Sammy Davis (racing driver)

The Bentley Speed ​​Six with which Davis and Clive Dunfee competed in the 1930 Le Mans 24-hour race

Sydney Charles Houghton "Sammy" Davis (born January 9, 1887 in London , † January 9, 1981 in Guildford ) was a British motorsport journalist and racing driver .

Career

Well known to the wider public in Great Britain primarily for his publications, Sammy Davis was also an excellent racing driver. As a member of the legendary Bentley Boys , he achieved a number of racing victories in the 1920s. He achieved his greatest successes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans . As early as 1925, when he first competed on the Sarthe, he and his French partner Jean Chassagne finished second overall in a Sunbeam Sport Le Mans. Two years later, already as a member of the Bentley works team, he secured overall victory together with Dudley Benjafield . Davis drove a total of six times at Le Mans. In addition to the two podium places, there was a ninth place in the overall ranking in 1928 and a seventh place on his last appearance in 1933.

Davis was a founding member of the Vintage Car Club of Great Britain and was elected vice president of the Aston Martin Owner Club in 1935 .

His son Colin Davis also became a racing driver.

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1925	Sunbeam Motor Company	Sunbeam 3 Liter Super Sports	Jean Chassagne	Rank 2 and class win
1926	Bentley Motors Ltd.	Bentley 3 Liter Speed ​​Model	Dudley Benjafield	failure	accident
1927	Bentley Motors Ltd.	Bentley 3 Liter Super Sport	Dudley Benjafield	Overall victory
1928	Alvis Car and Engineering Company	Alvis FA12 / 50	William Urquhart-Dykes	Rank 9
1930	Bentley Motors Ltd.	Bentley Speed ​​Six	Clive Dunfee	failure	accident
1933	Aston Martin Ltd.	Aston Martin 1½ Le Mans	Augustus Bertelli	Rank 7

Web links

• Sammy Davis at Racing Sports Cars