Bentley Record Attempt

Stanley Mann tells us that on April 26th another attack on long-standing records by a vintage Bentley will be made at the banked Millbrook circuit. The plan is to try to break the existing British 1000-mile record, with the rebuilt Bentley-Jackson, the former “Mother Gunn” raced by Richard Marker, used by George Harvey Noble to take the last BARC 130mph badge at Brooklands in 1939, and rebuilt painstakingly by Vaughan Davis, that 100% Bentley enthusiast, in conjunction with Stanley Mann. This team raised the British Class B 200-mile, and British unlimited three hour and 500-mile records at Millbrook in 1989/90, lapping at up to 120 mph.

The new record bid is intended to raise money for the Brooklands Museum Trust, has sponsorship from Rolls-Royce Motors (others are needed) and the support of HRH Prince Michael of Kent. Before the war the British standing-start 1000-mile record stood to the credit of Parry Thomas, George Duller and Lionel Rapson, with the single-seater Lanchester Forty, at 95.27 mph, set at Brooklands in September 1924. (The World record was held by Abe Jenkins’ 25.3-litre Mormon Meteor, at 168.11 mph, and the International Class-B record for that distance by Jenkins and Guletta with a 6.8-litre Duesenberg Special, at 137.87 mph). It may seem rather hard on old Brooklands to take away records established there long ago. But Mann’s attempt is a very sporting affair, and wherever you are on the last Sunday in April, spare a thought for the drivers of the revived Bentley-Jackson and wish them luck!