Brighton Speed Trials 1965

Intermittent showers over Madeira Drive on 11 September brought about a set of result’s which would otherwise have seemed inconsistent.

Another factor which had its effect on the day’s times was the introduction of electronic timing, which eliminated the drivers’ reaction times resulting from the former “traffic light” system. Perhaps, in the light—or should I have said darkness—of this change, broken records ought not to be looked upon as quite the achievements they appear to be.

George Brown, who holds the outright record at 19.29 sec. on his supercharged Vincent was unlucky enough to catch the wet on both his runs and came nowhere near reducing his time. He was actually beaten by Ian Ashwell who made F.T.D. on his 998 c.c. supercharged Vincent, at 21.07 sec. on a reasonably dry course.

Chris Summers, who last held the car record in 1962 and has not competed at Brighton since, brought the car record time down to 21.56 sec. in an Ex-Parnell Lotus 24 now powered by a 5.3-litre Chevrolet V8 engine. His second run ended prematurely with a broken gearbox mainshaft. Gordon Parker, in a single cam 1,475 c.c. Cooper Climax, a previous F.T.D. holder, also went out with mechanical trouble.

There were eight new class records and the car course record was broken by the holder by 0.13 sec.