Whitchurch Circuit

Coordinates: 51°24′47″N 2°35′10″W / 51.413°N 2.586°W / 51.413; -2.586

Whitchurch Circuit is an racecourse located near Bristol, England. The Bristol & Wessex Aeroplane Club first flew from this airfield in 1928. It was used by the Army Transport Command during World War II and following the end of the war, was used by British Overseas Airways Corporation, becoming Bristol Airport in 1946, for a brief period. The airport was moved to Lulsgate, where the Lulsgate Circuit was, and has since become Bristol International Airport.

On 1 August 1959, the Bristol Motorcycle and Light Car Club (BM&LCC) organised the first race meeting in conjunction with the Bristol Corporation, who owned the then disused airfield at Whitchurch. The course was 1.0625 miles long, almost flat, and rectangular in shape with four corners known as Dundry, Hangar, Knowle, & Goram. The meeting was consisted of six races, one of which was for Formula Two cars. This race was won by Henry Taylor, at a speed of 66.03mph, from Keith Greene and Tim Parnell, all of whom were Cooper mounted. The fastest lap was set by Taylor at 66.64mph. However, the fastest lap of the day was set by a Formula III car in exactly 53secs (72.17mph) by Jack Pitcher in a race won by Philip Robinson (Stuart-Cooper). It is probable that this is the outright all-time lap record at this track at Whitchurch as this may have been the only car meeting held here, though it is possible that another was held later in this year.

The report of the meeting in Autosport speaks of indifferent weather with only the first and last races being run on a dry track, which probably accounts for the Formula III cars being quickly than Formula 2.^[1][2]

The following weekend, 8 August 1959, the Bristol Motor Cycle Club held a motor-cycle race meeting, with Phil Read winning both the 350cc and 500cc abroad Nortons, taking fastest lap in both at 69.25mph and 72.07mph respectively. Note that this fastest lap was only 0.1mph slowed that Jack Pitcher’s outright lap also using a Norton engine in his Cooper.^[3][4]

Back in 1937, on 22 May, the BM&LCC ran a one-off Speed Trail on the approach road to Whitchurch. The 17 foot wide course was 750 yards long with a slight right followed by a long left hand bend.^[5]

Results - main events [edit]

Year	Date	Winning driver	Winning constructor	Class
1959	August 1	Henry Taylor	Cooper	Formula Two
1959	August 8	Phil Read	Norton	500cc

References [edit]

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