1937 Campbell Trophy

  1937 Campbell Trophy Grand Prix

Race details
Layout of the Brooklands circuit
Date	1 May 1937
Official name	I Campbell Trophy
Location	Brooklands Weybridge, United Kingdom
Course	Permanent racing facility 3.648 km (2.267 mi)
Distance	100 laps, 364.8 km (226.7 mi)
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	Peter Walker	P. Whitehead
Time	1:52.2
Fastest lap
Driver	Richard Penn, 5th Earl Howe and Raymond Mays	ERA ERA
Time	1:53.0
Podium
First	Prince Bira	Prince Chula of Siam
Second	Teddy Rayson	E. Rayson
Third	Anthony Powys-Lybbe	A. Powys-Lybbe

The 1937 Campbell Trophy (formally known as I Campbell Trophy) was a Grand Prix that was held on 1 May 1937 at Brooklands near Weybridge, United Kingdom. It was the fourth round of the 1937 Grand Prix season, but it did not count towards the championship. The race, contested over 100 laps of 3.65 km, was won in the Class over 1500cc by Prince Bira, the only non-British driver in this event, driving a Maserati 8CM after starting from fourth position on the grid. The victory in the 1500cc Class was taken by Teddy Rayson, driving a Maserati 4C.

Entries

No.	Driver	Entrant	Car	DNA/DNS
1500cc Class
1	Bill Humphreys	B. Humphreys	MG	DNA - rear axle
2	Prince Bira	"B Bira"	Delage	DNA - car not ready
3	Arthur Dobson	A.C. Dobson	ERA B-Type
4	Ian Connell	I. Connell	ERA B-Type
5	Reggie Tongue	R. Tongue	ERA B-Type
6	Denis Scribbans	D. Scribbans	ERA B-Type
7	Peter Walker	P. Whitehead	ERA B-Type
7	Peter Whitehead	P. Whitehead	ERA B-Type	DNS - Walker started in his car
8	Earl Howe	Earl Howe	ERA B-Type
9	Raymond Mays	H.W. Cook	ERA B-Type
10	Patrick Fairfield	H.W. Cook	ERA	DNS - brake problems
11	Andrew Leitch	Hon P. Aitken	Maserati	DNA
12	Peter Aitken	Hon P. Aitken	Maserati 6CM
14	Robin Hanson	Mrs. M.E. Hall-Smith	Maserati 6CM
15	Teddy Rayson	E. Rayson	Maserati 4CM
16	Mrs Gwenda Hawkes	Mrs G. Hawkes	Derby	DNA
17	"Jack" Bartlett	J. Bartlett	Alta	DNA
18	Philip Jucker	P. Jucker	Alta
18	Alan Sinclair	P. Jucker	Alta	DNS - Jucker started in his car
Class over 1500cc (Voiturette class)
19	Charlie Dodson	F.W. Dixon	Dixon-Riley Special
20	Cyril Mervyn White	C. Mervyn White	Bugatti T51
21	Anthony Powys-Lybbe	A. Powys-Lybbe	Alfa Romeo Monza
22	Anthony Hamilton	A. Hamilton	Alfa Romeo Monza
23	Walter "Wilkie" Wilkinson	R.C. Fleming	Alfa Romeo Monza
24	Christopher Staniland	C. Staniland	Alfa Romeo Tipo B
25	Charles Brackenbury	C.E.C. Martin	Alfa Romeo Tipo B
26	Kenneth Evans	K. Evans	Alfa Romeo Tipo B
26	"Bill" Everitt	K. Evans	Alfa Romeo Tipo B	DNS - Evans started in his car
27	Prince Bira	Prince Chula of Siam	Maserati 8CM
28	Francis Ashby	A.F. Ashby	Alfa Romeo Tipo B
29	Austin Dobson	Hon P. Aitken	Alfa Romeo Bimotore
29	Austin Dobson	Hon P. Aitken	Maserati	DNS - He started in another car

Qualifying results

• Drivers shown in cursive drove in the 1500cc class.

Race report

At the start of the race, Aitken stalled his Maserati, so it was pushed away to be started elsewhere. After just one lap, Bira had taken the lead followed by Howe and Walker. However, Walker's engine stopped and, after eight laps, his gearbox broke, so he retired. Likewise did Mays (brake problems) and Dodson (overheated engine).

Bira kept the lead until Howe, who celebrated his fifty-third birthday on this day, overtook him in the nineteenth lap. However, six laps later Howe hit an earth bank on the Vickers bridge and the front of the car hit the palisade. The car then bounced to the other side of the track and ended up on its right side. Howe suffered injuries on the head, arm, shoulder and ribs.

At this point Bira was again first, with Austin Dobson and Rayson behind him, until Dobson's clutch broke in the thirty-first lap. Staniland fell back due to brake problems, as did Arthur Dobson, who had a cup of tea while his mechanics changed the front brake shoes on his ERA. He eventually retired. As for drivers changes, during the fuel stops Jack Duller took over from Ashby, Mays switched seats with Fairfield, as did Fleming with Wilkinson and Hamilton went on in De Belleroche's car.

After eighty laps eleven drivers had retired. Among the last was Evans who had to park his Alta at Hill Bend without brakes and with broken transmission. Bira eventually won the race over two and a half minutes in front of Rayson, who took victory in the voiturette 1500cc class, and Powys-Lybbbe became third.

Race results

• Drivers shown in cursive drove in the 1500cc class.

Sources

• The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing - 1937 Campbell Trophy (Archived 2013-07-13)
• Racing Sports Cars - Drivers. The page of each of the aformentioned drivers was consulted. (Archived 2013-07-13)
• The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing - Drivers. The page of each of the aformentioned drivers was consulted.