Leslie Johnson

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Leslie Johnson
Nationality  Flag of the United Kingdom British
Formula One World Championship career
Active years 1950
Teams ERA
Races 1
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podium finishes    0
Career points 0
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 0
First race 1950 British Grand Prix
Last race 1950 British Grand Prix

Leslie George Johnson (22 March 1912 – 8 June 1959) was a British racing driver who competed in rallies, hill climbs, sports car races and Grand Prix races.

Contents

[edit] Overview

Leslie Johnson was born and raised in Walthamstow, at that time one of London’s poorer districts. His father was a cabinet fitter who died soon after starting his own business. Johnson, then in his mid-teens, took charge of the firm. The employees responded to his enlightened, philanthropic management with loyalty and dedication which, allied to Johnson’s astute business brain, helped create the successful furniture manufacturing business that funded his entry into motor sport.

When competition resumed after World War II he progressed from rallies to hill climbs and sports car racing. He demonstrated world-class skill but was never to commit himself fully to racing, as business interests remained his primary focus. Further, his heart and kidneys were permanently damaged by nephritis and acromegaly in childhood. Together his ill-health and businesses responsibilities constrained a racing career that might otherwise have been more successful.

He specialized in European endurance races such as Le Mans and the Mille Miglia. He also broke several world speed records for production sports cars.

Among his close friends were Jaguar founder William Lyons (to whom he lent his BMW 328 for detailed mechanical investigation during the planning and design of the Jaguar XK120) and Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix engineering supremo Rudolph Uhlenhaut. (Johnson used three Mercedes-Benz road cars: 300SL “gullwing,” 300 “Adenauer” saloon, and 220S “ponton” saloon.)

Altruistic by nature, he initiated and negotiated Stirling Moss's first commercial sponsorship deal - with Shell.

He was married to the widow of Anglo-French driver Pierre Maréchal, and stepfather to her son Christian Maréchal, an advertising copywriter, UK ultralight aviation pioneer and freelance journalist.

Johnson’s worsening heart condition finally forced his retirement from competition in 1954. He bought a farm in Gloucestershire that included three houses: one was for himself and his family, one for his farm manager, and one for his bank manager. He still managed to run his Maidenhead-based company Prototype Engineering, which produced precision components for the fledgling nuclear industry. Towards the end of his life he developed a keen interest in the “Sport of Kings” and owned several racehorses.

He died in 1959, aged 46, at Foxcote House, the family’s home in the village of Foxcote, Gloucestershire, England.

[edit] Review of competition career

[edit] Rallies

Johnson’s involvement in motor sport began and ended with rallying. Successes included:

  • 1937: Winner, Scottish Rally. Winner, Torquay Rally (BMW 328).
  • 1939: 3rd, RAC Rally. (BMW 328).
  • 1954: Winner, Team Prize, Monte Carlo Rally, with Stirling Moss and Sheila van Damm (Sunbeam-Talbot Mk. IIAs). Johnson suffered a serious heart attack during the rally but insisted on his co-drivers completing the event (to secure the Team Prize) before taking him to the Monte Carlo hospital that saved his life.

[edit] Hillclimbing

Johnson competed in numerous British hill climbs in 1946. Notable results included:

  • First and second, Shelsley Walsh Speed Hill Climb International meeting June 1; Talbot-Lago T150C and BMW 328. John Eason Gibson reported: “It was noticeable that Johnson was one of the select few who deliberately slid their cars into the swerves, in preference to waiting for a centrifugally inspired slide to compel them to dice a bit…the high praise poured on Johnson by Sommer and Chiron, for his driving at Brussels, has been confirmed elsewhere.”
  • 4th and 5th, Bugatti Owners Club Prescott Speed Hill Climb June 23; Talbot-Lago and BMW 328.
  • 2nd, Bugatti Owners Club Prescott Speed Hill Climb July 28; Talbot-Lago.
  • First, FTD and course record, Scottish Sporting Club Bo’ness Speed Hill Climb September 7; Talbot-Lago. Achieved on his first acquaintance with the course.
  • 2nd (to Sidney Allard’s Allard), Jersey Motor Club Boulay Bay Speed Hill Climb October 17; Talbot-Lago.

[edit] Racing: sports cars

His early races were with a BMW 328 and a Talbot-Lago T150C sports-racing car. Louis Chiron had driven the latter to victory in the 1937 French Grand Prix. Johnson fitted extra fuel tanks in the tail and cockpit for long-distance racing.

  • 1946: 2nd overall and fastest lap, Brussels International Sports Car Race, Spa; BMW. The Motor reported his performance as that of "a budding Dick Seaman" and added: "Sommer and Chiron danced with fiendish glee as Johnson took the esses in a single controlled slide. Chiron said he had the flair of Nuvolari. Sommer, inarticulate with emotion, kissed the poor chap."[1]

Johnson competed five times at Le Mans:

  • 1949: DNF, Aston Martin DB2; retired from the lead with mechanical trouble.
  • 1950: DNF, Jaguar XK120; clutch failure after 21 hours while lying third and catching the leader at a rate that would have seen the Jaguar in the lead before the full 24 hours had elapsed[2]—an effort that convinced William Lyons it was worth investing in success at Le Mans.[3]
  • 1951: DNF, Jaguar C-Type.
  • 1952: 3rd overall out of 57 starters, behind two factory-entered Mercedes-Benz W194 300SLs; first in class, ahead of triple Le Mans winner Luigi Chinetti’s Ferrari; second in Index of Performance; winner, Gold Challenge Cup. Nash-Healey (a lightweight competition version hastily constructed for the race—the body was fabricated in less than a week; the entire car built from scratch in a fortnight).
  • 1953: 11th out of 60 starters; Nash-Healey.

He also competed in four Mille Miglia races:

  • 1950: 5th, Jaguar XK120. The best-ever result by an Englishman driving a British car,[3] in this instance a production model beaten only by lightweight competition cars entered by Alfa Romeo (Fangio’s came third) and Ferrari.
  • 1951: DNF, Ferrari-Jaguar "Biondetti Special" shared with his 1950 Le Mans partner and four-time Mille Miglia winner Clemente Biondetti.
  • 1952: 7th to Bracco's winning works team Ferrari, the works Mercedes-Benz 300SLs of Kling and Caracciola, and three works Lancias. Lightweight competition Nash-Healey, with Daily Telegraph motoring correspondent Bill McKenzie as passenger.
  • 1953: DNF, Jaguar C-Type.

His name is closely associated with Jaguar; particularly the XK120 model. The uniquely illustrious competition history of his white car, road-registered as JWK 651, made it the world’s most valuable XK120 when it sold at auction for £230,000 ($350,000) in 2001. His successes with the car included the first-ever victories for the XK120 in Europe and the United States:

  • 1949: Winner, Silverstone Daily Express International Sports Car Race. The XK120's first-ever European race.
  • 1950: Winner in class, 4th overall, Palm Beach Shores, Florida sports car race. The XK120’s first-ever American race. The success launched Jaguar in the U.S. market.

[edit] Racing: single-seaters

Johnson raced Delage, Talbot-Lago and ERA cars in single-seater events between 1946 and 1950.

In August 1946, in his first drive in a "proper" racing car, albeit one that was already 20 years old, he broke the lap record at the Ards circuit (the Ulster venue of the RAC Tourist Trophy race from 1928 to 1936). The car was the supercharged straight-eight Delage previously raced by Earl Howe, Dick Seaman and Prince Bira. The clutch failed to release at the start so the car had to be pushed off the line. Having lost some 200 yards to the rest of the field, Johnson worked his way up to fourth behind Prince Bira, Reg Parnell and Bob Gerard but a spark plug melted four laps from the end, forcing him out. (He consoled himself with fastest average in the subsequent handicap race with his BMW 328.)[4]

He entered three 1947 Grands Prix with his 1937 Talbot-Lago T150C. To convert it to Grand Prix configuration he simply removed its mudguards. The results were:

  • 6th, Jersey International Road Race. Finished ahead of several Maserati and ERA single-seaters.
  • 7th, Belgian Grand Prix.
  • DNF, Swiss Grand Prix. He retired after the Talbot-Lago locked a brake entering a corner, slid wide, and killed two photographers lying in the grass, a tragedy that always haunted him.

In November 1947 he acquired English Racing Automobiles, together with one of their prewar ERA E-Type single-seaters. The car was fast but fragile, and Johnson's 1948 results were disappointing despite a lap record and a fastest lap:

ERA E-Type GP2 driven by Leslie Johnson in the 1948 and 1950 British Grands Prix.
ERA E-Type GP2 driven by Leslie Johnson in the 1948 and 1950 British Grands Prix.
  • DNF, Grand Prix du Salon, Montlhéry. Lap record and pole position, but the fuel tank split in the race.
  • DNF, British Grand Prix, Silverstone. Autosport magazine reported that he posted fastest lap in the opening practice session, 'good enough for Johnson to be a front row man, and a potential winner!' In the race, 'Chiron led off the starting line . . . with Parnell (Maserati) and Johnson [5th on the grid] dicing just astern, and as the ERA went into . . . the first turn on the first lap, there was a "crash and a bang" and the E-Type rolled to a standstill . . . leaving a trail of flame and smoke in its wake.' A driveshaft universal joint had failed.
  • 5th and fastest lap (shared with Parnell's 4CLT Maserati), British Empire Trophy.

1949 saw three promising results from five entries:

  • DNF, British Grand Prix, Silverstone -- Britain's first World Championship Grand Prix.
  • 5th, Richmond Trophy, Goodwood.
  • 3rd, Chichester Trophy.
  • 3rd, British Empire Trophy, despite broken rear shock-absorbers.
  • DNS, Jersey Road Race. Second fastest to Italian champion Luigi Villoresi's Maserati in practice, but engine bearing failure kept the car out of the race.

But in 1950 Johnson found himself repeatedly sidelined again by the car's unreliability:

Other outings ended in steering failure and another split fuel tank.

Johnson’s ambitious and technically advanced E-Type successor, the G-Type ERA, was designed to race in both Grands Prix and Formula 2. The anticipated development funds did not materialize, and the car was unsuccessful even in the hands of Stirling Moss.

[edit] Record-breaking

Johnson set numerous world records with Jaguar and Sunbeam-Talbot Alpine sports cars at the Autodrome de Montlhéry, the banked oval track near Paris; most notably:

  • 1950: 107.46 mph for 24 hours; Johnson’s Jaguar XK120 roadster; co-driver Stirling Moss.
  • 1951: 131.83 miles in one hour; Johnson solo with the XK120. "No mean feat...driving at almost twice today's maximum (UK) speed limit into a steep turn, assaulted by the g-force induced by 30 degree banking twice every minute, using Forties technology, leaf spring suspension and narrow crossply tyres...Johnson remarked that the car felt so good it could have gone on for another week, an off-the-cuff comment that sowed the seed for another idea. Flat out for a week...[3]
  • 1952: 100.31 mph for 7 days and 7 nights; Jaguar XK120 coupé; co-drivers Stirling Moss, Bert Hadley and Jack Fairman.

For the week-long 1952 marathon Jaguar's founder, mindful of the considerable kudos and advertising mileage that had already accrued from Johnson's efforts, commandeered a brand new gold-colored XK120 FHC for him: it was Jaguar chief engineer Walter Hassan's car, the second right-hand drive coupé made.[3]

Moss recalled:

"...in mid-summer Leslie Johnson had another of his ideas. Having averaged 100mph for 24 hours at Montlhery he now talked Jaguar into attempting 100mph for a week!...We again drove in three-hour spells. The speedbowl lap was under a minute at 120mph, so it was quite a strain. After each straight we hit the banking high up near the lip, then plunged off, twice every fifty seconds, night and day. In each spell we would cover about 2000 laps. It was impossible to keep one's mind occupied on a job like that. We had a two-way radio which helped keep boredom at bay. We talked all the time, called each other names, even told stories. One dare not let the mind wander, because we were running within four feet of the banking lip at around 120mph. One had to concentrate on something. I worked out how many million revs the engine made in a day, how many times the wheels turned, things like that.
The weather did not help; hot by day, cold at night. Night driving was a strain too, because we couldn't afford the drain on the battery of extra lights. The headlights had to be set very high to let us see the top of the banking when we were on it, and this meant that on the short straights we could see nothing at all because the beams were playing in the air.
We hit several hares, rabbits and birds, and Leslie swore at one point that he'd seen a huge ten-foot tall figure in a long cloak, wearing a tall pointed hat, striding toward him along the verge. Next time round the figure had gone...it worried the life out of him for the rest of his stint. In fact I had donned a Shell fuel funnel, pulled a tarpaulin around me and sat on Jack Fairman's shoulders as he strode along the verge. After Leslie had whizzed by we ran away and hid...All very childish, but good fun in the circumstances. Leslie then had an extraordinary idea to get his own back during one of my stints. I came whistling off the banking to find him sitting with Jack Fairman in the middle of the track, playing cards!
Then he took the pit signal board and put it out on the track, so that my natural line past the pits took me between it and the timekeeper's hut. He was lounging beside the hut so I waved to him as I shot though the gap. Next time round the board had been moved closer to the hut. The gap was narrower, but I couldn't leave the fast line so I shot through it again. Next time round, he'd moved the board closer still. Each lap he narrowed the gap which made me concentrate harder to pass through it. Eventually he gave in, and the board went back to its proper position, hung on the tent. At least it passed the time..."

Montlhéry's concrete surface was rough, and the Jaguar broke a spring when it was already well into the run. No spare was carried on board. Regulations stipulated that an outside replacement would make the car ineligible for any further records beyond those already achieved before the repair. Johnson drove nine hours to save the other drivers from added risk while the speed had to be maintained on the broken spring. When finally he stopped to have it replaced, the car had taken the world and Class C 72-hour records at 105.55 mph, world and Class C four-day records at 101.17 mph, Class C 10,000-kilometer record at 107.031 mph, world and Class C 15,000-kilometer records at 101.95 mph, and world and Class C 10,000-mile records at 100.65 mph. After the repair the car went on to complete the full seven days and nights.

Johnson's team covered a total of 16,851.73 miles at an average speed of 100.31 mph.

[edit] Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 WDC Points
1950 ERA Ltd ERA E ERA GBR
Ret		 MON
 500
 SUI
 BEL
 FRA
 ITA
 - 0


[edit] References

  1. ^ Maréchal, Christian: "Learning Curves" Classic and Sportscar June 1966 p.92
  2. ^ Buckley, Martin: Jaguar: Fifty Years of Speed and Style p.120. Haynes Publishing 2003, ISBN 1-85960-872-2
  3. ^ a b c d Nevinson, Tim: "Flat out for a week" Thoroughbred and Classic Cars June 2008 p. 84.
  4. ^ Race report titled "Ulster" by John Eason Gibson in Motor Racing 1946 published 1948 by Motor Racing Publications Ltd.
  • Stirling Moss: My Cars, My Career Stirling Moss and Doug Nye, pub. 1992 Patrick Stephens, B000J4W6TU
  • Motor Sport magazine, 1938 - 1954
  • The Motor magazine, 1938 - 1954
  • Motor Racing 1946 Year Book of the British Racing Drivers' Club, pub. 1948 Motor Racing Publications Ltd.
  • Motor Racing 1947 Year Book of the British Racing Drivers' Club, John Eason Gibson, pub. 1948 Motor Racing Publications Ltd.
  • Montlhéry: The Story of the Paris Autodrome, 1924-1960 William Boddy and G.E.T. Eyston, pub. 1961 Cassell, England

[edit] External links

  • ERA history [1]
  • ERA G-Type [2]
  • Jaguar XK120 Montlhéry endurance record breaker [3]
  • Talbot Lago T150C similar to Johnson's [4]