Formula 1 
Teams
Raymond Mays
By Jeremy McMullen
Page: 1 2 next >>
The inventor's mind could probably be summed up with a statement like this: 'Someone ought to making something that would be able to do this.' And the mind of the engineer could be summed up with the statement like: 'I bet I can make this better or more efficient.' Thomas Raymond Mays approached life seemingly with these points of view before himself at all times. Mays would become known for his ingenuity and skills as an entrepreneur and, oh yeah, as a racing driver. Born just before the turn of the century (August 1899), Raymond was the son of a pioneer in British motoring. Therefore, motor-vehicles ran through Raymond's veins at a young age. But like everything in life, it's about timing and about being part of the 'right thing'. The issue of 'timing' was prevalent almost right away. While attending Oundle School, Mays met an important connection, Amherst Villiers. It was 1917, and toward the last couple of years of World War I. Therefore, this important partnership had to be put on hold for the future as Raymond headed off to France, the Grenadier Guards and the war. After returning from the war, Mays attended Christ's College, Cambridge, and later, started to go racing. In 1921 Raymond had coerced his father into buying him a Hillman. But Mays' father didn't have to wonder if this were just some passing fancy or not as Raymond went out and promptly won the first race in which he entered. Being the son of a pioneer in British motoring, and being a bit of an engineer himself, Mays wasn't just happy going racing. He also had a passion for taking what worked already and making it work even better. This was not a cheap exercise and the fact Raymond would end up racing in hillclimbs and sprint events in Hillmans, Bugattis, ACs and Vauxhalls proves that Raymond needed a rather large budget to discover the fastest, most efficient racing machine out there. The problem was he wasn't finding one to his liking. Therefore, this led to only one possible conclusion in Mays' mind—to design and build his own. This led to the White Riley and eventually E.R.A. Throughout the 1920s, Mays focused primarily on hillclimbs and sprint races, and practically was an institution at the Shelsley Walsh hillclimb. Through a collaboration with his old school peer Amherst Villiers, Mays developed his cars utilizing superchargers and other 'tweaks'. The 'White Riley' developed from 'tweaks' made to a Vauxhall-Villiers, which included two rear wheels for the Shelsley Walsh hillclimb in 1929. With the two rear wheels, the car was well prepared for the event and Mays dominated, breaking the record as a result. This innovation, in particular, would become widely copied in later years. Mays always had a passion to see Britain succeed at the top levels of motor sports. This passion and desire led to another collaboration, but this time between Mays, Humphrey Cook and Peter Berthon. The Flamboyant Mays had a tall order before him and it would take a rather large amount of money to even get it off the ground. That is where Humphrey Cook came in. Cook was the heir to a fortune in a London drapery and was the source of income Raymond needed to make this dream a reality. Peter Berthon was the designer genius who was charged with the task of creating a competitive race car. In 1933, these men started the English Racing Automobile company (ERA) (see ERA article). It was the intention of these men that their cars would take the fight to the French and Italian teams in the smaller 1.5 liter voiturette racing category. At the time of ERA's formation Mercedes and Auto Union dominated, and rightfully so, with Germany throwing the nation's money into the teams. There was almost no hope for Mays to compete with that power, but it was more than possible in the voiturette category, which was designed to make it possible for wealthy amateurs to compete on rather equal terms with the best professionals of the day.
In 1934, Mays, with the help of self-taught engine builder Peter Berthon, and designer Reid Railton, built the ERA R1A. The car was unveiled to the public in its first test session at Brooklands in May of that year and Mays was at the wheel to shake it down. The Grand Prix of Dieppe was in July of 1934 and Mays and Cook decided to take the R1A to compete in the race. Mays' first race was a one hour heat race. In Raymond's heat there was Chiron in an Alfa Romeo Tipo and Clemente Biondetti in a Maserati T26M. However, Mays' main competition was the car's endurance. Six laps into the race his ERA developed ignition problems which forced the Brit to have to retire from the heat race, as well as, the final.
Then, in October of 1934, Mays took his new ERA to take part in the Nuffield Trophy handicap race at Donington Park. The venture paid off, as Mays was able to take his ERA to victory. Four days later, Raymond and Cook entered their ERA in the Mountain Championship race at Brooklands again. This time, Raymond's race went much better. He not only finished the race, he was able to finish 2nd behind the Maserati 3 liter 8CM of Straight. Raymond finished the 10 lap race 6+ seconds behind. 1935 was a difficult year for Mays. He suffered from a total of four DNFs, out of the six races he competed. However, Raymond was able to score a victory in one of those two races he was able to finish. In June of '35, Mays drove the new 'B' model ERA in the ADAC Eifelrennen, a voiturette race at the Nurburgring in Germany. Raymond wasn't the only driver now for the ERA team. In fact, for the Eifel, ERA entered three cars. Mays drove one, co-founder Cook drove another and Rose-Richards drove the third. But they weren't the only ones present at the race to be driving an ERA chassis. Richard Seaman (famous for his career with Mercedes-Benz) also drove a 'B' chassis ERA. Mays, and the rest of his ERA teammates took the top-three spots right from the start of the race. Rather quickly, Seaman moved up from 7th to 3rd, while Cook fell back in the field. Seaman was able to take the lead away from Mays but began to suffer from an oil leak. A stop by Seaman handed the lead back to Mays, but he was under pressure from Ruesch. Raymond was able to hold him off to score the victory; ERA's first in international competition. ERAs ended up taking 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th. Mays' only other good result in 1935 came at Bremgarten in August for the voiturette Prix de Berne. Mays had a new teammate in zu Leiningen. ERA cars became increasingly popular with privateer entries. Seaman arrived for the race driving an ERA again, but this time, even Prince Bira showed up with one. Mays had the early lead but suffered from the wrong fuel mixture. This problem caused the lead to be handed over to Seaman, who disappeared into the distance. Bira would be involved in a tough fight throughout the race but would hold on to take 2nd. Raymond would end the race in 7th, almost 3 minutes down. The intention of Mays, Berthon and Cook to create cars able to compete in the voiturette category was working out well. At just about each place an ERA was present it was in the hunt. The same held true going into 1936. At Monaco, in April of '36, Mays took part in the Coupe de Prince Rainier. On race day it was cold and dull, but the race would hardly be. The race distance was 50 laps of the 3 kilometer track. Mays was running 2nd early on in the race. Then, as with his teammate Howe, Mays started to develop a misfire. Raymond tried to continue on as the winner of the race was very much in doubt given the fact that there were crashes and spins by those who had been in the lead at points during the race. Mays tried so hard to keep going that he would end up being disqualified from the race for receiving push starts. This was an unfortunate result after having started the race 3rd.2 next >>
Teams Raymond Mays| Year | Team | Constructor | Points | Position | Engine | Chassis |
Page: 1 2 next >>
The inventor's mind could probably be summed up with a statement like this: 'Someone ought to making something that would be able to do this.' And the mind of the engineer could be summed up with the statement like: 'I bet I can make this better or more efficient.' Thomas Raymond Mays approached life seemingly with these points of view before himself at all times. Mays would become known for his ingenuity and skills as an entrepreneur and, oh yeah, as a racing driver. Born just before the turn of the century (August 1899), Raymond was the son of a pioneer in British motoring. Therefore, motor-vehicles ran through Raymond's veins at a young age. But like everything in life, it's about timing and about being part of the 'right thing'. The issue of 'timing' was prevalent almost right away. While attending Oundle School, Mays met an important connection, Amherst Villiers. It was 1917, and toward the last couple of years of World War I. Therefore, this important partnership had to be put on hold for the future as Raymond headed off to France, the Grenadier Guards and the war. After returning from the war, Mays attended Christ's College, Cambridge, and later, started to go racing. In 1921 Raymond had coerced his father into buying him a Hillman. But Mays' father didn't have to wonder if this were just some passing fancy or not as Raymond went out and promptly won the first race in which he entered. Being the son of a pioneer in British motoring, and being a bit of an engineer himself, Mays wasn't just happy going racing. He also had a passion for taking what worked already and making it work even better. This was not a cheap exercise and the fact Raymond would end up racing in hillclimbs and sprint events in Hillmans, Bugattis, ACs and Vauxhalls proves that Raymond needed a rather large budget to discover the fastest, most efficient racing machine out there. The problem was he wasn't finding one to his liking. Therefore, this led to only one possible conclusion in Mays' mind—to design and build his own. This led to the White Riley and eventually E.R.A. Throughout the 1920s, Mays focused primarily on hillclimbs and sprint races, and practically was an institution at the Shelsley Walsh hillclimb. Through a collaboration with his old school peer Amherst Villiers, Mays developed his cars utilizing superchargers and other 'tweaks'. The 'White Riley' developed from 'tweaks' made to a Vauxhall-Villiers, which included two rear wheels for the Shelsley Walsh hillclimb in 1929. With the two rear wheels, the car was well prepared for the event and Mays dominated, breaking the record as a result. This innovation, in particular, would become widely copied in later years. Mays always had a passion to see Britain succeed at the top levels of motor sports. This passion and desire led to another collaboration, but this time between Mays, Humphrey Cook and Peter Berthon. The Flamboyant Mays had a tall order before him and it would take a rather large amount of money to even get it off the ground. That is where Humphrey Cook came in. Cook was the heir to a fortune in a London drapery and was the source of income Raymond needed to make this dream a reality. Peter Berthon was the designer genius who was charged with the task of creating a competitive race car. In 1933, these men started the English Racing Automobile company (ERA) (see ERA article). It was the intention of these men that their cars would take the fight to the French and Italian teams in the smaller 1.5 liter voiturette racing category. At the time of ERA's formation Mercedes and Auto Union dominated, and rightfully so, with Germany throwing the nation's money into the teams. There was almost no hope for Mays to compete with that power, but it was more than possible in the voiturette category, which was designed to make it possible for wealthy amateurs to compete on rather equal terms with the best professionals of the day.
| In the midst of laying the groundwork for ERA, Mays entered the 1933 Mountain Championship race at Brooklands, which took place in October of that year. Mays entered the race with his 'White Riley'. During the race, one of the drivers touched another car and was sent off track. Taruffi, while in the lead, was overcome by the sight of nearly sixty people trying to help the stricken car get back on track. This led Taruffi to slow down. This allowed Straight and Mays to pass. Unfortunately, just as Mays went around Taruffi, his car suffered from a broken distributor and slid to a stop. Raymond had only completed one lap. |
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