Fifth stop of the 1964 Drag Festival series was at RAF Kemble near Cirencester on Saturday 3^rd October. This was the best set-up venue so far; it even had a return road. The pits were laid out well with work areas including a nicely equipped hanger with electric chain hoists and the strip was good for traction although slightly uphill. Weather was cool but it was sunny helping to pull in some 21,000 fans. Organizing both the cars and bikes at Kemble were the Cheltenham Motor Club and the RAC Motor Sports Association.

George Brown on Super Nero was in cracking form having found and rectified a bent magneto shaft which had been holding him back during the series. In the morning warm-up runs he ran 10.37/146mph backed up with a 10.30/146mph. George met Alf Hagon in the 751cc – 1500cc Class final where Hagon took the win 10.85/123mph to Browns 10.88/132mph, his times down when it really mattered. Other bikes in the tens at Kemble were American Don Hyland on his double Triumph Parasite at 10.70/132mph and Neville Higgins ran a best of 10.57/140 on his Vincent Jindivik.

The 501cc – 750cc Class went to the Blue Peril Triumph of Bill Bragg who took out Pete Smith on his Hagon Triumph, 11.92/100mph to 12.14/110mph while Jack Terry on his JAP Special shutdown Eamon Hurley’s Manx Norton 11.98/109 to 13.80/98 in the up to 500cc Class.

The two car engined bikes came out for a grudge race. Howard German sat behind the rear wheel of the VW powered Drag-Waye alongside Alan Beaumont on the cross-mounted Cortina powered Albeau. German took the win in 12.06/127mph seconds to a troubled 16.19/82mph but Beaumont had earlier run a 13.40/102mph.

In the up to 2500cc Saloon GT Class Nick Porter in his Mini Cooper S managed a warmup run of 15.92/87mph, smoking the front tyres off the line. He went on to take the eightcar eliminator with an even quicker 15.75/87mph taking out another Mini Cooper S run by Tony Locke running 16.38/84mph. The rest of the field were made up of a Cortina GT, Sunbeam Le Mans, Lotus Elan, two Anglias and Jim Gavin’s Ford powered Renault. For the last three meetings Dick Jones had been the only competitor entered in the 2501cc – 6000cc Saloon GT Class with his Chrysler Valiant and it happened again at Kemble.

Peter Westbury in the up to 2500cc Sports Car Class did his best run so far in 12.01/122mph but the eliminator winner was John Bloomfield in his Diva with a 14.03/99mph to Westbury's troubled 20.31/48mph. The larger Sports Car Class had five cars. Bruce Ropner in his Shelby Cobra beat Tom Gibson’s C-Type Jag 13.21 to 13.80 and Ken Wilson in the Lister Jag beat Phil Chapman’s Mercury 13.54 to 14.84 in the first round. Ropner then shutdown Wilson 12.82/108mph to 13.09/110mph. Meanwhile Don Farrell in his Farrallac was going through with bye runs and met Ropner in the final who whipped him with a 12.85/108mph to Don’s 13.19/113mph.

The Racing Cars were all grouped into one eight-car class which was won by Tony Marsh in his 2-litre Marsh-Climax eliminating John Macklin’s Cooper-Buick 11.86/119mph to 12.58/110mph and then Ken Wilson’s BRM 11.79/119mph to 12.02/122mph. Other cars in the class were the Twini Mini, a Cooper Daimler, Lotus Allard, two Cooper Buicks and Peter Westburys rapid 4WD Ferguson which was having gear selection troubles.

Tony Densham in the Worden dragster had been suffering with blower bother during the festival but had it sorted at Kemble taking the up to 3000cc Dragster eliminator win with an excellent 11.32 at 121mph. The Worden had been built by Tony with Harry Worrall after seeing drag racing at Indianapolis in 1962 and used the same 1500cc Ford engine and Shorrocks blower setup that was later used for the Allard Dragons.

Alan Allard took the larger dragster eliminator driving the mighty Allard Chrysler dragster taking out Allan Herridge in the blown straight eight Buick dragster 11.90/149mph to 14.27/92mph. Alan earlier got the big Allard into the tens with a 10.69/148mph blast taking best time of the day for the British cars but slower than the bikes.

Everyone was looking forward to the ground pounding double A fuelers and they got more than expected as Garlits ran two warm-up runs before the end of meet side-by-side race clocking 8.46/194mph and then a quicker 8.32/195mph. No time was recorded on Tommy Ivo’s run but he crossed the finish line at 184mph. Always one for seeking new thrills Tommy found a new way to travel up a drag strip when he was offered a ride on the side-car of Maurice Brierley’s Vincent bike. Lying flat, just peeking over the edge of the streamlined Watsonian competition chair a few inches off the deck, Ivo clung on for a 12.56/114mph jaunt. He may have enjoyed it but failed to sign any long-term contracts.

Tony Nancy had a new Plymouth motor fitted in Wedge II and recorded his first eight in the car with a strong 8.98/176mph from the petrol burner. Bob Keith in the other AA/Gas Dragster, Dos Palmas, could only muster a 9.40/164mph. Nancy came out again in the afternoon and blew another motor so retired to the hanger to play with the electric chain hoists. While his back was turned a tuned-up Dos Palmas came out and ran a 9.11/171mph, edging closer to an eight.

The evenly matched Factory Experimentals were out; Ronnie Sox and Buddy Martin got their Comet down to 11.72/126mph while Dodge Boys Dave Strickler and Grumpy Jenkins ran a time of 11.72/127mph.

KS Pittman finally made a full quarter pass in his blown Chrysler hemi powered ‘33 Willys without incident with a shakedown 11.33/130mph including a wiggle at half-track. Then George Montgomery in his blown Chevy powered ‘33 Willys replied with a 10.51/137mph, the hydromatic gear changing being a delight to hear. These raised up Gassers were an eye opener for the fans who half expected them to get out of shape and roll over.

Dante Duce pitted his Shelby Cobra against Peter Westbury’s Lotus BRM which had been stripped of its bodywork to reduce weight. Westbury took a close win 13.13/103mph to Duce’s 13.21/112mph. Then Duce took on Dave Stickler who took the win in 11.77/126mph to the Cobra’s 13.93/91mph.

Bill Bragg on his Triumph Blue Peril came out alongside Doug Church in the Porsche dragster which took the win 11.40/117mph to 12.06/113mph. In another bike-car clash Denis ‘Jenks’ Jenkinson in Gerry Belton’s Allard Dragon took on Jack Terry on his JAP Special. The bearded journalist bit off more than he could chew as Jack walloped him with a 12.07/114mph to a close 12.19/115mph.

The oddly-matched races were more fun-and-games for the crowd and a comic relief during the tense activities. KS Pittman brought out the Willys again to take on Dante Duce in the blown Chevy powered Moonbeam. KS agreed to let the yellow sports car leave first and he did... barely. Duce still hadn’t passed flagman George Wells when Pittman exploded off the line charging after him and passing in 10.57/145mph to Moonbeam’s 11.21/145mph.

Ronnie Sox took on Doug Church, the Comet getting there first in 11.84/123mph as Doug ran quicker at 11.38/118mph but wasted time on the line. Sox came out again, this time against George Montgomery with a handicap. Sox kept the lead till just before the traps when the Willys blasted past him in 10.37/139mph.

As the sun dropped the two AA/Fuel Dragsters came out to close the show. Ivo won the toss and took the slightly better right lane. They both left together, George Wells tried to get the flag off the ground at the same time but was a poor third. Without doubt Don had the power edge and blasted through the clocks first in 8.34/195mph, Tommy was close behind at 8.47/189mph.

Following a mid-way stay in Reading the cars and crew headed back to Blackbushe Airport for the last round of the festival. The Allard Owners Club and the Basingstoke Motorcycle Club took care of the organization and a record crowd of 30,000 descended on the Camberley venue as more interest had been generated in this new sport. Early morning mist delayed the start for 15 minutes before the sun came out for another beautiful day, remaining cool with little wind, ideal conditions for maximum horsepower.

After a noise complaint from the local vicar at the first round of the series the morning runs were limited to silenced vehicles only until the church service was over.

Again, a Mini Cooper S was quickest in the smaller Saloon GT Class driven by Tony Locke at 16.25/85mph. An interesting entry was Peter Sheen’s Imperator GTS powered by a Nathan-tuned Hillman Imp engine and designed by Peter himself. It ran a best of 20.02/66mph. Both of the Lawrence-Tune drivers, Tony Kinch in his Cortina GT and Jim Gavin in the Ford powered Renault Dauphine got into the 16s for the first time due to consistent improvements throughout the series. In the eliminations Locke’s Mini was knocked out by another Mini driven by Ken Ayres 16.77/80mph to 17.13/79mph. Ayres then beat Tony Kinch in the final 16.76/80mph to 17.18/79mph. 

Not unexpectedly, John Turner in the Iso Grifo ran quickest time in the larger Saloon GT Class with a 14.25/103mph. In the eliminations Dick Jones in his Chrysler Valiant, pleased to have some competition at last, took out Ann Palmer driving John Bennett’s Pontiac Chieftain with a slower 16.60/83mph to Ann’s 16.40/84mph. Dick then came up against the Iso Grifo in the final getting well and truly shutdown as John Turner shot ahead with a 14.33/106mph to Dick’s trailing 17.42/69mph.

Three entries made up the smaller Sports Car Class with Peter Westbury easily taking the win with a 12.19/121mph in his Lotus BRM, the other two cars were a Lotus 7 and a Lister Bristol, both running 17s.

The larger Sports Car Class had a healthy entry of nine boosted by a few hairy Allards from the organizing owners club. There was no qualifying at the Drag Festivals, just warm-up runs followed by the eliminations made up of all the cars still running which often meant a few bye-runs. Most of the cars in this class were exceeding the magic ton over the line after about 13 - 14 seconds, the fastest being the much-modified Cad-Allard Farrallac at 111mph, driven on this occasion by Stella Farrell as Don had his go the previous day. Ken Wilson in his Lister Jag just took the eliminator win in a close dual with the Shelby Cobra of Bruce Ropner with a 13.23/108mph to 13.33/105mph. The other cars in the class were the Chapman-Mercury, a Cad-Allard, an Allard JR, a Bentley and another Lister Jag.

The Racing Cars were amalgamated into one 12-car class. Interesting entries were Nobby Spero’s Maserati 250F, Dudley Gahagan’s ERA R7B and Ken Prince’s Buckler Go Kart powered by a Greeves motor. Peter Westbury had the 4WD Ferguson going again at 11.42/123mph, the take-offs from this machine being very impressive as were the take-offs of the other four-wheel-drive entry in the class, the Twini Mini in the hands of Tony Kinch who recorded its best time so far at 12.62/111mph. Dave Hooper was back out in the Steyr Allard getting it down to a 14.85/92mph, not bad for a hill climb car put together in 1947. The eliminator winner was Dick Soanes’ 3.5 litre Cooper-Buick which beat Tony Kinch in the twin engined Mini in a close race, 12.83/108mph to 12.86/109mph.

Eamon Hurley, record holder in the 350cc Class, knew he’d be running against the 500’s so took a huge tip of the can. In the semis he beat Dave Lecoq’s AJS turning his best time ever on the streamlined Manx Norton at 12.78/105mph, his first 12. But Jack Terry’s 500 JAP was just too much running 11.94/113mph to Hurley’s 12.72/105mph in the final. The 750cc Class saw Pete Smith take the win on his Hagon Triumph knocking out Glen Garside’s BSA in the final 11.66/101mph to 12.44/109mph.

George Brown on his mighty blown Vincent Super Nero was still clocking low tens but Alf Hagon, the slightly built wizard on wheels on his lightweight JAP always seemed to beat him in match races. The big American bikes were suffering, Don Hyland on his Triumph double lost his gearbox so he was out. Bill Wood brought his Harley out against George Brown and with a healthy dose of nitro did a real hole-job on the champion, looking good until the traps where Super Nero with the blower whining stormed past at nearly 150mph with a 10.71/147mph to 11.48/125mph. Hagon had knocked out Neville Higgins and the Drag-Waye so once more it was a Brown vs Hagon final. Alf took the win again with a 10.95/125mph as George slowed to a 12 second run but he still took the Pepsi-Cola trophy and £50 for the best aggregate bike performance throughout the festival followed by Pete Smith and Hagon in third place. 

The Worden dragster was again well on song but was narrowly beaten by Alan Allard in the works Dragon who was 0.01sec quicker at 11.54/125mph to 11.55/120mph. An interesting new dragster debuted at Blackbushe run and built by Derek Metcalf with a 2 litre Triumph TR2 motor. It was so new that Allan Herridge was helping him setup the steering geometry before the first run. Derek then did two runs in the low 20s with much more to come in 1965.

In the larger capacity Dragster Class Nobby Hills returned with the blown Jag powered Houndog. He’d been doing a few modifications since his last appearance two weeks earlier. Les Hill drove it to a best of 14.46/83mph before taking on Allan Herridge in the Buick. Allan decided to try some nitro he’d got from one of the American teams which worked well of the line but the big Buick blew at half strip slowing to 15.38/69mph as Houndog ran 16.88/88mph.

Alan Allard came out in the Allard Chrysler alongside Dante Duce in Moonbeam and with encouragement from Dad on the line to keep the take-off revs high managed a best-ever run for the machine and beat Duce in 10.28 to 11.65, no speeds were recorded. This was the last run for the car which was now very much outdated and a new longer Allard dragster was being built to be fitted with the blown Chrysler mill for 1965.

The STP trophy for the best aggregate performance throughout the festival for the British cars went to the Works Allard Dragon driven by Alan Allard who also received a portable electronic auto-tune kit. Peter Westbury in his Lotus BRM came second and third place went to Ken Wilson and his Lister Jag.

Just before lunch Don Garlits made what was to remain his best speed in England at 197mph in 8.12 seconds. Don's best time had been the 8.09 recorded at Woodvale the previous weekend. Tommy Ivo followed with an excellent 8.21/194mph which was to remain his best time and speed in England. Bob Keith ran his best run with a 9.06/175mph in his petrol burner, so close to an eight, while Doug Church clocked a fine 11.37/110mph in the Modern Specialist Porsche rear engined dragster.

George Montgomery ran a good 10.44/141mph but broke a pitman arm on the steering then KS Pittman ran 10.52/144mph. Sadly the two Willys gassers never got to race each other. Dante Duce was out in Moonbeam and the Shelby Cobra running 11.19/143 and 13.85/109mph respectively.

By late afternoon the American dragsters came out for their final fling. The two AA/Gas dragsters came out for a race. Nancy reached the end of the quarter-mile first at the expense of a third Plymouth motor as he ventilated the block while Bob Keith broke a half shaft in Dos Palmas, the first time his team had suffered a transmission failure. Dave Strickler in the Dodge A/FX managed two mid 11s after a gearbox change during lunch and was rewarded for his efforts by keeping ahead of Ronnie Sox in his Comet.

There was an interesting demonstration in the afternoon when Alan Burgess came out to drive a Fox go-kart fitted with two Turbonique Rocket engines. Creating a firework like explosion on take-off he managed a brave 15.26 crossing the line at 108mph having never driven the thing before.

The last Garlits/Ivo match-up took place to end the day and the festival. Just before the run Garlits nearly had a nasty moment when he noticed two of the HT leads were crossed after changing the plugs. Asked what would have happened if he’d run like that, he said... ‘The last time I saw that happen it blew the blower clean off the engine!’ Tommy got the jump off the line and reached the finish first after an 8.27/191mph to Don’s quicker and faster 8.19/196mph but the question was, did Ivo anticipate the start? Some people thought so... nevertheless Big Daddy took the series win and the Wynns trophy plus £200 for the best aggregate performance throughout the festival. Second place was Tommy Ivo followed by Tony Nancy.

By American standards the Drag Festival had been a little short of action, but it had colour, interest and a certain charm that may have got lost in the giant spectacle which drag racing had become in America. Two things helped make it a success. It was fun and it grew right on the spot, meet by meet the action got better and tighter as the organizers. officials and drivers learned more each day.

Drag racing was certainly here to stay; the BDRA were planning more drag races and practice days along with a 2nd International Drag Festival for 1965 while John Bennett and the BHRA were on the lookout for a suitable venue for a permanent drag strip in England...