Joseph Dudley "Benjy" Benjafield, MD (6 August 1887 – 20 January 1957) was a British medical doctor and racing driver.

Career

Benjafield was born in

Edmonton, London Edmonton is a town in north London, England within the London Borough of Enfield, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London. The northern part of the town is known as Lower Edmonton or Edmonton Green, and the southern ...

, UK. He attended the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

and received his MD from

University College Hospital University College Hospital (UCH) is a teaching hospital in the Fitzrovia area of the London Borough of Camden, England. The hospital, which was founded as the North London Hospital in 1834, is closely associated with University College Lo ...

in 1912. Specializing in

bacteriology Bacteriology is the branch and specialty of biology that studies the Morphology (biology), morphology, ecology, genetics and biochemistry of bacteria as well as many other aspects related to them. This subdivision of microbiology involves the iden ...

, he served in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and later used his expertise combating the great flu epidemic of 1918–1919. Benjafield had a passion for motorsports which started with boating, but moved on to automobiles in the 1920s, following the accidental destruction of his beloved motor launch. Upon purchasing a

Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of Luxury vehicle, luxury cars and Sport utility vehicle, SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Crickle ...

3-litre, he started racing in 1924 and 1925. Benjafield's success led to him being offered to drive a company racer at the behest of Bentley founder W.O. Bentley. He competed in the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

seven times, and won the event in with co-driver and fellow " Bentley Boy" S. C. H. "Sammy" Davis; while their car was badly damaged, they frantically made on-the-spot repairs and wound up winning the race. Benjafield later created the British Racing Drivers' Club, and continued racing until 1936. He died on 20 January 1957.

Racing record

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

;General * ;Specific Bentley Boys English racing drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers People from Edmonton, London Sportspeople from the London Borough of Enfield Alumni of the University of London 1887 births 1957 deaths Royal Army Medical Corps officers Racing drivers from London 20th-century English sportsmen {{England-autoracing-bio-stub