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George Abecassis
George Edgar Abecassis (21 March 1913 – 18 December 1991) was a British racing driver, and co-founder of the HWM Formula One team. Pre-1946 career Born in Oatlands, Surrey, Abecassis was educated at Clifton College. He began circuit racing in 1935 in a modified Austin Seven which became known as ''The Einsitzer''. After taking 1937 as a year away from the track, he acquired an Alta and made a name for himself in English national racing during the 1938 and 1939 seasons. In 1939, he won the Imperial Trophy Formula Libre race at Crystal Palace, driving his Alta, defeating Prince Bira, in the E.R.A. known as ''Romulus'', in a wet race, "that being the only time it was beaten by a car in the British Isles." At one point, Abecassis held the Campbell circuit lap record at Brooklands at On 3 July 1938 Abecassis broke the Prescott Hill Climb record with a climb of 47.85 seconds in his supercharged 1½-litre Alta. When World War II broke out he joined the Royal Air Force, as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oatlands, Surrey
Oatlands is a village in the north of the English county of Surrey on low, verdant ridges partially overlooking the River Thames. Oatlands acquired its name from the Royal Tudor and Stuart Oatlands Palace, which was built for Henry VIII to the north of Weybridge town centre. Before acquiring its first place of worship it was part of Walton on Thames, and shortly after thereby becoming a village did not qualify for post town status and instead its post town became Weybridge. The towns it adjoins have their centres away. Oatlands has a park, parade of shops, one pub, one Working Men's Club, and three schools. Administratively its borough of Elmbridge electoral ward is Oatlands Park, and its Surrey electoral division is Walton South and Oatlands. Geography The village is elevated from the London Basin and has gentle slopes down to the old village in a slight dip and to Walton-on-Thames. The roads are characterised by many avenues and garden-fronted properties surrounded by par ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crystal Palace (circuit)
Crystal Palace circuit is a former motor racing circuit in Crystal Palace Park in the Crystal Palace area of south London, England. The route of the track is still largely extant but the roads are now mainly used for access to the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre located in the park, and to events within the upper parts of Crystal Palace Park. Some parts of the track are closed off but part is used for an annual Sprint Meeting held on the Spring Bank Holiday weekend, until 2017, when it was held on the August holiday weekend. History The circuit opened in 1927 and the first race, for motorcycles, was on 21 May 1927. The circuit was long, and ran on existing paths through the park, including an infield loop past the lake. The surface had tarmac-covered bends, but the straights only had hard-packed gravel. Improvements begun in December 1936 increased the circuit to , and tarmac covered the entire length. 20 cars entered the first London Grand Prix on 17 July 1937, a race ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stirling Moss
Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British Formula One racing driver. An inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, he won 212 of the 529 races he entered across several categories of competition and has been described as "the greatest driver never to win the World Championship". In a seven-year span between 1955 and 1961 Moss finished as championship runner-up four times and in third place another three times. Early life Moss was born in London, son of Alfred Moss, a dentist of Bray, Berkshire, and Aileen (née Craufurd). His grandfather was Jewish, from a family that changed their surname from Moses to Moss. He was brought up at ''Long White Cloud'' house on the south bank of the River Thames. His father was an amateur racing driver who had come 16th in the 1924 Indianapolis 500. Aileen Moss had also been involved in motorsport, entering prewar hillclimbs at the wheel of a Singer Nine. Stirling was a gifted horse rider ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Formula Two
Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009– 2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name returned in 2017 when the former GP2 Series became known as the FIA Formula 2 Championship. History While Formula One has generally been regarded as the pinnacle of open-wheeled auto racing, the high-performance nature of the cars and the expense involved in the series has always meant a need for a path to reach this peak. For much of the history of Formula One, Formula Two has represented the penultimate step on the motorsport ladder. Pre-war Prior to the Second World War, there usually existed a division of racing for cars smaller and less powerful than Grand Prix racers. This category was usually called voiturette ("small car") racing and provided a means for amateur or less experienced drivers and smaller marques to prove the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alta GP
The Alta Car and Engineering Company was a British sports and racing car manufacturer, commonly known simply as Alta. Their cars contested five FIA World Championship races between 1950 and 1952, as well as Grand Prix events prior to this. They also supplied engines to a small number of other constructors, most notably the Connaught and HWM teams. Early history The company was founded by engineer Geoffrey Taylor (1903–1966) in Surbiton, Surrey, and produced its first automobile in 1929. Alta's first vehicle was a sports car powered by a 1.1L engine, featuring an aluminium block, wet liners, and shaft-driven twin overhead camshafts, which Taylor designed himself. It was offered in naturally aspirated or supercharged form giving . A choice of four speed non- synchromesh or pre-selector gearboxes was available. These were mounted on a low-slung chassis frame with open two- or four-seat bodies. Thirteen were made, of which five are thought to survive. This design, and i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walton-on-Thames
Walton-on-Thames, locally known as Walton, is a market town on the south bank of the Thames in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Walton forms part of the Greater London built-up area, within the KT postcode and is served by a wide range of transport links. According to the 2011 Census, the town has a total population of 22,834. The town itself consists mostly of affluent suburban streets, with a historic town centre of Celtic origin. It is one of the largest towns in the Elmbridge borough, alongside Weybridge. History The name "Walton" is Anglo-Saxon in origin and is cognate with the common phonetic combination meaning "Briton settlement" (literally, "Welsh Town" – weal(as) tun). Before the Romans and the Saxons were present, a Celtic settlement was here. The most common Old English word for the Celtic inhabitants was the "Wealas", originally meaning "foreigners" or "strangers". William Camden identified Cowey Stakes or Sale, Walton as the place where Julius Ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bob Gerard
Frederick Roberts Gerard (19 January 1914, Leicester – 26 January 1990, South Croxton, Leicestershire) was a racing driver and businessman from England. He participated in numerous top-level motor racing events on either side of World War II, including eight World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, scoring no championship points. Early career Bob Gerard was born into a family well acquainted with mechanical transport. His family's business was Parr's Ltd., initially a bicycle manufacturer who, like many others such as Triumph, moved into the newly evolving motor vehicle market at the turn of the 20th century. Parr's, though, was far from a high-performance firm, concentrating mostly on haulage. However, as daily transport his father favoured the sporting Riley brand, and it was with a Riley Nine that Bob Gerard made his first foray into motorsport in the 1933 MCC Land's End trial. Success came immediately, and in this first event Gerard not only completed the demanding ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bugatti
Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a German then French manufacturer of high-performance automobiles. The company was founded in 1909 in the then-German city of Molsheim, Alsace, by the Italian-born industrial designer Ettore Bugatti. The cars were known for their design beauty and for their many race victories. Famous Bugatti automobiles include the Type 35 Grand Prix cars, the Type 41 "Royale", the Type 57 "Atlantic" and the Type 55 sports car. The death of Ettore Bugatti in 1947 proved to be a severe blow for the marque, and the death of his son Jean Bugatti in 1939 meant that there was no successor to lead the factory. No more than about 8,000 cars were made. The company struggled financially, and it released one last model in the 1950s before eventually being purchased for its airplane parts business in 1963. In 1987, an Italian entrepreneur bought the brand name and revived it as Bugatti Automobili SpA. Under Ettore Bugatti Founder Ettore Bugatti was born in Milan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gransden Lodge Airfield
Gransden Lodge Airfield is a former wartime airfield located west of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. The Cambridge University Gliding Club (now Cambridge Gliding Centre) moved to Gransden Lodge in October 1991, having previously shared Duxford Airfield with the Imperial War Museum Duxford. History Gransden Lodge opened in April 1942 as an operational RAF Bomber Command station called RAF Gransden Lodge with three concrete runways. At the end of 1945 the airfield was transferred to Transport Command RAF Transport Command was a Royal Air Force command that controlled all transport aircraft of the RAF. It was established on 25 March 1943 by the renaming of the RAF Ferry Command, and was subsequently renamed RAF Air Support Command in 1967. ... but the last operational squadron was disbanded in February 1946. The RAF station closed in 1955 and it was also used for some motor races, including the first major postwar motor race in the UK on 15 June 1946. Operation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London Gazette
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as ''Londinium'' and retains its medieval boundaries.See also: Independent city § National capitals The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which largely comprises Greater London, governed by the Greater London Authority.The Greater London Authority consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The London Mayor is distinguished from the Lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mentioned In Dispatches
To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of the enemy is described. In some countries, a service member's name must be mentioned in dispatches as a condition for receiving certain decorations. United Kingdom, British Empire, and Commonwealth of Nations Servicemen and women of the British Empire or the Commonwealth who are mentioned in despatches (MiD) are not awarded a medal for their actions, but receive a certificate and wear an oak leaf device on the ribbon of the appropriate campaign medal. A smaller version of the oak leaf device is attached to the ribbon when worn alone. Prior to 2014, only one device could be worn on a ribbon, irrespective of the number of times the recipient was mentioned in despatches. Where no campaign medal is awarded, the oak leaf is worn direc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Following the Allied victory over the Central Powers in 1918, the RAF emerged as the largest air force in the world at the time. Since its formation, the RAF has taken a significant role in British military history. In particular, it played a large part in the Second World War where it fought its most famous campaign, the Battle of Britain. The RAF's mission is to support the objectives of the British Ministry of Defence (MOD), which are to "provide the capabilities needed to ensure the security and defence of the United Kingdom and overseas territories, including against terrorism; to support the Government's foreign policy objectives particularly in promoting international peace and security". ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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