mph (208.7km/h). Brooklands had never seen anything quite like it.Parry Thomas knew every inch of Brooklands and particularly its famous banking. A wheel mark made by him in 1925 was just 2in (5.1cm) from the top of the banking, while on another occasion he got so close to the edge that his car removed a shrub growing on the other side. His formidable Leyland-Thomas machine was a match for any vehicle over a short distance of the Surrey circuit and held the lap record at more than 120mph (193km/h). In 1923 he issued a challenge to any driver for a race over three or four laps, but there were no takers. However a handicapped standing-lap contest was run one moonlit Thursday evening between Thomas, George Duller’s Bugatti and Ernest Eldridge’s mighty 21.7-litre Fiat ‘Mephistopheles’, which was fitted with an airship engine and had frightening speed and power in short bursts. With only the exhaust flames of the cars visible to spectators, the Leyland gave a five-second start to the Fiat and 30 seconds to the Bugatti but crossed the line 30 yards (27.4m) ahead of Duller with Eldridge just behind in third. Thomas reissued the challenge in 1924 and Eldridge was all set to race him at that year’s autumn meeting until the Fiat broke an oil pump in practice.
The match was rescheduled for the West Kent Motor Club meeting in the summer of 1925 over three laps, for stakes of £500. Since it was just a small club meeting, fewer than 2,000 people turned up to watch one of Brooklands’ greatest duels. Eldridge drove without helmet or goggles but did take the precaution of carrying a passenger to warn him when Thomas was trying to overtake. Thomas wore his customary Fair Isle jersey, helmet and goggles. The two huge machines started together from the 1 mile (1.6km) box on the railway straight with Thomas on the inside. The Autocar recounted the contest in less than glowing terms. ‘A more horrid spectacle to sit and watch has probably never been seen in motor racing. Several well-known drivers hurried to the bar, at which they remained out of sight, full of apprehension, until the race was over.’
As the flag fell, the Leyland took a lead of a length, to the astonishment of most onlookers, but before the half mile (0.8km) the chain-driven Fiat accelerated and had surged into a lead of 200 yards (183m) by the Byfleet banking, which it took in a typically flamboyant skid. When the Fiat again swerved near the Fork, trackside spectators fled for cover. Thomas closed a little but an attempt at passing was thwarted when the Leyland slid down the banking. Eldridge adopted the tactic of keeping the Fiat low on the banking sections and, despite a succession of hair-raising skids, was able to maintain his slender advantage starting the third and final lap. The Fiat still looked the likely winner but as it slewed across the Fork for the final time, the engine cut out, allowing the Leyland to thunder past. Any doubt regarding the outcome was settled on the Members’ banking when the Fiat’s off-side rear tyre blew, sending chunks of rubber flying over the tree tops. Eldridge pressed on but Thomas claimed the spoils at an average of 123¼mph (198.3km/h) as opposed to the Fiat’s 121⅕mph (195km/h). Thomas also set a new lap record of 129mph (208.7km/h). Brooklands had never seen anything quite like it.