John White (racing driver)

John H. White (born 1910 in Radlett , Hertfordshire ; † unknown) was a British motorcycle racer .

He went down in the history books of motorcycle racing under his nickname "Crasher" or "Crasher White" .

Life

In White's time, the vast majority of top riders came from the ranks of the motorcycle industry, trained as a locksmith or motor vehicle mechanic, or were otherwise associated with motorsport from childhood. One of the few exceptions was John H. White, born in 1910. He was academic who studied at the University of Cambridge and worked on the Lydney Grammar School in Lydney , Gloucestershire as a teacher of biology .

White was an amateur racer throughout his active career and was never paid by Norton. His only income from racing was bonuses from sponsors and equipment suppliers and prize money . For the races he was released from the headmaster of his school.

Career

Beginnings

John White came into contact with motorcycle racing at a young age. His fellow student Malcolm Muir made him want to take part in the amateur races for the Manx Grand Prix on the Isle of Man . Both were members of the Cambridge University Auto Club at the University of Cambridge , where they studied, and after Muir won the Senior Manx Grand Prix in 1931 , White decided to compete in the races himself in 1932. He scraped together 45 pounds sterling for a used Velocette  KTT, but was eliminated in his first race in the junior category up to 350 cc after two falls. The following year, John White tried again - again with the Velocette, which he had, however, heavily modified. He led the junior race on the Snaefell Mountain Course , did a 75 mph lap, but retired after a fall on the Gooseneck shortly after Ramsey . In the senior race (500 cm³ class) he also competed on his 350cc bike and finished fifth despite two rides. Because of these many falls in the early days of his career, White was nicknamed "Crasher" by his fellow students , which could be translated into German as Stürzer or Bruchpilot . Despite his later successful career, he never got rid of this nickname.

With his ideas on the Isle of Man, White caught the attention of the then superior manufacturer Norton . Despite an agreement by the numerous British companies not to supply pilots competing there with factory material in order to maintain the amateur status of the Manx Grand Prix, White received a machine from Norton for 1934. In the junior race he won, in the senior race he had to stop to change a spark plug . In the race to catch up, the Brit lived up to his nickname and had a hard crash at Union Mills , but remained uninjured despite a fall speed of almost 100  mph (161  km / h ).

Norton factory driver

For 1935, "Crasher" White was appointed to the Norton factory team. He contested his first race at the Leinster TT in Ulster , which was considered one of the warm-up races for the prestigious Isle of Man TT . However, his factory bike did not arrive on time for the practice runs and he was forced to use his own machine. The factory material had arrived for the races and White started on a machine that he had not been able to get used to. He fell out of the race and damaged his motorcycle so badly that race director Joe Craig wanted to throw him out of the TT team. After a lively discussion between the two, Craig finally promised him a machine for the junior race (350 cc class). In the senior race (500 cm³), however, he was not allowed to start. White justified his line-up with third place behind his teammates Jimmie Guthrie and Walter Rusk . Nevertheless, he did not receive a motorcycle for the following Grand Prix in Switzerland and Germany or for the Dutch TT . In July, at the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa-Francorchamps , “Crasher” White was finally able to contest his first Grand Prix on the European mainland for Norton . It won the 350 class and set a new lap record for this displacement category with an average speed of 84 mph (135.2 km / h).

In 1936, John White started as a full member of the Norton factory team. For the first time , the machines were equipped with rear suspension, which enormously improved handling. In the junior TT race, “Crasher” White finished second behind team mate Freddie Frith , in the senior race he was fourth behind Jimmie Guthrie, Stanley Woods (Velocette) and Frith. At the Dutch TT on the Circuit van Drenthe in Assen , White won the 350cc race with less than a second advantage over Freddie Frith. At the Ulster Grand Prix on the Clady Circuit in Northern Ireland , he fought a tough duel with Ted Mellors on a Velocette in the 350 cm³ run and was eliminated on the fourth lap due to a fall.

Norton racing machine of the 1937 season

For the 1937 season the single-cylinder engines of the Norton factory motorcycles were equipped with two-valve technology, which increased the superiority of the Birmingham-based company. In the Junior TT Guthrie, Frith and White achieved a triple victory. In the Senior -race Guthrie failed and "Crasher" White finished behind Frith and Woods third. At the Dutch TT in the Netherlands , he repeated his victory from the previous year and set a lap record that would last for the following twelve years. Four weeks later, White won the 350cc race for the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa, again with a new lap record. At the beginning of August he took second place at the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring in Hohenstein-Ernstthal, just one second behind his new team-mate Harold Daniell . After Jimmie Guthrie had a fatal accident in the half-liter run of the weekend, Norton, out of respect, withdrew his works team from all other racing events of 1937.

Before the Isle of Man TT in 1938, Norton conducted extensive testing of its newly developed telescopic fork . Frith and White were in favor of the fork, while Daniell wasn't entirely convinced of it. Nevertheless, he won the Senior TT with a record lap of 91 mph , and White finished fifth. He was eliminated in both the junior and the lightweight category. He won the two races in which John White competed on the continent - in Belgium and the Netherlands. In the European motorcycle championship in 1938 , which consisted of several races for the first time, he was second behind Ted Mellors in the 350 category.

In view of the outbreak of World War II , which was already becoming apparent , Norton decided to withdraw from racing at the factory in 1939. This decision was reversed at the last minute and White, Frith and Daniell were equipped with last year's machines for the TT. "Crasher" White had already got one of the supercharged NSUs with rigid frames for the junior TT , but it proved to be not particularly competitive during training and let him down in the race. In the senior run, he finished fifth with the familiar Norton. His last big win he celebrated at the European Championship in 1939 scoring the French Grand Prix in Reims in the 350cc class.

Second World War

World War II broke out shortly after the French Grand Prix. White was a reservist and was afraid of getting involved in the war. Ultimately, he was discharged from school, served as a driving instructor and later in the engineering corps and ended the war with the rank of captain .

White married and never competed again after the war. He did not see racing as an appropriate occupation for married men.

statistics

title

• 1938 - 350 cc vice European champion on Norton

North West 200 Victories

year	class	machine	Average speed
1936	350 cc	Norton	73.73  mph (118.66  km / h )
1937	350 cc	Norton	76.47 mph (123.07 km / h)

Race wins

(colored background = European championship run )

year	class	machine	run	route
1934	350 cc	Norton	Manx Grand Prix	Snaefell Mountain Course
1935	350 cc	Norton	Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
1936	350 cc	Norton	Dutch TT	Circuit van Drenthe
1937	350 cc	Norton	Dutch TT	Circuit van Drenthe
	350 cc	Norton	Belgian Grand Prix	Spa Francorchamps
1938	350 cc	Norton	Grand Prix of Germany	Sachsenring
1939	350 cc	Norton	French Grand Prix	Circuit de Reims-Gueux

References

literature

• John H. White . In: Classic Motorcycle Legends . No. 23 , 1993.

Web links

• John White on the Isle of Man TT official website.