Henry Leslie Brooke, (12 September 1910 – 9 November 1967) was a British racing driver from England. He competed in various classes of racing, including non-championship

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

, the

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

24-hour race and the

Monte Carlo Rally The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially ''Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo'') is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. The rally now takes place along the French Riviera in Monaco and southeast ...

, in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.

Racing career

Pre-World War II

Brooke began his career in 1937 with a self-built special based upon a

Riley Imp An imp is a European mythological being similar to a fairy or demon, frequently described in folklore and superstition. The word may perhaps derive from the term ''ympe'', used to denote a young grafted tree. Imps are often described as troubles ...

chassis, with an MG engine. He entered several events that season but without much success. However, he continued to develop the car over the subsequent two seasons and in 1939, using a

Riley Riley may refer to: Names * Riley (given name) * Riley (surname) Places * Riley Park–Little Mountain, a neighborhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada * Riley Creek (Ontario), a tributary of the Black River in Central Ontario, Canada * Ri ...

straight-six engine The straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine bala ...

, achieved three podium finishes at

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, ...

, together with a second place at

Shelsley Walsh Shelsley Walsh is a small village and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, on the western side of the River Teme. For administrative purposes it is presently located in the Teme Valley ward of the county’s Malvern Hills district. In the 2011 ...

and another second place in the

International Trophy The International Trophy is a prize awarded annually by the British Racing Drivers' Club to the winner of a motor race held at the Silverstone Circuit, England. For many years it formed the premier non-championship Formula One event in Britain, ...

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

Post-war

Brooke's career was then interrupted by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He resumed thereafter, initially with his ''special'', but subsequently purchased an

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Compa ...

B-type. With this car he won the

Grand Prix des Frontières The Grand Prix des Frontières was a motor race held at a street circuit in Chimay, Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered ...

in 1946 and hillclimb events. In

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

, he finished second in the

Swedish Winter Grand Prix The Swedish Winter Grand Prix was a race held on the ice of frozen lakes, similar to races held in Estonian Grand Prix, Estonia, Finnish Grand Prix, Finland and Norwegian Grand Prix, Norway. The 1930s also saw the Swedish Summer Grand Prix, which c ...

in February, but retired from the Vallentuna F1 race held later the same month and from the Jersey F1 race held at

Saint Helier St Helier (; Jèrriais: ; french: Saint-Hélier) is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. St Helier has a population of 35,822 – over one-third of the total population of Jersey – ...

. Brooke then purchased an ERA E-type which he used to compete in the

Reims Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

retiring after five laps after which he shared Fred Ashmore's ERA B-type which also retired after 33 laps. At the Grand Prix d'Albi, Brooke resumed with his own B-type but having qualified sixth, retired after 18 laps with an engine problem. At the Nice Grand Prix, he finished seventh with the B-type having qualified 20th, and last. He achieved the first-ever race finish (fourth) for the E-type in the 1947

British Empire Trophy The British Empire Trophy was a motor race in the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the c ...

Douglas Circuit The Douglas Circuit was a motor racing street circuit in Douglas, the capital and largest town of the Isle of Man and was re-configured each year until 1937. The first Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is ...

and at the

1947 French Grand Prix The 1947 French Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held at Lyon-Parilly on 21 September 1947 and was won by Louis Chiron driving a Talbot-Lago. The race was marred by an accident involving Pierre Levegh crashing into and killing 2 spectators ...

, qualified in eighth position with the same car but retired after only one lap with an engine problem. He later sold the car back to ERA. In

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...

, Brooke began the season with the B-type, retiring from the Jersey F1 race in April, but claiming third-place in the British Empire Trophy in May, followed by fourth place in the inaugural Zandvoort Grand Prix. He then moved to a

Maserati Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914, in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...

4CLT, entered by

Scuderia Ambrosiana Scuderia Ambrosiana was an Italian motor racing team that competed in Grand Prix motor racing and the Formula One World Championship. The team was founded in 1937 by drivers Giovanni Lurani, Luigi Villoresi, Franco Cortese and Eugenio Minetti and ...

and finished 11th in the Grand Prix d'Albi and 11th in the

1948 Italian Grand Prix The 1948 Italian Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held at Valentino Park in Turin, Italy on 5 September 1948. It was won by French driver Jean-Pierre Wimille in an Alfa Romeo 158. Classification References *http://www.silhouet.com/motor ...

under his own name, but was forced to retire from the

Monza Grand Prix The Monza Grand Prix (Italian: ''Gran Premio di Monza'') was an automobile race held at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza at Monza, Italy. Following the terrible accident during the 1928 Italian Grand Prix, where Emilio Materassi and 27 spect ...

and the

Penya Rhin Grand Prix The Penya Rhin Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor racing event staged at the three different circuits in three different eras in Spain. The race was held intermittently over its history, sometimes for full-size Grand Prix cars, sometimes for spor ...

. In

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

, Brooke finished seventh in the Grand Prix d'Albi with the Maserati, did not progress past the heats at the International Trophy and retired from the 1949 Italian Grand Prix. Brooke retired from the

1950 San Remo Grand Prix The 1950 San Remo Grand Prix was a non-Championship Formula One motor race held on 16 April 1950 at the Autodromo di Ospedaletti, in Sanremo, Liguria, Italy. It was the third race of the 1950 Formula One season. The 90-lap race was won by Alfa Rom ...

after eight laps. He subsequently reduced his participation in circuit racing and began competing in rallying with a

Triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

TR2. He also competed in the

in 1955 when the

Standard Motor Company The Standard Motor Company Limited was a motor vehicle manufacturer, founded in Coventry, England, in 1903 by Reginald Walter Maudslay. For many years, it manufactured Ferguson TE20 tractors powered by its Vanguard engine. All Standard's tracto ...

entered several of their

Eight 8 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 8 or eight may also refer to: Years * AD 8, the eighth year of the AD era * 8 BC, the eighth year before the AD era Art *The Eight (Ashcan School), a group of twentieth century painters associated with the As ...

and

Ten Ten, TEN or 10 may refer to: * 10, an even natural number following 9 and preceding 11 * one of the years 10 BC, AD 10, 1910 and 2010 * October, the tenth month of the year Places * Mount Ten, in Vietnam * Tongren Fenghuang Airport (IATA code ...

models. Brooke made an appearance at the 1954 Goodwood F1 race with a

Connaught Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbh ...

A-type-

Lea Francis Lea-Francis was a British motor manufacturing company that began by building bicycles. History R. H. Lea and G. I. Francis started the business in Coventry in 1895. They branched out into car manufacturing in 1903 and motorcycles in 1911. Le ...

. However, having set fastest time in qualifying, he failed to start the race.

Career highlights

Complete Mille Miglia results

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Personal life

Brooke was awarded the

George Medal The George Medal (GM), instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI,''British Gallantry Medals'' (Abbott and Tamplin), p. 138 is a decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, awarded for gallantry, typically by civilians, or in circ ...

during World War II for bravery during the

Coventry Blitz The Coventry Blitz (blitz: from the German word ''Blitzkrieg'' meaning "lightning war" ) or Coventration of the city was a series of bombing raids that took place on the British city of Coventry. The city was bombed many times during the Seco ...

. He was also joint-principal of Coventry-based Speed Engines Limited, set up in the mid 1950s to build a British F1 engine. The project was short-lived though and only one example was produced.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooke Leslie Recipients of the George Medal 1910 births 1967 deaths English racing drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers People from Rusholme Mille Miglia drivers