Cornwall MRC Formula One Race

Under the name Cornwall MRC Formula One Race , three automobile races took place in the English county of Cornwall in 1954 and 1955 . They were advertised according to the Formula 1 regulations, but were not part of the world championship . Regardless of the name of the race, a pure Formula 1 car actually only competed once; all other vehicles that started in Cornwall were Formula 2 cars or sports cars. The second Cornwall MRC Formula One Race in the summer of 1954 is significant in terms of motorsport history in that it was the first Formula 1 race to be won by a Lotus- branded car .

background

Davidstow Circuit

Davistow Circuit in Bodmin Moor: Remnants of the taxiway that was also part of the racetrack

In the early years of Formula 1, in order to meet the strong interest of the population in automobile races, there were other Formula 1 races in some parts of the country that had no world championship status in addition to the Great Britain Grand Prix , which was established as a World Championship race. They included the Scottish Grand Prix , the Ulster Grand Prix in Northern Ireland and the Nottingham Trophy in the East Midlands . Following on from this development, the Cornwall Motor Racing Club (Cornwall MRC) organized a championship-free Formula 1 race in the western part of the country for the first time in 1954, after two Formula 3 competitions had already been held here the year before .

Just like the other regional Formula 1 races in Great Britain, the Cornwall MRC Formula One Race could not hold its own in the long term. The event in economically weak, rural Cornwall only had a small audience and attracted only a few racing drivers. All the pilots were British; international drivers did not compete. Some drivers were local amateurs. Only five drivers took part in the third edition of the race. After that, the Cornwall MRC stopped organizing the event.

Racetrack

All three editions of the Cornwall MRC Formula One Race took place at the Davidstow Circuit , a temporary airfield course at the now-closed RAF Davidstow Moor military airport , which is located on Bodmin Moor . The route was 2.977 km long. All three races were driven over 20 laps, making the total distance 59.533 km.

They run

First winning car in Cornwall: Connaught Type A

Fog and rain: racing conditions in Cornwall

First race: 1954

The first Cornwall MRC Formula One Race took place on June 7, 1954. It was one of a total of eight races that were held that day. Ten drivers were registered for the Formula 1 race, eight of them took part in training and six took part in the race. The cars were Formula 2 cars, with the exception of a Frazer-Nash , which was a sports car. At the time of the race there was strong wind and driving rain . John Riseley-Prichard won the race in a Connaught Type A with a Lea Francis engine, ahead of Jack Walton and Tony Brooks . Then there was a Formula 2 race in which 14 drivers took part. After the end of the event, the event was stopped prematurely because a temporary bridge over the racetrack had collapsed.

Second race: 1954

The second Cornwall MRC Formula One Race took place on August 2nd, 1954, at the same time as the August Cup on the Crystal Palace circuit in London . Seven drivers registered for the race in Cornwall, including John Coombs , who drove a Lotus Type 8, a fully faired racing car. In addition, a BMW 328 revised by Frazer-Nash appeared ; all other vehicles were again Formula 2 cars. The race was initially designed for 30 laps, but was shortened to 20 laps shortly before the start. The weather conditions were difficult again: from the beginning the route was covered in thick fog, later drizzle added. The race lasted just under 29 minutes. Only three drivers crossed the finish line, with John Coombs first. The fourth driver ranked - Rodney Nuckey in a Cooper - retired early due to lack of oil pressure.

Third race: 1955

The third and final edition of the Cornwall MRC Formula One Race took place on May 30, 1955, at the same time as another Formula 1 race in Crystal Palace that was not a world championship. For the third Formula 1 race in Cornwall, three pure Formula 1 cars were registered for the first time: a Maserati 250F for Peter Collins and two Connaught Type B with Alta engines. A few days before the race, Collins withdrew his registration to start at Crystal Palace instead. One of the Connaughts who had been reported by the Rob Walker Racing Team for Tony Rolt did not show up, so Leslie Marr's Connaught was the only Formula 1 car to start in Cornwall. A total of eleven drivers were registered, among them Tony Crook, the later owner of the automobile manufacturer Bristol Cars , and Ken Tyrrell , founder of the later Formula 1 racing team Tyrrell Racing Organization . Crook and Tyrrell and four other drivers withdrew their reports before the start of the race, so that ultimately only five drivers took part in the race. Leslie Marr won the race by a clear margin over his pursuers.

Results

Edition	date	class	route	winner	Second	Third	Pole position	Fastest race lap
1	June 7, 1954	F1	Davidstow Circuit	John Riseley-Prichard ( Connaught - Lea-Francis )	Jack Walton ( Cooper - Bristol )	Tony Brooks ( HWM - Alta )	unknown	John Riseley-Prichard ( Connaught - Lea-Francis )
2	2nd August 1954			John Coombs ( Lotus - Lea-Francis )	Tom Kyffin ( Cooper - Bristol )	Dick Gibson ( Cooper - Bristol )	unknown	John Coombs ( Lotus - Lea-Francis )
3	May 30, 1955			Leslie Marr ( Connaught - Alta )	Charles Boulton ( Connaught - Alta )	Tom Kyffin ( Cooper - Bristol )	unknown	Leslie Marr ( Connaught - Alta )

literature

• Mike Lawrence: Grand Prix Cars 1945-1965 . Motor Racing Publications 1998, ISBN 1899870393 (English)

Web links

• Cornwall MRC Formula One Races statistics on www.chicanef1.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mike Lawrence: Grand Prix Cars 1945-1965 , Motor Racing Publications 1998, ISBN 1899870393 , p. 184.
2. ^ Image of Leslie Marrs in Connaught Type B