PastImperfect:The first 10 years of motor racing
Unlike aviation, there are few classics of motoring literature. A handful come to mind, but only one stands out above all others and can be enjoyed as much today as when it was first written by the English racing driver Charles Jarrott, in 1906. Its full title, Ten Years of Motors and Motor Racing 1896-1906tells of Jarrott's early experiences as a pioneer motorcyclist and motorist before turning his hand to motor racing.
Having studied law, Jarrott went to work in the motor trade, commencing his motor racing career on motor tricycles and transferring to cars in 1900. His first major success was in the Paris to Berlin race of 1901 when he finished eighth, while his greatest triumph was in the 1902 Ardennes race which he won after a terrific and sustained duel with the great Breton driver Gabriel.
His friend Cecil Bianchi described him: "Jarrott was a man who really enjoyed life. He was very sporting, he'd been a good boxer and an excellent shot. He was a man who really entered into a meeting. Everybody liked him. He had a most charming personality and of course, as the ace driver of his day, he had lots of fans. He was a big fellow. He stood over six foot tall and must have weighed 14 or 15 stone. I never had any worries at all when driving with Jarrott - he inspired such confidence. I never thought he drove too fast."
In his book Jarrott also recounts his experiences in the 1903 Irish Gordon Bennett race and his vivid memories of the night before the race when he was seized by "a strange feeling of impending disaster". He recalled: "I do not know why I had this feeling, but the more I tried to shake it off the more depressed I became . . . it seems strange that I should have had this idea of the possibility of everything not going right . . . I went to bed very early, having previously, for some cause I could not understand, sealed up all my private papers and addressed them to the persons interested, also leaving a note of general instructions in case of anything happening on the following day. I would very much like to know why I should have done this for the first and only time in my life."
He was right to be concerned, suffering the only serious accident in the race when his steering broke and his Napier somersaulted. Happily Jarrott sustained relatively minor injuries while his riding mechanic Cecil Bianchi was less fortunate but survived.
The following year Jarrott placed 12th in the German Gordon Bennett race on the Taunus circuit and this, other than a few minor outings in the early years of the Brooklands circuit, was his last motor race.