Charles Brackenbury

The Lagonda V12 with the original starting number 5; Charles Brackenbury and Arthur Dobson finished third in the 1939 Le Mans 24-hour race with this car

Charles Edgar Brackenbury (born February 1, 1907 in South Elkington , Lincolnshire , † November 2, 1959 in Woking ) was a British racing driver .

Career

Brackenbury ran a car repair shop not far from the Brooklands race track from the 1930s . When he started motorsport in 1929, he contested his first races on the high-speed track in Weybridge . He competed several times in the 500-mile race , but was unable to place with different vehicles such as the MG Midget or a Bugatti T37C .

In 1934 he competed in the Le Mans 24-hour race for the first time . With his partner Freddie de Clifford , he finished the race on a Lagonda Rapier in 16th place overall. A year later he was third overall, a result he was able to repeat in 1939 . He drove one of the new Lagonda V12s , which had their first major race outing at Le Mans.

After the Second World War he resumed racing. He drove hill climbs , finished third in the Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race in 1949 and sixth again in Le Mans in 1950 . In 1953 he gave up racing and died six years later at the age of 52.

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1934	Lord de Clifford	Lagonda Rapier	Freddie de Clifford	Rank 16
1935	Roy Eccles	Aston Martin 1 1/2 Ulster	Charles Martin	3rd place and class win
1937	Arthur W. Fox	Lagonda LG45	Johnny Hindmarsh	failure	Engine failure
1939	Lagonda Ltd.	Lagonda V12	Arthur Dobson	Rank 3
1949	Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd.	Aston Martin DB2	Leslie Johnson	failure	No radiator water
1950	Aston Martin Ltd.	Aston Martin DB2	Reginald Parnell	Rank 6

literature

• Christian Moity, Jean-Marc Teissèdre, Alain Bienvenu: 24 heures du Mans, 1923–1992. Éditions d'Art, Besançon 1992, ISBN 2-909-413-06-3 .

Web links

• Charles Brackenbury at Racing Sports Cars
• Charles Brackenbury at the Golden Age of Motorsport