48 cars
Heat 1
1st	12 William Camus
2nd	USA19 Don Chaffee
3rd	30 Bobby Brown
Heat 2
1st	42 Fred Parsons
Heat 3
1st	28 John Goody
2nd	24 Alan Beaumont
3rd	15 Jim Woolnough
Heat 4
1st	38 Tanya Crouch
2nd	35 Mac McDonnell
3rd	20 Fred Wells
Final
1st	11 Chevalier d'Orgeix
2nd	35 Mac McDonnell
3rd	34 Ron Wood

In this country, it is unfortunately a habit of race organisers to call events of only local importance "International". When the public arrive, they complain bitterly because there are very few foreign entries, or none at all. It was therefore excellent that for the first Stock Car, race meeting ever held in this country, three American and four French entries were received. With John Wiggins of the Stock Car Racing Co, I went to Lympne aerodrome to meet the French drivers, and the British Customs put on one of their more notable performances.

When the transport planes arrived and the doors were opened, we thought that we would soon be on the road. for the French cars were driven out under their own power, and were obviously ready to go. However, their immense bumpers, brilliant paint, and racing numbers soon convinced the Customs officers that these were no ordinary tourists, and every regulation in the book was quoted at us.

The language difficulty produced some hilarious situations, and I was soon weak with laughter. Nobody was actually arrested, but there were many dark threats. Eventually, we were allowed out on bail for lunch, and after that, a couple of hours of spirited argument took place, a sea of forms was filed in, manv telephone calls were made, and at last we were allowed to go. The journey to London was a memorable one, with the Stockers in line-ahead formation, and the populace stared open-mouthed as the cavalcade passed.

The French team was captained by Serge Pozzoli, one-time Grand Prix driver, who had a 130 b.h.p. Mercury engine in an early Ford coupé. William Camus had a somewhat similar car, and with his great experience was obviously formidable. The Chevalier d'Orgeix and his wife, Michele Cancre, are well known in this country because they have both appeared here with their horses at show jumping events. They also had Fords, painted white. On arrival at New Cross, they were greatly impressed with the preparation and finish of the British entries, and Pozzoli gave much good advice to our drivers. The Americans are serving in the U.S. Air Force in this country. They were familiar with Stock Cars at home, and certainly know how to handle their V8s.

On Good Friday, all the seats in the stadium had already been sold. A couple of hours before the advertised starting time, the standing room was packed, and although the official capacity is 22,000, it is likely that some 25,000 people were present. The gates had to be locked, and police cars toured the district with loudspeakers, turning away the crowds and dispersing the queues! In spite of the crush, the over-worked officials were a model of courtesy and politeness, an example which might be copied at other venues. Credit for this goes to Brigadier EHL White, the general manager of the stadium. I had the job of doing the P.A. commentary, and I greatly enjoyed sharing the microphone with McDonald Hobley, of television fame. The lap scoring was in the capable hands of Stanley Sedgwick and his team performed near-miracles in producing accurate results. "Digger" Pugh was organizing the actual racing. and he seemed able to restore order whenever chaos threatened.

I shall not give a detailed account of the racing, because if you didn't see it yourself, you just wouldn't believe me! Our drivers gave the experienced Frenchmen plenty of competition, and there were enough crashes and overturning cars to keep the spectators thoroughly amused.

The first heat was won by William Camus for France with the American, Chaffee, second, but R. D. Brown, who came third, was the favourite of the crowd. He had more accidents than anybody, and at one point his car was firmly attached to that of another competitor. Having spun round. he completed a lap full throttle in reverse, and really provided value for money.

In the second heat, the British drivers gave the Chevalier d'Orgeix a rough time, and he was lucky to qualify for the final. Cliff Davis was put out by a crash, but enjoyed his racing enormously, and F. J. Parsons was first past the post.

In the third heat, Serge Pozzoli showed immense skill as he fought his way through the field from the back row of the grid. Having taken the lead, he was quickly lapping the rest of the field when he was involved in a collision. In getting clear of the other car, he unfortunately burst his gearbox, and the race was won by J.W. Goody, with Beaumont second and Woolnough third.

The fourth heat was dominated by two girls, our own Tanya Crouch and Michele Cancre being faster than all the men. Tanya won convincingly, her French opponent having been slowed by becoming hooked to another competitor in a sideswiping incident. F. G. McDonnell and "Oily" Wells followed her home.

I shall never forget the final, which was fast and furious. After a series of incredible incidents, Camus was struck by "Whiskers" Woolnough, and turned over four times. He unhurt, and team-mate d'Orgeix took the lead and won. McDonnell was second and Wood third.

So ended the first British meeting of Stock Cars, and although it is not motor racing as we Know it, I thought you would be interested to hear how it went off. Naturally, I shall not be able to spare much space for this new sport in the busy months ahead. but if I have helped to start a form of racing for the poor man, I am very proud. The next meeting is on 30th April.

JOHN V. BOLSTER Autosport, 23rd April 1954