Post by administrator on Sept 8, 2009 12:07:37 GMT 1
CHAPTER FOUR
Australia
1936: Contrary to my statement in chapter one, Jean Reville seems not to have raced in Australia after the somewhat intermittent season for which he was engaged, and in which he enjoyed only patchy success. At the end of the season, he landed in hospital with an injured hand and arm, perhaps exacerbating the injury received at Crystal Palace in 1934. All three Gnats that he had taken with him to Australia were sold in March 1936.
An Australian neighbour of the elderly Jean Reville recalled that he was an entertaining and persuasive talker, who could sell you anything. However, a junior-school friend of his Australian son Bruce recalled Jean as full of talk about his great past, but commented ‘no-one believed him’. Some of his claims will be examined in Part 3. His persuasive abilities were tested in another field, when he stood (but was not elected) as a Group B candidate for Queensland in the Australian Federal elections in November 1958, and again in 1972.
A Race Meeting
Let us remember Jean Reville in his brief prime, as an excellent and competitive dare-devil of a racing driver. Here reproduced in its entirety is a rather breathless account from the Wimbledon Boro’ News of 1 June 1934, which gives the flavour of a typical midget car race meeting, and of the incidents and accidents which might befall a ‘racing motorist’. (The dirt-track at Crystal Palace was built within the Corinthians’ football stadium in 1927, and used for motorcycle events from 1928. The track circuit would measure only some 350 yards.) Note that in this article ‘Marett’ may be a mistake for ‘Marriot’.
From the Wimbledon Boro’ News 9 March 1934:
Midget Cars in Collision
Wimbledon Drivers’ Thrilling Race
A large crowd at Crystal Palace Speedway on Saturday saw Victor Gillow beat Jean Reville, the Wimbledon racing motorist, in the first heats of the British Individual Midget Car Dirt Track Championship, organised by the Speedway Racing Drivers Club, Merton Park Parade, Wimbledon. There were, as usual, thrills and spills in every race, although all the drivers concerned luckily escaped unhurt. The standard of racing was particularly good with fast times and close finishes being the order of the evening. The main attraction was the first heats of the British Individual Championships, in which the first two contenders were Victor Gillow and Jean Reville. These two drivers met each other in three 4-lap races, each run off from a rolling start. They proved the two fastest drivers throughout the meeting.
In Heat 1 Reville and Gillow entered the first bend side by side at over 45 mph and for a lap they were practically locked together until Reville gained a slight lead coming out of the Paddock bend, and held it to the finish, winning by ten yards in the excellent time of 95 seconds. Before the commencement of Heat 2 Gillow took the precaution of changing over to rough-tread tyres, owing to the treacherous nature of the track.
From the inside position and with slightly better acceleration off the mark, Gillow was into the first bend some distance ahead of Reville, who nothing daunted kept his foot down for the remainder of the race. In spite of the fact that he twice over-slid and hit the fence, Reville succeeded in slightly reducing Gillow’s lead. However, the latter eventually won by 12 yards in 94.4 seconds.
Spoiled by Mishap
In Heat 3 both cars were smartly off the mark and into the first bend together. What promised to be the most exciting of the heats was spoilt through Reville getting an eyeful of cinders while crossing behind Gillow to the inside position. With a clear track, Gillow then proceeded to give what was probably his finest display of spectacular driving on the Crystal Palace track, winning by about 15 yards in the record time of 94.2 seconds.
In the second semi-final of the Crystal Palace scratch race, Jean Reville (Palmer Special) emerged from a tremendous cloud of dust with Leon Marett (Palmer Special) also of Wimbledon, hot on his heels, while Hagborg and Pat Regan were fighting a separate battle for third place some considerable distance in the rear. For three whole laps Reville and Marett thundered round with only inches separating their cars, until Reville struck a bump on entering the Paddock bend, which caused his car to leap quite two feet in the air, colliding with Marett’s car as it came to earth again.
With a terrific wrench on the steering wheel Reville coolly averted what might have been a nasty accident by broad-siding his car completely off the track. He was, however, travelling at such a speed that that it took the whole length of the football pitch to bring the car to a standstill. It was then found that the steering of Reville’s car was ... badly damaged, and in addition, a badly sprained wrist would not permit him to compete again in the meeting. The race was finally won by Marett, with Pat Regan second, in 99 seconds.
Gillow again scored in the final with Hagborg second, Pat Regan third and Marett last. The absence of Reville robbed the race of much of its interest, as the spectators were eagerly anticipating another Reville-Gillow duel. Gillow won by 40 yards in 96 seconds. This Saturday there will be record attempts and match races
Australia
1936: Contrary to my statement in chapter one, Jean Reville seems not to have raced in Australia after the somewhat intermittent season for which he was engaged, and in which he enjoyed only patchy success. At the end of the season, he landed in hospital with an injured hand and arm, perhaps exacerbating the injury received at Crystal Palace in 1934. All three Gnats that he had taken with him to Australia were sold in March 1936.
An Australian neighbour of the elderly Jean Reville recalled that he was an entertaining and persuasive talker, who could sell you anything. However, a junior-school friend of his Australian son Bruce recalled Jean as full of talk about his great past, but commented ‘no-one believed him’. Some of his claims will be examined in Part 3. His persuasive abilities were tested in another field, when he stood (but was not elected) as a Group B candidate for Queensland in the Australian Federal elections in November 1958, and again in 1972.
A Race Meeting
Let us remember Jean Reville in his brief prime, as an excellent and competitive dare-devil of a racing driver. Here reproduced in its entirety is a rather breathless account from the Wimbledon Boro’ News of 1 June 1934, which gives the flavour of a typical midget car race meeting, and of the incidents and accidents which might befall a ‘racing motorist’. (The dirt-track at Crystal Palace was built within the Corinthians’ football stadium in 1927, and used for motorcycle events from 1928. The track circuit would measure only some 350 yards.) Note that in this article ‘Marett’ may be a mistake for ‘Marriot’.
From the Wimbledon Boro’ News 9 March 1934:
Midget Cars in Collision
Wimbledon Drivers’ Thrilling Race
A large crowd at Crystal Palace Speedway on Saturday saw Victor Gillow beat Jean Reville, the Wimbledon racing motorist, in the first heats of the British Individual Midget Car Dirt Track Championship, organised by the Speedway Racing Drivers Club, Merton Park Parade, Wimbledon. There were, as usual, thrills and spills in every race, although all the drivers concerned luckily escaped unhurt. The standard of racing was particularly good with fast times and close finishes being the order of the evening. The main attraction was the first heats of the British Individual Championships, in which the first two contenders were Victor Gillow and Jean Reville. These two drivers met each other in three 4-lap races, each run off from a rolling start. They proved the two fastest drivers throughout the meeting.
In Heat 1 Reville and Gillow entered the first bend side by side at over 45 mph and for a lap they were practically locked together until Reville gained a slight lead coming out of the Paddock bend, and held it to the finish, winning by ten yards in the excellent time of 95 seconds. Before the commencement of Heat 2 Gillow took the precaution of changing over to rough-tread tyres, owing to the treacherous nature of the track.
From the inside position and with slightly better acceleration off the mark, Gillow was into the first bend some distance ahead of Reville, who nothing daunted kept his foot down for the remainder of the race. In spite of the fact that he twice over-slid and hit the fence, Reville succeeded in slightly reducing Gillow’s lead. However, the latter eventually won by 12 yards in 94.4 seconds.
Spoiled by Mishap
In Heat 3 both cars were smartly off the mark and into the first bend together. What promised to be the most exciting of the heats was spoilt through Reville getting an eyeful of cinders while crossing behind Gillow to the inside position. With a clear track, Gillow then proceeded to give what was probably his finest display of spectacular driving on the Crystal Palace track, winning by about 15 yards in the record time of 94.2 seconds.
In the second semi-final of the Crystal Palace scratch race, Jean Reville (Palmer Special) emerged from a tremendous cloud of dust with Leon Marett (Palmer Special) also of Wimbledon, hot on his heels, while Hagborg and Pat Regan were fighting a separate battle for third place some considerable distance in the rear. For three whole laps Reville and Marett thundered round with only inches separating their cars, until Reville struck a bump on entering the Paddock bend, which caused his car to leap quite two feet in the air, colliding with Marett’s car as it came to earth again.
With a terrific wrench on the steering wheel Reville coolly averted what might have been a nasty accident by broad-siding his car completely off the track. He was, however, travelling at such a speed that that it took the whole length of the football pitch to bring the car to a standstill. It was then found that the steering of Reville’s car was ... badly damaged, and in addition, a badly sprained wrist would not permit him to compete again in the meeting. The race was finally won by Marett, with Pat Regan second, in 99 seconds.
Gillow again scored in the final with Hagborg second, Pat Regan third and Marett last. The absence of Reville robbed the race of much of its interest, as the spectators were eagerly anticipating another Reville-Gillow duel. Gillow won by 40 yards in 96 seconds. This Saturday there will be record attempts and match races
(c) DAVID HAUNTON 2009