10 - Viva Lewes

was Adrian Conan-Doyle, son of Sir Arthur, a
spendthrift playboy living on the proceeds of
his father’s estate, who also gained fame as a
big-game hunter.
One man, Jack Lemon Burton, drove his birthday
present, a Bugatti Type 37A, to a triumphant
�rst place at Lewes in Sept 1932. The idea
of watching a Type 37 being pushed to the limit
is something of which dreams are now made.
The following year saw the legendary French/
Italian designer and test engineer Jean Bugatti
attend the races. The Speed Trials were now at
the top of their game.
Another legend, Bill Boddy, then editor of
Motor Sport, was also notably successful, with
LEWES IN H ISTORY
Peter Clark in a 1.5-litre HRG (previously driven at Le Mans) courtesy of Ferret Fotographics
a third-place run in his 1497cc HRG sports car,
on the 4th September 1937 [Bill sadly died during
the research of this piece]. Two years later
the great Sydney Allard played a starring role
with a class win in July 1939.
By then, of course, storm clouds were looming
in Europe, and the last race meeting at
Lewes took place on August 19th of that year,
barely two weeks before Neville Chamberlain
announced his declaration of war against Nazi
Germany, after the invasion of Poland. As
Jeremy Wood concludes in his book ‘Lewes
was very much a course for its time, and could
not have existed in a more regulated post-war
world.’ Mike Ward-Sale
25