1. Dixon (Riley), 77.45 m.p.h.
2. Hall (Bentley), 81.15 m.p.h., 28 secs. behind leader.
3. Paul (Riley), 77.09 m.p.h., 56 secs. behind.
4. Hindmarsh (Lagonda), 79.75 m.p.h., 2 mins. 24 secs. behind.
5. Brackenbury (Aston-Martin), 75.68 m.p.h., 4 mins. 4 secs. behind.
6. Penn-Hughes (Aston-Martin), 75.65 m.p.h., 4 mins. 24 secs. behind.

**2.30 p.m.**
1. Dixon (Riley), 77.10 m.p.h.
2. Hall (Bentley), 81.15 m.p.h., 24 secs. behind leader.
3. Hindmarsh (Lagonda), 79.56 m.p.h., 3 mins. 3 secs. behind.
4. Dodson (Lagonda), 79.05 m.p.h., 5 mins. 17 secs. behind.
5. Brackenbury (Aston-Martin), 75.51 m.p.h., 5 mins. 31 secs. behind.
6. Penn-Hughes (Aston-Martin), 75.42 m.p.h., 5 mins. 40 secs. behind.

**3 p.m.**
1. Dixon (Riley), 76.88 m.p.h.
2. Hall (Bentley), 80.89 m.p.h., 1 min. 14 secs. behind leader.
3. Lord Howe (Bugatti), 79.55 m.p.h., 3 mins. 24 secs. behind.
4. Dodson (Lagonda), 79.34 m.p.h., 3 mins. 25 secs. behind.
5. Brackenbury (Aston-Martin), 75.46 m.p.h., 5 mins. 25 secs. behind.
6. Penn-Hughes (Aston-Martin), 75.44 m.p.h., 5 mins. 30 secs. behind.

**3.30 p.m.**
1. Dixon (Riley), 76.88 m.p.h.
2. Hall (Bentley), 80.14 m.p.h., 1 min. 34 secs. behind.
3. Dodson (Lagonda), 79.65 m.p.h., 4 mins. 08 secs. behind.
4. Brackenbury (Aston-Martin), 75.58 m.p.h., 4 mins. 36 secs. behind.
5. Penn-Hughes (Aston-Martin), 75.57 m.p.h., 4 mins. 40 secs. behind.

**4 p.m.**
1. Dixon (Riley), 76.73 m.p.h.
2. Hall (Bentley), 80.21 m.p.h., 2 mins. 52 secs. behind leader.
3. Hindmarsh (Lagonda), 79.69 m.p.h., 4 mins. 06 secs. behind.
4. Brackenbury (Aston-Martin), 75.72 m.p.h., 4 mins. 20 secs. behind.
5. Penn-Hughes (Aston-Martin), 75.69 m.p.h., 4 mins. 27 secs. behind.
6. Lord Howe (Bugatti), 79.07 m.p.h., 5 mins. 24 secs. behind.

**4.30 p.m.**
1. Hall (Bentley), 80.51 m.p.h., 2 mins. 55 secs. behind Dixon.
2. Dixon (Riley), behind leader.
3. Hindmarsh (Lagonda), 79.76 m.p.h., 4 mins. 05 secs. behind.
4. Brackenbury (Aston-Martin), 75.75 m.p.h., 4 mins. 25 secs. behind.
5. Penn-Hughes (Aston-Martin), 75.75 m.p.h., 4 mins. 27 secs. behind.
6. Lord Howe (Bugatti), 78.85 m.p.h., 9 mins. 24 secs. behind.

(See also data on page 239.)
  
  


Copyright Sustain 2025, All Rights Reserved.    whatever is rightly done, however humble, is noble
An unhandled error has occurred. Reload 🗙