CVCVC Club Evening 12th December streaking away and by lap 36 was 49 seconds ahead of the 100 Years of Essex Motor. Part 2 sliding Ferrari. Unfortunately the rain stopped, the track dried Presentation by John Frankland out and Villoresi regained the lead on lap 53, Landi in the After a short refreshment break, John Frankland continued second Ferrari overtook Hawthorn 6 laps later. with the history of 100 Years of Essex Motorsport.

Boreham Racing Circuit Following WWII, the previous motor racing circuits, , Crystal Palace and Donnington Park, having been requisitioned as part of the war effort were no longer available. However military airfields with their concrete runways and perimeter roads were becoming available for motorsport. One such venue was Boreham Airfield, constructed in 10 months by American forces engineers and operational in 1944. The USAAF 9th Tactical Air Force was stationed at the base, operating B26 Marauder bombers. The Villoresi F1 Ferrari 375, wet conditions military airfield was stood down in 1946. In March 1950, the airfield owners Co-Partnership Farms The finish result in sunshine was: 1st L Villoresi – Ferrari; Ltd, allowed the West Essex Car Club to organize a straight 2nd C Lundi – Ferrari; 3rd M Hawthorn - F2 Cooper Bristol. line sprint on the runway. The following year 26th May, the driving the F2 ERA was 7th. The highest place concrete perimeter roads were used as a 3 mile race track. BRM was 16th driven by Ken Wharton. The hero of the day The facilities were basic with a double decker bus acting as was with the BRM’s again disappointing the the race control centre and straw bales placed around the British spectators. Unrealized at the time, this was the last track as safety barriers. The corners were given local names major race meeting on the Boreham Circuit. – Hanger Bend, Waltham Corner, Tower Bend, Orchard Corner and Railway Corner. Thousands of spectators Motorcycle Racing John mentioned that Boreham Circuit attended the meeting with the main race won by Dennis was also used for motorcycle racing, commencing in Poore in an , after Reg Parnell slid his off September 1950 with the “Chelmsford 100”. A year later John the track. Surtees won this race in pouring rain on a 500cc Vincent and The next meeting on 30th June, attracted 20,000 J Surtees (Snr & Jnr) came 2nd in the Side Car race in a spectators, many of who got in without paying, saw the likes 998cc Vincent. The last motorcycle race took place 23rd of Peter Collins, Mike Hawthorn, Bennie Ecclestone, Tony August 1952. Crook and Tony Rolt complete in the various races. The course was highly regarded while Reg Parnell considered the Boreham Abandoned The organisers West Essex CC were track better than Silverstone. Eric Brandon won the 500cc preparing a race programme, including a Grand- Prix for 1953 Formula event and Tony Crook in a won the when two months before the first race event, the Daily Mail’s sports car race. During the 11th August meeting, David Brake racing management company inexplicably withdrew their tragically died from crashing his Cooper during the Formula 3 financial backing. No official reason was given, but crowd race. The main event – Daily Mail Champion Trophy Formula numbers never met the financial expectations of the backers Libre was won by B Shawe Taylor driving an ERA. and unfortunately most race days were wet, reducing potential The ambitious West Essex Car Club again in 1952 crowd numbers. From 1953 Silverstone became the leading organized several race meetings sponsored by the Daily Mail, motor racing venue in the country. The Boreham circuit (the Daily Express sponsored Silverstone). The 17th May became dormant until 1955 when Ford took over the track as event saw Mike Hawthorn win the Formula Libra Race and a vehicle testing centre and in 1963 the site became home to setting a record 90.02mph lap time in front of a 20,000 crowd. the Ford Competition Department and later Ford Motorsport, The next meeting 21st June, with a crowd of 25,000, saw as the name became. The department remained until 1996 Reg Parnell drive his F2 Cooper Bristol to victory. Dennis when the operation was relocated away from Essex. Poore won the Race in his 3.8 litre Alfa Romeo and established a new lap record of 94.4mph. Club Racing/Sprints on Essex Airfields The International Festival of Motorsport. The biggest John mentioned that after the war a number of airfields were race meeting to date was held over the August Bank Holiday used for club events for many years including Debden where weekend. 50,000 spectators came to Boreham on the main a 1.5 mile circuit was laid out by the 750 Motor Club. race day, 2nd August. Facilities had improved with catering Stapleford Tawney was used by the West Essex Car Club to tents, stands to seat 4000, loud speakers strategically placed run hillclimbs on the western perimeter road. The 1,320 yard around the circuit, with Raymond Baxter providing the course was considered good enough to host a round of the commentary. The weather was poor with periods of rain National Hillclimb Championship; (televised in 1959). Two throughout the day. years later Arthur Owen’s F1 Cooper-Climax achieved a Ken Wharton won the 2 litre sports car race in a Frazer record breaking course time of 44.55 seconds. Sprints were Nash. Stirling Moss with a brilliant Le Mans start won the over held on Wethersfield and Wormingford Airfields with North 3 litre sports car class in a disc braked C type Jaguar. Weald Airfield still running the occasional sprint The International Daily Mail Trophy 200 mile race for F1 & . 2 cars was the main event. The impressive list of 31 entries What Might Have Been! included 4.5 litre 375 Ferraris, V16 1.5 litre BRMs, Talbot Lastly John brought to our attention the 1903 proposal to Lagos, Cooper Bristols, Connaughts plus a G type ERA. The construct Britain’s first purpose built race track; a ten mile grid lined up in 5-4-5 formation, with two of the front runners L circuit to the west of Clacton, partially on a district now known Villoresi (Ferrari) and F Gonzalez (BRM) having lapped at as the Alton Park Estate. Two prominent motoring pioneers over 100mph in qualifying. Rain had eased for the 3 pm start were involved, Charles Jarrott and John Scott Montaqu. Sadly with the front grid Ferraris flying off the start line, the BRMs the Essex motor racing circuit never materialized; with suffering excessive wheel spin. Gozalez in his BRM started to Brooklands in Surrey becoming the centre of motor racing in catch the 3 leading Ferraris, but on the third lap, he lost 1907. There is a slight legacy with a small bungalow estate control at Hanger Bend, the BRM spun across the perimeter constructed in the 1930s, to the extreme west of Clacton grass area and struck a spectator’s car! The rain had called “Brooklands” and all the roads are names after car worsened by lap 23 and Mike Hawthorn in a superb display of manufacturers! wet weather driving in his Cooper Bristol took 2nd place and on lap 30 had overtaken Villoresi’s Ferrari to take the lead. John Frankland The Boreham crowd erupted in cheers with the 2 litre Cooper Part 1 & Part 2 photos courtesy of John Frankland