Topic: Solved NIC #62 - Henri de Barry at 1955 Tourist Trophy

[nicanary]

Sorry. I couldn't stay away from my motorsport history for long. What race is this, and who is the driver of the leading car? To complete the point on offer, what happened to the car during the race?

[nicanary]

This won't last long. Experts at the ready.......

[D-type]

1955 Tourist Trophy at Dundrod
Henri de Barry in a Mercedes-Benz 300SL
He was later disqualified for driving dangerously slowly

[nicanary]

1955 Tourist Trophy at Dundrod
Henri de Barry in a Mercedes-Benz 300SL
He was later disqualified for driving dangerously slowly

Well, yes. Exactly. I realised after posting the puzzle that perhaps it was a bit too easy for AP, but hoped a Rookie would bite at an easy point.

I think the driver was titled - the Vicompte de Barry. He was certainly no more than a wealthy "gentleman" amateur, completely out of his depth even amongst some of the British "club" drivers taking part. The circuit at Dundrod was notoriously narrow and rough, highly dangerous at the best of times, and his driving didn't help matters. Nobody blamed him for the fatal crashes which happened during the race, but the puzzle photo shows the queue of smaller cars which were being held up for lap after lap - the power of the 300SL meant that he could keep them behind on the straights, and they couldn't get past his slow progress on the twiddly bits.

I reckon the organisers still had the Le Mans tragedy in the back of their minds - it had only been 3 months before. You don't find competitors in an international race being black-flagged for slow driving, very often. When you consider that the Northern Irish are famed for their easy-going manner, and their great desire to accomodate their guests, then the decision becomes even more meaningful.

The race itself was an absolute cracker - such a pity that it was ruined by other, more tragic, events.

[D-type]

I think that the fatalities can be laid at de Barry's door.  Didn't Jim Mayers in the Cooper crash into a gate post while trying to get past de Barry and Bill Smith's Connaught then hit his car, both drivers being killed? (Jim Russell's Cooper, Friedrich Kretschmann's Porsche, Peter Jopp's Lotus, Ken Wharton's Frazer-Nash and Lance Macklin's Austin Healey were also involved in the same acident.)

Incidentally, here is Doug Nye's caption for this photo:

Leading the queue behind the blue Mercedes is Ivor Bueb in the works Cooper 'Bobtail' he co-drove with Mike MacDowel. Ivor found a way past the mobile chicane. Behind him is Kretschmann in the Raymond Flower-entered Porsche 550 Spyder, followed by (I believe) Jim Mayers in the 'Bobtail' Cooper he was sharing with Jack Brabham (almost hidden behind the Porsche), then Ken Wharton in the special-bodied Frazer Nash, probably Peter Jopp in the Lotus Mark IX and then white-helmeted Bill Smith in the Connaught ALSR.

[nicanary]

I must admit I've always thought the same as yourself - it could have been sheer frustration by the drivers behind de Barry which led to the tragedy. But I've looked in Wimpffen's records and the Richard Hough history of the TT, and they say nothing of this reasoning. Indeed Wimpffen (whose summary admittedly is brief) says that Mayers "inexplicably" hit a gatepost.

Best leave sleeping dogs to lie, I suppose, although the day of the rich "gentleman driver" is not yet over, if reports of driving standards in historic racing are to be believed. The better drivers (and they are REALLY good) are frequently complaining about the wealthy owners who insist on racing their cars, but don't have the talent to do it without being a danger to others.