My first serious road race was at Cadwell Park and I soon became the lap record holder in the sidecar class.
The solo wins came a bit
later after building a very light 'Oliver Special'. I had 350cc and 500cc engines
which my friends changed whilst I was out racing in the sidecar. The engine
change was down to a fine art, taking only ten minutes.
Having heard there
were good opportunities on the Continent, I decided to have a try and in 1948
I took over the sidecar outfit, complete with poles etc, as set up for Cadwell.
I did a few meetings, but finished in about third place.
On my return to England I went to see Ron Watson of Watsonian Sidecars, who
gave me all the help I needed. A new sidecar was designed with an all welded
chassis, and a very light body. I also lightened the bike.
On my first try out the performance was quite fantastic, and far superior to
my old outfit.
In my first full year of continental racing in 1949 with the 1938 596cc Norton
Watsonian, we won the World championships. From 1950 on, Norton's loaded me
a works engine for the Grand Prix.
We had some terrific battles with the works Gilera's which were about eight
miles an hour faster and had far better acceleration. It was essential to make
a good start and have enough speed to slipstream them when they came by, out-braking
them on the last bend and taking the lead to win.
During practise for the French Grand Prix, Joe Craig said 'Eric, you will not
out-brake the Gileras tomorrow'. Not wanting to be beaten, my Italian passenger
and I went up every escape road to get our braking down to the last inch. In
the race we went straight into the lead, the best Gileras came by and we tucked
in behind.
At the end of the straight was a right-angle turn, just before the corner I
pulled out of the Gileras' slipstream and moved alongside waiting to see who
would outbrake the other. I gave way first, sat up, and braked hard, and only
just managed to get round the corner. I had the pleasure of seeing the Gileras
rushing up the slip road; this lost them twenty seconds and we won. We used
these tactics, with variations, several times and over the years they helped
us to win the World Championship four times - 1949, 1950, 1951 and 1953. All
on the Norton/Watsonian outfit.
I have often been asked which Grand Prix gave me the most pleasure to win, actually
there were two - the Belgian in 1952 and the Swiss in 1950. Before the Belgian
I had broken a leg at Bordeaux. It was still wired together and the hospital
had supplied me with crutches and a special boot. I promptly went to the local
cobbler who sewed a piece of leather on the top so that it resembled a racing
boot. I was unable to assist the passenger to push start, but it was slightly
downhill anyway.
There were mainly two Gileras and another works Norton against us, but we managed
to win. Perhaps it was because I could not operate the foot brake?
At the Swiss Grand Prix I found my petrol tank was too small so I would have
to stop for petrol. I rode the whole race ten-tenths. At the end of twelve laps,
and a lead of 48 seconds, we stopped for a gallon of petrol. We won with almost
a minute to spare.
This epic ride would not have been possible without one of the world's best
sidecar passengers - Denis Jenkinson. The passenger must also do his job at
ten-tenths.
More to follow when I get the time.