Quote:
Originally Posted by chunterer
Wow thanks for the offerings Vitesse, these are names that not many people under the age of 40 would have thought of I suspect?
Can you tell us some more about them please?
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Although Pat Fairfield was born in Liverpool, he emigrated to South Africa with his parents at the age of 15 in 1922. He returned to Britain in 1933, working for Freddie Dixon and racing Rileys. In 1935 he became the first private owner of an ERA, purchasing an ex-works 1100cc car which he used to win the 1935 Nuffield Trophy handicap and the Dieppe GP - the latter against a strong field of 1500cc cars which included the works ERAs. His 1935 performances gained him a works drive for ERA, although that wasn't exactly a blessing in 1936, as the team had a poor year. 1937 was undoubtedly the year he "came of age" though: he won the South African GP, Coronation Trophy and Nuffield Trophy for ERA and was well-placed in other races. Sadly, he was one of two drivers killed in a seven-car crash early in the Le Mans 24 Hours that year.
Wilson had raced in South Africa before coming to Europe, his first race north of the Equator being in Cork in 1938. Another ERA privateer, who had bought Fairfield's old car, he raced in Europe in both 1938 and 1939, although his results don't really reflect his talent. During WW2 he served in the RAF (not the SAAF as some sources state) and was killed when an early prototype Lancaster crashed on Salisbury Plain in 1942. For reasons I haven't yet discovered, he was buried in Edinburgh, even though he was based at Boscombe Down.
For copyright reasons I can't hotlink the picture of Wilson that I mentioned, but you can find it here:
http://www.klemcoll.com/image/203L-38.aspx?page=