11 Henry Segrave
A. Huntley Walker
Talbot Special GPLB 
12 Albert Divo
A. Huntley Walker
Talbot Special GPLB 
23 Harold Purdy
H.W. Purdy
Bugatti Special T37
JUNIOR CAR CLUB 200 MILES
Brooklands special circuit (GB), 25 September 1926 (Saturday).
73 laps x 2.767 mi (4.453 km) = 201.991mi (325.069 km)
Segrave wins the JCC 200 Mile Race for the third time
by Hans Etzrodt
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There were 44 entries at the sixth International 200 Miles Race of the Junior Car Club, comprising 19 cars of 1500 cc, 14 from the 1100 cc class and five 750 cc cars. The 38 starters were racing over a special
road course at Brooklands, including two hairpin bends and two fast S-bends. The race was a procession with the three Talbots of Divo, Segrave and Moriceau in front ahead of the two 8-cylinder Alvis cars. In
many aspects it was a second edition of the British Grand Prix seven weeks before, with the difference that the Talbots had new front axles fitted and had fixed their brake problem. Segrave took the lead at mid
race ahead of Divo but Moriceau put his Talbot into the last sandbank. While digging it out he dropped to the tail of the field. The slow 4-cylinder Bugatti of Purdy inherited third place followed by the
6-cylinder Amilcars of Martin and Duray with the Bugatti of Douglas sixth. There were 16 finishers while the 8-cylinder Bugattis of Eyston and Campbell retired, as did the three Alvises and numerous others.
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The JCC 200 Mile Race took place seven weeks after the R.A.C. British Grand Prix. The first 200 mile race of the Junior Car Club dated back to 1921 and this race was the sixth in the series. It was held on
Saturday, September 25 at Brooklands, southwest of London near Weybridge, Surrey. The Brooklands outer circuit was specially prepared for this race with a lap of 2.767 miles, and 73 laps totaling just over
200 miles. It was the second occasion on which artificial bends had been introduced. The start was at the fork end of the finishing straight from where the cars proceeded anti-clockwise down the straight.
Between the end of the pits and the paddock footbridge, two sandbanks formed a very fast S-bend which could be taken at 80 mph. Beyond the bridge on the slope towards the members' banking two additional sandbanks
formed another fast S-bend. A large safety bank on the banking itself eliminated any risk of a competitor going over the top. The footbridge was supported by two pillars, leaving three passages through which
cars could be driven. However, the one nearest the paddock was closed by sandbanks to protect the timekeepers. The two fast S-bends were omitted on the first lap. Before the leader came round again, lines of
flags were set out at the S-bends and they would have to be negotiated from then onwards. After the second S-bend, the cars reached the members' banking where they turned left and continued down the railway
straight and around Byfleet Banking until the fork was reached, where they kept right for a short distance, still on the outer circuit. At the Vickers sheds drivers had to make a left hairpin turn back to the
fork where they turned at a right hairpin on to the finishing straight, beginning another lap. On the second and subsequent laps they had to negotiate the fast turns before and after the footbridge. The
track remained open for a full hour after the overall winner was flagged in.
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Entries:
A total of 44 cars -all "Specials"- had been entered, divided in three classes. For ease of identification, the 1500 entries were painted green, the 1100 cars blue and the 750 cars red. The main contenders
were amongst the 22 cars of the 1500 cc class. These were the straight-eight Bugattis of Campbell and Eyston and the three 1500 straight-eight Talbots of Segrave, Divo and Moriceau, which arrived with improved
brakes and reinforced front axles after their British Grand Prix disaster seven weeks earlier.
The 1100 cc cyclecar class comprised 17 cars of which the supercharged 6-cylinder Amilcars of Morel, Martin and Duray were fast enough to compete with the 8-cylinder 1500 Bugattis. The London Amilcar agent,
Vernon Balls, entered two 4-cylinder cars, one for Paul Dutoit and the other for himself. Three supercharged Salmson works cars were handled by Goutte, Casse, and de Marmier while Newman drove Dr. Benjafield's
Salmson VAL Special. In the 750 cc class there were five entries, all Austin Sevens.
Much hope was placed on the British 1500 cc class entries, most of which, it turned out, failed to deliver. T.G. John entered two 8-cylinder Alvis FWD cars for Major Harvey and Earl of Cottenham. The
straight-eight "flat-iron" Thomas Special was handled by Parry-Thomas himself. This was a remarkably low car with a fully-underslung chassis and very flat, streamlined single-seater bodywork, with the cockpit
offset towards the right. The second Thomas-Special was driven by Scrap Thistlethwayte. The other entries played a minor role. See the list of entries at the beginning of this report.
In his book ‘The Roaring Twenties’ Cyril Posthumus mentioned the unique rule at Brooklands in 1926 regarding the compulsory use of exhaust silencers in the British events. The exhaust pipes were fitted
with a ‘Brooklands can’, a square muffler, just ahead of the cockpit and to the end of the pipe was attached a large flat Brooklands fishtail.
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Practice:
On Monday morning the finishing touches were being put to the course and practicing started in the afternoon. Major Segrave, accompanied by Divo and Moriceau, was one of the first arrivals. After he had
explained the circuit to the Frenchman, Moriceau brought out his Talbot and made two practice laps. He took things easily and seemed anxious to become accustomed to the comparatively tricky course. Afterwards
both Segrave and Divo put in around a dozen laps; Segrave driving bareheaded was obviously quite at ease. The Talbot brakes appeared to work admirably and the cars were lapping at just below 80 mph, much faster
than the majority of the 1500 cars. Unquestionably they would start as hot favorites.
The Eldridge Special arrived on Monday and Douglas Hawkes, after a little preliminary tuning, put in several laps at a speed of about 68 mph. Harold Purdy's Bugatti was lapping at about the same speed.
Parry-Thomas in the Thomas Special was very fast but he was not satisfied with the running of his engine and made a number of adjustments. Jack Douglas in the Bugatti was an early arrival, but he was out to become
familiar with the course rather than to put up a fast lap. The three six-cylinder supercharged Amilcars arrived on trucks and mechanics at once set to work to prepare them for practice, but they did not
appear on the track itself. Captain Malcolm Campbell made several laps in his Bugatti and tried various gears for different bends. On one lap he changed right down to bottom for the safety bend, but appeared
to be happier when he negotiated it in second. Of the 750 cc class only Eddie Hall in an Austin Seven put in an appearance.
The fast S-bend as installed on Monday was not considered to be fast enough and the sandbanks were altered slightly on Tuesday morning. The highest speed at which it could be taken was about 55 mph, whereas
the safety bend could be negotiated at between 65 and 75 mph. On Tuesday afternoon after the alteration had been made, far higher speeds through the fast bends were attained. The track became even busier with
the arrivals of Gordon England (Austin), Ron Sutton (Alvis), R, Bond (Amilcar) and Maurice Harvey (Alvis). There was far greater interest on the part of the public and great keenness was shown in taking lap
times. The Talbots were out again and lapped with apparent ease pushing their average speed up to over 80 mph, thanks to the higher speed at which the S-bend could be taken. Some drivers even considered that
this bend was too fast to enable them to pass between the footbridge pillars in safety. Practicing continued during the following days.
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Race:
Mechanics were not allowed to accompany the drivers in their cars. Each driver had to wear a crash helmet, which was actually called a crash-hat in 1926. Drivers could be helped by only one mechanic during pit
stops and all tools and accessories had to be on the pit counter. Race numbers were painted on discs over each car's tail. The awards were generous. The winner was to receive the Andre Gold Cup and prize
money of £500 in cash. The remaining class winner £100 or £75 in the 750 cc class. The reason why every car had to be named a "Special" was not explained. Normal race cars like Bugatti, Talbot, Salmson and
others from the continent had to add "Special" to their name in order to be allowed at the race. See also 'In retrospect:' paragraph.
A huge crowd of over 20,000 attended the race on a fine Saturday afternoon with brilliant sunshine. The non-starters were the OM team which did not appear, also Hazlehurst’s Salmson and Humphrey's Amilcar.
The second Thomas-Special driven by Scrap Thistlethwayte broke an axle during morning practice and could not be repaired in time. Nonetheless, there were still 38 starters. They left the paddock to line up
in three rows at the start. This was located at the fork end of the finishing straight
The engines were started one minute before the start at 2:30 PM, which was signaled by firing a maroon. The famous Brooklands starter A.V. "Ebby" Ebblewhite moved to the 10-foot high starting semaphore post,
then the semaphore's red-disc arm dropped. The maroon went off thunderously, but somewhat late, and already Divo's Talbot was way ahead of the pack, with the 37 others hard in pursuit. Campbell's Bugatti and
Segrave's Talbot followed 20 yards behind ahead of Harvey's Alvis. Halford in his Special and Kaye Don (Talbot) failed to start and both cars were pushed to their pits. Kaye Don changed plugs and started a
few minutes later only to experience a broken driving bevel two laps later having completed only three laps. Captain Halford in his Special experienced a gearbox problem and could only use top gear, which
enabled him to complete all 73 laps albeit at a slower speed.
Unfortunately, in the turmoil at the hairpin bend, Hawkes' Eldridge Special hit the tail of Eyston's Bugatti. Hawkes' damaged car was pushed to the side of the track to be retired but Eyston continued without
delay towards his pit, although his left rear wheel was wobbling alarmingly. He pulled up, made a hasty examination over his shoulder, could see nothing wrong apparently, and with a wave of the hand trod on
the gas and was away, deaf to the cries of warning that went up and blind to all signals until a white-armed official ran out almost in his path waving him down with his open notebook. Eyston glanced back
again, saw the wheel and understood. He completed the second lap quietly and drove to his pit where the Bugatti was retired with a badly bent rear axle. The tail of the car was damaged and Eyston's shoulder
was severely lacerated.
At the end of the first lap Divo headed Moriceau by a clear 100 yards, followed by Harvey, Campbell, Segrave and the Earl of Cottenham. Thomas was slower than two of the Amilcars and Salmsons in the
lower class.
| 1. | Divo (Talbot Special) | 1500 cc |
| 2. | Moriceau (Talbot Special) | 1500 cc |
| 3. | Harvey (Alvis Special) | 1500 cc |
| 4. | Campbell (Bugatti Special) | 1500 cc |
| 5. | Segrave (Talbot Special) | 1500 cc |
| 6. | Cottenham (Alvis Special) | 1500 cc |
| 7. | Casse (Salmson Special) | 1100 cc |
| 8. | Balls (Amilcar Special) | 1100 cc |
| 9. | Thomas (Thomas Special) | 1500 cc |
| 10. | Purdy (Bugatti Special) | 1500 cc |
| 11. | Martin (Amilcar Special) | 1100 cc |
The new supercharged Lea-Francis of Norris did not last long; after three laps it was put completely out of the running with supercharger trouble. On the third lap Segrave moved up into second place and the
Talbots settled down to a lap speed of 75 mph. They led with ease up to 18 laps, one quarter of the total distance, but things were all awry with some of their rivals. The Marendaz Special had a short life.
Four laps were covered before it ran out of oil from the sump and Marendaz was forced to retire. Basil Eyston's supercharged Anzani-engined Aston Martin was going well, but it stripped some teeth from the
magneto driving pinion and had to retire after completing 15 laps. He was heartily cheered as he pushed his car into the pits single-handedly from the fork.
During the early laps, Casse in one of the works Salmsons was in fourth place. He wore a black helmet, goggles with attached face mask and a handkerchief over his face. As a result of fine driving, Paul Dutoit
in one of the Amilcars had drawn up to the 1100 leaders and had gone up to third place, only to be eliminated after about a quarter of the race with a broken cardan shaft. Immediately afterwards Lionel de
Marmier in one of the other works Salmsons retired with a slipping clutch. At quarter-distance Casse's Salmson still led the 1100 class with Morel's 6-cylinder works Amilcar following six seconds behind and
Goutte in the other works Salmson third. The Amilcar-Salmson duel then began to arouse the keenest interest, for it was seen that the Salmsons, which had hitherto been unbeaten in the 1100 class were being
pressed very hard. Waite's Austin blew a gasket after covering 15 laps, but restarted after a considerable delay. Duray in the Amilcar made a call at the pits on the 22nd lap. Dunfee's Salmson retired on
his 19th lap with engine trouble.
On his 23rd lap Major Harvey was baulked at 80 mph, and with screaming tires skidded off the S-bend backwards into the finishing straight. He ended up 75 yards further on with the tail of his car against a
telegraph pole for the telephone of the time keepers' box, which promptly stopped working. The driver was not injured but the Alvis was too badly damaged to continue. Harvey's car was not the only casualty,
for Densham's Bugatti developed an uncontrollable engine owing to one of the throttles sticking fully open. The car caught fire and subsequently dropped out. Sutton in the standard 12/50 Alvis retired on lap
27 with stripped timing gears when running in sixth place.
After 30 laps, the three Talbots were in the lead with Divo still in front, followed by Segrave and then Moriceau in third place. On lap 31, the engine of Lord Cottenham's FWD Alvis spluttered and stopped.
Convinced that an oil pipe had broken, Cottenham coasted to the side of the track and retired. After the race it transpired that no pipe had fractured and the car could perfectly well have been driven for the
rest of the race.
Just before half-distance, on lap 34, Divo pulled into the pits for a mechanic to add oil and radiator coolant Divo thrust the fuel pipe into the filler, the Talbot snap catches on the fillers worked excellently,
air pressure was turned into the supply tank, and a great gush of fuel rushed from the tank. Divo shouted orders to stop; everybody did, then, as the car's tank was not full, pressure was turned on again.
That pit stop took 1m55s and gave Segrave the lead. On lap 37, Segrave stopped to fill up, using the same routine but took less time than Divo, and only speaking once when he found that nothing was coming
from the fuel pipe. It was a good exhibition of neat pit work and kept Segrave in the lead. Moriceau in his turn filled up efficiently and quickly. The times of the leaders after 37 laps or half
distance were:
| 1. | Segrave (Talbot Special) | 1h21m46s |
| 2. | Divo (Talbot Special) | 1h22m11s |
| 3. | Moriceau (Talbot Special) | 1h23m25s |
| 4. | Purdy (Bugatti Special) |
| 5. | Douglas (Bugatti Special) |
Some laps behind the leading Talbots the 1100 cars followed
| 1. | Casse (Salmson Special) | 1h26m53s |
| 2. | Martin (Amilcar Special) | 1h28m55s |
| 3. | Morel (Amilcar Special) | 1h34m43s |
By lap 40 Segrave was still leading with Divo and Moriceau following. Shortly afterwards when the Talbots started to go faster, Moriceau's Talbot was baulked by two other cars at the second S-bend, skidded on the
sand which had been scattered on the track by passing cars and slid into the protective sandbank on the Railway straight broadside on. The car was firmly embedded in the sand and Moriceau, being unable to drive
it out, set to work, singlehandedly, to dig himself out with a small stick, two inches wide, which he had found. For nearly half an hour Moriceau burrowed and scratched away with his hands and the stick, while
other drivers whizzed by within inches of his car. When Segrave in the fastest Talbot was nearly 20 laps ahead, Moriceau at last freed his car, restarted and rejoined the race but he had fallen from third
to 23rd place.
The Amilcar-Salmson duel continued to rage with unabated vigor. Morel was in the pits again for a few minutes with clutch trouble, leaving Casse still in the lead. After completing 48 laps however, misfortune
overtook Casse, who retired with engine trouble. This put fresh interest into the struggle, Duray then going to the front in his Amilcar. De Marnier, who had retired his Salmson earlier in the race, relieved
Goutte, but he could make no headway, and at 60 laps the order was Morel, who had overtaken Duray and Martin, so that barring accidents it looked like a 1, 2, 3 Amilcar victory, as the nearest Salmson, driven by
Newman, was some distance behind, although running flawlessly.
Meanwhile, Malcolm Campbell was not finding the race very enjoyable. His 13th lap brought him into his pits with a loose oil union, and the resultant repairs dropped him from sixth place to 13th. When he was
once more sixth, an exhaust gasket blew out and, despite changing all four wheels and fitting a new gasket in only 12 minutes, he fell back to ninth place. He ultimately retired after 52 laps with serious engine
trouble.
At three-quarters distance the Talbots of Segrave and Divo were in the lead with Purdy's Bugatti third. The 1100 class was led by the three Amilcars of Morel, Duray and Martin, while the 750 Austins were led by
England with Hendy second.
On lap 60 Purdy's 4-cylinder Bugatti was still in third place. Moriceau had fallen many laps behind but drove the fastest laps of the race near the end trying to make up lost time. In the 1100 class Morel had
to stop and battled desperately with the clutch, bathing it and the engine in floods of fuel to cure bad slippage, and though he stopped for only 1m15s, he fell to seventh place in the race and third in his
class, in which Martin's Amilcar was leading after he had passed Duray in second position. Vernon Balls' Amilcar could not finish within the allotted time and was eventually flagged in.
On lap 70 Segrave was about half a lap in front of his teammate Divo. Purdy had by then done 63 laps, Martin and Morel 62, and Douglas 61. Due to the difficulty of keeping track of so many cars, neither the
spectators nor the marshals really knew all the positions at that moment. After 73 laps there was scarcely a cheer as Henry Segrave flashed across the line as winner, finishing first after 2h40m22.2s at an
average speed of 75.56 mph. He was one lap ahead of Divo and ten laps in front of Purdy's Bugatti. However, Segrave was cheered lustily two laps later when the results were announced by the loud-speakers.
Major H.O.D. Segrave was congratulated by Lieut.-Col. Moore-Brabazon, D.S.O., M.C., M.P., who was Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport. The win gave him £500 in cash besides the André Gold
Cup. Albert Divo in the other Talbot followed in second place and received £25 and Harold Purdy in the third-placed Bugatti received £15. Charles Martin in the 6-cylinder Amilcar was fourth and as the
1100 cc class winner received £100, Arthur Duray in second place received £25 and André Morel in third place received £15. Gordon England in the Austin Seven was winner of the 750 cc class and was rewarded
with £75 while Gordon Hendy in second place received £25.
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Results
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Entrant | Car | Type | Engine | Laps | Time/Status | Diff |
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| 1. | 11 | Henry Segrave | A. Huntley Walker | Talbot Special | GPLB | 1.5 | S-8 | 73 | 2h40m22.2s |
| 2. | 12 | Albert Divo | A. Huntley Walker | Talbot Special | GPLB | 1.5 | S-8 | 73 | 2h42m17.8s | + 1m55.6s |
| 3. | 23 | Harold Purdy | H.W. Purdy | Bugatti Special | T37 | 1.5 | S-4 | 73 | 2h58m12s | + 17m50s |
| 4. | 37 | Charles Martin | H.F.T. Parker | Amilcar Special | C6 s/c | 1.1 | S-6 | 73 | 3h01m50s | + 21m28s |
| 5 | 38 | Arthur Duray | H.F.T. Parker | Amilcar Special | C6 s/c | 1.1 | S-6 | 73 | 3h02m56s | + 20m34s |
| 6. | 9 | Jack Douglas | J. Douglas | Bugatti Special | T37 | 1.5 | S-4 | 73 | 3h03m00s | + 22m38s |
| 7. | 36 | André Morel | S.E. Ellis | Amilcar Special | C6 s/c | 1.1 | S-6 | 73 | 3h04m39s | + 24m17s |
| 8. | 6 | John G. Parry-Thomas | J.G. Parry-Thomas | Thomas Special | | 1.5 | S-6 | 73 | 3h05m22s | + 25m00s |
| 9. | 33 | George Newman | Dr. J. Benjafield | Salmson Special | VAL | 1.1 | S-4 | 73 | 3h06m37s | + 26m15s |
| 10. | 15 | Frank Halford | F. Halford | Aston Martin | Halford Special | 1.5 | S-6 | 73 | 3h11m43s | + 31m21s |
| 11. | 40 | R. Bond | J. Bond | Amilcar Special | CGS | 1.1 | S-4 | 73 | 3h23m34s | + 43m12s |
| 12. | 25 | C.M.C. Turner | C. Turner | Gwynne Special | 10hp | 1.1 | S-4 | 73 | 3h25m43s | + 45m21s |
| 13. | 27 | P. Goutte/L. de Marmier | A. Bovier | Salmson Special | VAL | 1.1 | S-4 | 73 | 3h26m16s | + 45m54s |
| 14. | 14 | Jules Moriceau | A. Huntley Walker | Talbot Special | GPLB | 1.5 | S-8 | 73 | 3h26m47s | + 46m25s |
| 15. | 45 | Eric Gordon England | E.C. Gordon England | Austin Special | Seven | .75 | S-4 | 73 | 3h27m56s | + 47m34s |
| 16. | 42 | Gordon Hendy | G. Hendy | Austin Special | Seven | .75 | S-4 | 73 | 3h28m03s | + 47m41s |
| DNC | 44 | Eddie Hall | J. Boyd Carpenter | Austin Special | Seven | .75 | S-4 | 69 | flagged in | |
| DNC | 29 | Vernon Balls | V.S. Balls | Amilcar Special | CGS s/c | 1.1 | S-4 | ~52 | flagged in | |
| DNF | 41 | Beris Harcourt-Wood | B. Harcourt-Wood | Salmson Special | VAL | 1.1 | S-4 | 51 | engine bearing |
| DNF | 1 | Malcolm Campbell | Captain M. Campbell | Bugatti Special | T39A | 1.5 | S-8 | 51 | engine |
| DNF | 34 | Arthur Waite | A. Waite | Austin Special | Seven | .75 | S-4 | 51 | body support |
| DNF | 43 | C.M. Walther | C. Walther | Austin Special | Seven | .75 | S-4 | 49 | magneto | |
| DNF | 28 | Georges Casse | A. Bovier | Salmson Special | VAL | 1.1 | S-4 | 48 | engine | |
| DNF | 5 | Charles Johnstone | C. W. Johnstone | Bugatti Special | T22 | 1.5 | S-4 | ~45 | clutch |
| DNF | 17 | Kaye Don | A.G. Miller | Talbot Special | 3 VC Supersport | 1.5 | S-4 | ~33 | rear axle |
| DNF | 31 | Eric Longden | E. Longden | Fiat Special | 8 hp | 1.0 | S-4 | ~31 | gearbox | |
| DNF | 3 | Earl of Cottenham | T.G. John | Alvis Special | GP | 1.5 | S-8 | 30 | suspected oil pipe |
| DNF | 7 | Ron Sutton | R. Sutton | Alvis Special | 12/50 | 1.5 | S-8 | 26 | timing gears |
| DNF | 10 | Patrick Densham | P. Densham | Bugatti Special | T22 | 1.5 | S-4 | ~25 | engine fire |
| DNF | 2 | Maurice Harvey | T.G. John | Alvis Special | GP | 1.5 | S-8 | 22 | crash on lap 23 |
| DNF | 39 | Jack Dunfee | J. Dunfee | Salmson Special | VAL | 1.1 | S-4 | 18 | engine | |
| DNF | 26 | Lionel de Marmier | A. Bovier | Salmson Special | VAL | 1.1 | S-4 | ~18 | slipping clutch |
| DNF | 30 | Paul Dutoit | V.S. Balls | Amilcar Special | CGS s/c | 1.1 | S-4 | ~17 | cardan shaft |
| DNF | 19 | Basil Eyston | T. Eyston | Aston Martin Special | GP Anzani | 1.5 | S-4 | 15 | magneto drive |
| DNF | 8 | Donald Marendaz | D. Marendaz | Marendaz Special | | 1.5 | S-4 | 4 | oil connection |
| DNF | 16 | George Norris | H.E. Tatlow | Lea Francis Special | | 1.5 | S-4 | 3 | supercharger |
| DNF | 18 | George Eyston | G. Eyston | Bugatti Special | T39 | 1.5 | S-8 | 2 | collision |
| DNF | 24 | Douglas Hawkes | D. Hawkes | Eldridge Special | Anzani | 1.5 | S-4 | 0 | collision |
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Fastest lap: not available.
Winner's average speed, 1500 cc Segrave: 75.56 mph (121.60 km/h).
Winner's average speed, 1100 cc: Martin: 3h01m50.0s at 66.65 mph (107.26 km/h).
Winner's average speed, 750 cc, England: 3h27m56.0s at 58.28 mph (93.792 km/h).
Weather: sunny, windy and cold.
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In retrospect:
The Brooklands time keeping was awry because individual times down to seconds were not freely available except for intermediate times at lap 37 and final times only after the finish of the race. As a result,
the progress of the race was not known exactly at any time of the race because timekeepers seemed to count only the laps of each car. It was reported that Moriceau drove the fastest laps near the end of
the race but the time keepers were incapable of issuing any lap times, neither for Moriceau nor anybody else. Spectators and journalists alike often did not know the exact number of laps when certain cars
retired from the race. In this situation we have used the "~" sign for approximate lap numbers in the results table.
Race numbers could be identified from photographs and were also all found in Paul Sheldon's "Black Books" of the Formula One Register and St Leonard Press.
Is it known why all cars had to be named "Special"? It sounds ridiculous!
Richard Armstrong carried out his research and came up with the following: "According to Rodney Walkerley in Brooklands to Goodwood (Foulis 1961), p68: Now, as certain high-speed tuning and
modifications were permitted in the Standard Car Race, it was laid down that all the cars should be entered as 'Specials' so that any publicity afterwards would not be misleading to the public.
"In July the High Speed Trial was duly run with 48 starters, of whom 12 did what was required and won gold medals, and in a separate class labelled 'Specials', 4 more received special silver medals but the cars they
drove are not mentioned, possibly under the ruling: 'no names, no pack drill'.
"The event he calls the Standard Car Race there is more correctly called the Production Car Race and was run in July - there was only a small entry and a very small crowd, so it was not repeated in that form,
reappearing as a sports car race for 1927.
"It therefore appears that this was an altruistic - if rather misguided - attempt to ensure that Joe Public wouldn't think the car he saw on track at Brooklands would be exactly the same one he could buy!
"Later in the year, Walkerley records an Austin advert which appeared in the JCC Gazette, which may very well be poking fun at this rule - it was in any case dropped thereafter."
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Primary sources researched for this article:
Allgemeine Automobil-Zeitung, Berlin
AUTOMOBIL-REVUE, Bern
Automobilwelt-Flugwelt, Berlin
L'AUTO, Paris
Motor Sport, London
MOTOR und SPORT, Pössneck
Omnia, Paris
The Autocar, London
The Light Car & Cycle Car, London
The Motor, London
The Times, London
Special thanks to:
John Humphries
William Boddy: "The 200 Mile Race"
Vladislav Shaikhnurov
James Thorne
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2 Albert Divo
Automobiles Talbot
Talbot GPLB
3 Henry Segrave
Automobiles Talbot
Talbot GPLB
5 Jules Moriceau
Automobiles Talbot
Talbot GPLB
GRAND PRIX DU SALON
Linas-Montlhéry - Paris (F), 17 October 1926.
16 laps x 12.5 km (7.77 mi) = 200 km (124.3 mi).
Divo wins the Grand Prix du Salon with the Talbot
by Hans Etzrodt
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The Grand Prix du Salon at Montlhéry was reserved for 1500 cc racecars over 200 km. The Talbot team of Divo, Segrave and Moriceau had no opposition from their six opponents and finished in the first three places on a
slippery course in the rain. During the morning three races for voiturettes took place, which were won by 1100 cc Amilcars with Arthur Duray the overall winner.
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On the last day of the Paris Salon a number of short races took place on the l'Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry, which attracted many spectators. Due to the continuous rain all day, the planned Match de Bolides
and the race for motorcycles were cancelled. The Grand Prix du Salon took place for the first time on October 17 over 20 laps of the 12.5 km at Montlhéry circuit. It was planned to stage the event every year during
the Paris Salon. Regrettably Delage did not enter their Grand Prix cars, allowing the Talbots to dominate the race.
The contest of the 1100 cars in the morning consisted of three heat races over 50, 30 and 20 km, with 14 drivers at the start. Disappointingly the official Salmson team was absent. In the first heat Morel (Amilcar)
held the lead until near the finish when he retired and his teammate Martin became the winner in 29m02.8s with Duray (Amilcar) second in 30m18.8s and Perrot (Salmson) third in 31m42.6s. Shortly after crossing the
finish line Martin crashed, fortunately without seriously injuring himself. After his retirement and that of Morel, only Duray was left from the Amilcar team to race in the second and third heats, which made it
easy for Duray. The second heat over 30 km was won by Duray in 16m27.2s ahead of Perrot in 17m14.2s. The third heat over 20 km was again won by Duray in 7m26.6s followed by Perrot in 8m50.4s. The final
classification was decided by adding the times of the three heats, won by Duray with the works Amilcar in 54m12.6s. Perrot was second with an independent Salmson in 58m13.2s, Sandford third with the Sandford
three-wheeler in 59m26.2s, followed by the remaining others.
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Race:
The Grand Prix du Salon was reserved for 1500 cc racecars. After an agreement between the competitors, considering the rainy weather and the small car field, the distance was reduced from 400 to 200 km or 16 laps
around the main circuit, in clockwise direction. Nine drivers appeared for the flying start behind the pilot car: Divo, Segrave and Moriceau in Talbots, Franz Lefèvre (Jean Graf), Guyot (Guyot Speciale), André Lefevre
(Jean Graf), Hawkes
(Eldridge Special), Jean Graf (Jean Graf) and Fouchet (Bugatti). Coudray (Jean Graf) did not appear.
From the first lap the Talbot team with Divo, Segrave and Moriceau took the lead, followed by Fouchet, Franz Lefèvre, Jean Graf and Guyot. Hawkes, who was struggling from the start, followed them one lap behind.
At the end of lap five, 62.5 km, Divo held the lead after 37m03s at 101.214 km/h average speed, Segrave was second, 200 meters behind, followed by Moriceau in third place, then Fouchet's Bugatti, Guyot and Hawkes sixth.
On lap eight Divo stopped to refuel and Segrave passed into the lead. His time after 100 km was 59m27s at 100.225 km/h average speed. Divo was second, ahead of Moriceau and Guyot. After the 8th lap, the other two
Talbots also refueled and Divo went into the lead again. On the 10th lap Fouchet was forced to stop the Bugatti with an unknown problem. The Jean Graf team, despite some minor problems, was doing well. The veteran
Guyot who had no problems was unable to keep up with the much faster Talbots.
Segrave took the lead from Divo on lap 11, when he drove a fast lap in 6m59s at 107.398 km/h, which remained the lap record. Divo, remaining calm, pursued Segrave and went back into the lead on lap 12, which he kept
until the end. Segrave finished second and Moriceau third. Guyot's sleeve-valve Guyot Speciale followed in fourth place three laps behind but was ahead of the two Jean Grafs of Franz Lefèvre and Jean Graf. Fouchet
retired the Bugatti on the 15th lap when he was holding fourth position. André Lefevre retired on lap 12 and Hawkes retirement was unknown. The spectators enthusiastically welcomed the splendid victory of the three
Talbots. The fine efforts of Messrs. Clegg, Coatalen and Bertarione were finally rewarded and the cars were expected to be formidable in the races of the following year.
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Results
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Entrant | Car | Type | Engine | Laps | Time/Status | Diff |
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| 1. | 2 | Albert Divo | Automobiles Talbot | Talbot | GPLB | 1.5 | S-8 | 16 | 1h59m01.6s |
| 2. | 3 | Henry Segrave | Automobiles Talbot | Talbot | GPLB | 1.5 | S-8 | 16 | 1h59m06.8s | + 5.2s |
| 3. | 5 | Jules Moriceau | Automobiles Talbot | Talbot | GPLB | 1.5 | S-8 | 15 | 2h09m59.2s |
| 4. | 1 | Albert Guyot | A. Guyot | Guyot Speciale | Argyle s/c | 1.5 | S-6 | 13 |
| 5. | 7 | Franz Lefèvre | F. Lefèvre | Jean Graf | CIME | 1.5 | S-6 | 13 |
| 6. | 8 | Jean Graf | SA d. Automobiles JG | Jean Graf | CIME | 1.5 | S-6 | 13 |
| DNF | 9 | Fouchet | Fouchet | Bugatti | T37 | 1.5 | S-4 | 15 |
| DNF | 4 | André Lefèbvre | A. Lefèbvre | Jean Graf | CIME | 1.5 | S-6 | 11 |
| DNF | 6 | Douglas Hawkes | D.Hawkes | Eldridge | Anzani | 1.5 | S-4 |
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Fastest lap: Henry Segrave (Talbot) on lap 11 in 6m59s at 107.4 km/h (66.7 mph).
Winner's average speed: 100.8 km/h (62.6 mph).
Weather: raining throughout.
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In retrospect:
The results after the first four finishers differed greatly between the various sources. We decided to use the results as reported by L'Auto.
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Primary sources researched for this article:
Allgemeine Automobil-Zeitung, Wien
AUTOMOBIL-REVUE, Bern
Automobile-Welt, Berlin
L'AUTO, Paris
Le Figaro, Paris
Le Matin, Paris
Le Miroir des Sports, Paris
Le Petit Parisien, Paris
Special thanks to:
Jean-Maurice Gigleux
Robert Dick
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22 Aymo Maggi
A. Maggi
Bugatti T35 
20 Domenico Antonelli
Count D. Antonelli
Bugatti T35 
5 Bortolo Ferrari
B. Ferrari
Fiat 509S
CIRCUITO DEL GARDA
Circuito del Garda - Salo (I), 17 October 1926.
20 laps x 12.236 km (7.603 mi) = 244.7 km (152.1 mi)
Maggi wins the Garda Circuit for the second time with Bugatti
by Hans Etzrodt
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Fifteen starters appeared at this minor race over 20 laps where two large Bugattis battled with one 1500 Maserati and a field of six 1500 Chiribiris. Maggi led unchallenged from start to finish in the fastest car, a
2000 Bugatti. Alfieri Maserati who held second place retired after 19 laps enabling Antonelli (2000 Bugatti) to finished second. He was followed by B. Ferrari (1000 Fiat) and Platé (1500 Chiribiri) in third and fourth.
Cattaneo (1500 Ceirano) who was flagged in did not classify and the remaining 10 cars retired.
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The Reale Automobile Club Brescia organized this sixth race on Circuito del Garda, consisting of 20 laps over a 12.236 km course, a total of 244.720 km. It took place near Salo on the western shores of Lake Garda.
The first event dated back to 1921. Starting in Salo the circuit headed south, snaking up the curves of the Zette hill, reaching Cunettone after 4.3 km. Then the course headed north-west past Villa for 4.5 km to Tormini,
where the road dropped back to Salo after 3.4 km. Before the race the more rutted dirt road sections had been repaired.
The entries were divided into two classes, 1500 cc and 2000 cc. The 1100 cc cars had to fight with the 1500s for the class win. However, there was a special prize of 1500 lire for the first 1100 car finishing and 1000
for second. The prize money was the same for the 1500 and 2000 classes, first place received 6,000 lire, second 3,000 and third 2,000. The overall winner would be awarded the King's Silver Trophy. A large gold medal
by Cavaliere Eugenio Silvani was presented to the driver who established the fastest lap during the race.
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Entries:
Twenty Italian race drivers made entries of which the main contenders were the two Bugatti drivers Maggi and Antonelli. Besides being a works driver, Maggi had a personal T35 for the 1926 season. At issue is: did he still
have the T35 at the Garda race? The answer is 'probably yes', but he might have borrowed one. This might be doubtful to someone, who believes, as was reported, that Maggi had the car (a Bugatti T35C) that Costantini
had driven to victory at the Milan Grand Prix five weeks earlier. However, after consulting Italian historian Alessandro Silva, he revealed that, "it is more probable that if Maggi did not have his T35 anymore, he
borrowed a T35 from some Italian driver (maybe his friend Mazzotti) but certainly not a car from Costantini or Molsheim. He was no longer on speaking terms with them after the GP d'Alsace in May 1926" where Maggi was
prevented from winning.
"At the Alsace GP, the 1100cc T36 Bugattis were hugely favorites even though this engine had shown some weaknesses in the valve springs. So, Bugatti team manager Costantini asked the drivers (Maggi, Dubonnet and
P. de Vizcaya) to treat the engines carefully as they would win easily in any case. Dubonnet was the designated winner to avoid unnecessary fights between the works drivers. Maggi did not obey orders and forced his
engine to stay in front until a valve spring broke. So Dubonnet won, but Maggi managed to finish second on seven cylinders. Costantini confronted Maggi immediately after the race and an altercation soon exploded.
The end of the row is reported as follows. Maggi said that the works had to change the material with which the springs were manufactured, to which Costantini replied that it was the driver that had to be changed,
not the material. As a consequence Maggi sold his majority interest in the Bugatti Agency in Milan and quit the team. Later in the 1927 racing season, being without a car, he bought another Grand Prix Bugatti (this
time a T35C) through some Agent, but certainly not from Molsheim."
Antonelli drove his usual T35 Bugatti also without a supercharger. Amongst the favorites was the Maserati of Alfieri Maserati in the 1500 class and a flock of Chiribiris driven by Valpreda, Mazzacurati, Serboli,
Gigi Platé and "Deo". The latter was Amedeo Chribiri, the son of the famous car builder. Platé was taking part in his first race after his bad accident in practice for the German Grand Prix in July. A list of all
entries is at the beginning of this report. Drivers were allowed to practice throughout Saturday. At 3:00 PM, the officials established the order of the start in the presence of the drivers. Scrutineering
followed at 4:00 PM after which white race numbers on a black background were painted on the radiator and hood of each car.
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Race:
Many spectators had arrived and the grandstand at the Salò curve was filled by an elegant crowd, anxious to follow the drivers in their difficult battle. The circuit was closed on Sunday at 10:00 AM and all road blocks
were manned by race officials and Carabinieri, the local police. Non-starters were Capello, Bertasio, Cattaneo, Gircana, Ancillotto and Balestrero. As a result only 15 cars lined up at the Vittorio Emanuele Square of
Salo between the grandstand on one side and the row of pits opposite. The cars were released one at a time with ½ minute intervals between them. The 1100 class was first to start, at 11:30 AM when Mr. Teruzzi started
the first car, Clerici in his Salmson. The bright red Bugatti of count Maggi started last. When he reached the start line, he realized that he had a soft front tire, which he changed very quickly and started at a
fast pace, supported by applause from the spectators.
After the first lap, Maggi's time was 8m30s and Maserati in second place lapped in 8m39s. After the second lap Maggi's time was 16m48s, leading Maserati by 22 seconds whose second lap was 8m31s and whose total time
17m10s. Meanwhile, Clerici retired with clutch failure. Others like Toti, "Deo" and Berrini also retired on the second lap. Toti was drifting in a corner and could not avoid a telegraph pole. He stopped at his pit
and retired with a broken right leaf spring. "Deo" had changed the transmission crown wheel too hastily the night before the race and it caused his retirement. Trevisani retired the Marino on the third lap.
On lap four Maggi increased his lead and passed the grandstand about three minutes ahead of Valpreda and Mazzacurati. Maserati had slowed down and fallen behind considerably. He stopped at his pit with the engine
running irregularly, losing four minutes. Antonelli also stopped at the pits and changed plugs. Maggi's average lap time for the first five laps was 8m26s, with the order after five laps as follows:
| 1. | Maggi (Bugatti) | 42m08.6s |
| 2. | Valpreda (Chiribiri) | 45m15.0s |
| 3. | Mazzacurati (Chiribiri) | 46m58.8s |
| 4. | Antonelli (Bugatti) | 47m23.0s |
| 5. | Maserati (Maserati) | 47m35.2s |
| 6. | Platé (Chiribiri) | 50m13.0s |
| 7. | Ferrari (Fiat) | 50m29.2s |
During the fifth lap, Serboli retired at the pits with a locked front brake. Barbieri stopped at the pits on the sixth lap retiring with ignition problems. Mazzacurati's race ended with an engine problem on the
seventh lap. Meanwhile, Maserati had made up time after his pit stop and his recovery became most evident when he was threatening Valpreda, who was first in the 1500 category, but who retired with a broken valve on
the eighth lap. Maserati held second place after he passed Antonelli and was chasing after Maggi's Bugatti. With the retirements of Valpreda and Mazzacurati and Maserati's lengthy pit stop, Maggi was cruising towards
a comfortable victory. After faster cars had retired, Ferrari in the small 509 Fiat advanced into fourth place. On the ninth lap Maserati forced the pace with a lap in 8m26.6s at an average of 86.959 km/h, beating
the previous record set in 1923 by Nuvolari. At the halfway point, after ten laps, Maggi led Maserati by 5½ minutes and his average lap time for the first 10 laps was 8m30s. Maserati must have been lapping at about
the same speed as Maggi, because he was the same 5½ minutes behind after 5 laps. The positions were as follows after ten laps:
| 1. | Maggi (Bugatti) | 1h24m53.8s |
| 2. | Maserati (Maserati) | 1h30m24.6s |
| 3. | Antonelli (Bugatti) | 1h30m30.6s |
| 4. | Ferrari (Fiat) | 1h41m07.6s | 1 lap behind |
On the eleventh lap Maggi was five minutes ahead of Maserati who continued his forceful race and completed the 11th lap in 8m24s and 8m19s on the 12th lap. On the 13th lap Maserati set a new record in 8m13.6s at an
average speed of 88.881 km/h beating all previous records. Maggi did not equal these times but always lapped in less than 8½ minutes. His times for the 14th and 16th laps were both 8m22s. Maggi managed to keep a large
gap to Maserati who retired from the race with supercharger damage on lap 19. Maggi won the race, was applauded and carried in triumph to the grandstand, where he was congratulated by the the authorities and received the
King's Silver Trophy. Antonelli in another Bugatti had driven a good race and came second. Ferrari in the little Fiat came third after Maserati's retirement and was applauded on his arrival as was Maserati who arrived
on foot. Gigi Platé finished in fourth place. After a very promising start he suffered an oil pipe failure that forced the Milanese driver to repeatedly stop at the pits to refill with oil. From 15 starters only four
cars finished. Cattaneo with his Ceirano had driven consistently but he was too slow and was flagged down after his 17th lap. He was not classified as a finisher.
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Results
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Entrant | Car | Type | Engine | Laps | Time/Status | Diff |
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| 1. | 22 | Aymo Maggi | A. Maggi | Bugatti | T35 | 2.0 | S-8 | 20 | 2h50m05.0s |
| 2. | 20 | Domenico Antonelli | Count D. Antonelli | Bugatti | T35 | 2.0 | S-8 | 20 | 2h57m11.0s | + 7m06.0s |
| 3. | 5 | Bortolo Ferrari | B. Ferrari | Fiat | 509S | 1.0 | S-4 | 20 | 3h23m36.2s | + 33m31.2s |
| 4. | 8 | Gigi Platé | G. Platé | Chiribiri | Monza S | 1.5 | S-4 | 20 | 3h37m13.6s | + 47m08.6s |
| DNF | 14 | Alfieri Maserati | Officine A. Maserati | Maserati | 26 | 1.5 | S-8 | 18 | supercharger | |
| DNC | 11 | Pietro Cattaneo | P. Cattaneo | Ceirano | S150 | 1.5 | S-4 | 17 | flagged in | |
| DNF | 15 | Federico Valpreda | F. Valpreda | Chiribiri | Monza C | 1.5 | S-4 | 7 | valve | |
| DNF | 9 | Mario Mazzacurati | M. Mazzacurati | Chiribiri | Monza S | 1.5 | S-4 | 6 | engine | |
| DNF | 4 | Attilio Barbieri | A. Barbieri | Amilcar | | 1.1 | S-4 | 5 | ignition | |
| DNF | 18 | Roberto Serboli | R. Serboli | Chiribiri | Monza C | 1.5 | S-4 | 4 | seized brake | |
| DNF | 3 | Augusto Trevisani | A. Marino | Marino | GS | 1.1 | S-4 | 2 | | |
| DNF | 7 | Raffaello Toti | R. Toti | Chiribiri | Monza S | 1.5 | S-4 | 1 | leaf spring | |
| DNF | 6 | "Deo" A. Chiribiri | Chribiri Works | Chiribiri | Monza C | 1.5 | S-4 | 1 | transmission | |
| DNF | 16 | Luigi Berrini | L. Berrini | OM | 469 | 1.5 | S-4 | 1 | | |
| DNF | 1 | Abele Clerici | A. Clerici | Salmson | GS AL | 1.1 | S-6 | 1 | clutch | |
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Fastest lap 2000 cc: Aymo Maggi (Bugatti) on lap 2 in 8m15.6s = 88.9 km/h (55.2 mph).
Fastest lap 1500 cc: Alfieri Maserati (Maserati) on lap 13 in 8m13.6s = 89.2 km/h (55.5 mph).
Fastest lap 1100 cc: A. Clerici (Salmson) in 9m30s = 77.3 km/h (48.0 mph).
Winner's average speed 2000 cc, Maggi: 86.3 km/h (53.6 mph).
Winner's average speed 1500 cc, Platé in 3h37m13.6s = 67.6 km/h (42.0 mph). (Note 1)
Winner's average speed 1100 cc, Ferrari in 3h23m36.2s = 72.1 km/h (44.8mph).
Weather: sunny, dry
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Footnote:
1. Published average speeds 70.753 km/h for Platé and 71.998 km/h for Ferrari would correspond to times of 3h27m31.6s and 3h23m56.4s.
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Primary sources researched for this article:
ACI - rivista, Torino
Allgemeine Automobil-Zeitung, Berlin
Allgemeine Automobil-Zeitung, Wien
AUTOMOBIL-REVUE, Bern
La Gazetta dello Sport, Milano
La Stampa, Torino
L'Impero, Roma
Special thanks to:
Alessandro Silva
Giancarlo Cavallini for his book Circuito del Garda
Giuseppe Prisco
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