Royale Race Cars was a British constructor of race cars in the 20th century. The company produced

single seaters An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, Sports car racing, sports cars, Stock car racing, stock ca ...

as well as

sports cars A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

History

Late 1960s

Bob King had experience with the working on and selling of automobiles. When King acquired an

Elva Elva may refer to: Places *Elva, Estonia, town in Tartu County, Estonia *Elva Parish, municipality in Estonia *Elva (river), a river in Estonia *Elva, Illinois, unincorporated community in DeKalb County, Illinois, United States *Elva, Manitoba, u ...

he had the intention to race the car himself. This evolved into preparing race cars for others. He founded Racing Preparations, specializing in

Coventry Climax Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, racing, and other specialty engine manufacturer. History Pre WW1 The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later, following the departure of Stroyer, it was relocat ...

engines. After the demand for Climax engines decreased King and business partner Alan Cornock decided to focus on constructing race cars. In 1968 King founded Royale, named after the

Park Royal Park Royal is an area in North West London, England, partly in the London Borough of Brent and partly the London Borough of Ealing. It is the site of the largest business park in London, but despite intensive existing use, the area is, toget ...

area in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The first car was the RP1, RP for Racing Preparations. The car was designed by Bob Marston, a future designer for

Lola Cars Lola Cars International Ltd. was a British race car engineering company in operation from 1958 to 2012. The company was founded by Eric Broadley in Bromley, England (then in Kent, now part of Greater London), before moving to new premises in S ...

. The RP2 was the first production Royale of which 30 were built.

1970s

The RP2 had some success in the Brazilian Formula Ford championship.

Ray Allen Walter Ray Allen Jr. (born July 20, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player. He played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in ...

achieved a third place in the championship behind

Emerson Fittipaldi Emerson Fittipaldi (; born 12 December 1946) is a Brazilian former automobile racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500 twice each and the CART championship once. Moving up from Formula Two, Fittip ...

and

Ian Ashley Ian Hugh Gordon Ashley (born 26 October 1947 in Wuppertal, Germany) is a British-German racing driver who raced in Formula One for the Token, Williams, BRM and Hesketh teams. Driving career Ashley began racing in 1966 when he took a course ...

both driving Lotuses. Royale introduced many new cars in 1970. Ray Allen dominated the newly found

Formula F100 The Formula F100 was a racing class in 1970 and 1971. The class was open to lightweight sports cars powered by a 1300cc engine (usually a Ford Kent engine or 1300cc BMC engine). History The Formula F100 was launched by Geoff Clarke and the Motor ...

in a Royale RP4. Two

Formula Atlantic Formula Atlantic is a specification of open-wheel racing car developed in the 1970s. It was used in professional racing through the IMSA Atlantic Championship until 2009 and is currently primarily used in amateur racing through Sports Car Club o ...

RP8's were built. Chassis number 1 was driven by Ray Allen and

Tony Lanfranchi Tony Lanfranchi (25 June 1935 – 7 October 2004) was a British racing driver. He competed in many various events throughout a long racing career, including the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans for Elva, non-championship Formula One races in 1968, and ...

in various

Formula Libre Formula Libre, also known as Formule Libre, is a form of automobile racing allowing a wide variety of types, ages and makes of purpose-built racing cars to compete "head to head". This can make for some interesting matchups, and provides the oppor ...

races. At the end of the year the car was shipped of to America. The second chassis sold as a

Formula 3 Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...

car to a German agent. In 1971 Royale had a lot of success in the

Formula Super Vee Formula Super Vee was an open-wheel racing series that took place in Europe and the United States from 1970 to 1990. The formula was created as an extension of Formula Vee, a racing class that was introduced in 1959. Formula Super Vee in Europe was ...

. Syd Williams, fielded by D.J. Bond Racing, won the first race of the German championship.

Manfred Schurti Manfred Schurti (born 24 December 1941) is a former touring and prototype racing car driver from Liechtenstein mainly known for racing factory-entered Porsches. Biography He was born on Christmas Eve in Austria, but his parents moved after the w ...

and

Manfred Trint ''Manfred: A dramatic poem'' is a closet drama written in 1816–1817 by Lord Byron. It contains supernatural elements, in keeping with the popularity of the ghost story in England at the time. It is a typical example of a Gothic fiction. B ...

scored a one-two finish for Royale during the final round of the championship. In the American championship Royale had even more success. Billy Scott won the championship winning four races. Royales were also driven by

Ray Heppenstall Ray may refer to: Fish * Ray (fish), any cartilaginous fish of the superorder Batoidea * Ray (fish fin anatomy), a bony or horny spine on a fin Science and mathematics * Ray (geometry), half of a line proceeding from an initial point * Ray (g ...

among others.

Tom Pryce Thomas Maldwyn Pryce (11 June 1949 – 5 March 1977) was a British racing driver from Wales known for winning the Brands Hatch Race of Champions, a non-championship Formula One race, in 1975 and for the circumstances surrounding his death ...

debuted the RP11 during round 17 of the

BRSCC The British Racing and Sports Car Club (BRSCC) is one of the major organisers of motorsport events in the United Kingdom. The club currently runs around forty track racing championships for cars as diverse as Caterham, BMWs and Mazda. Formed in B ...

British F3 The British Formula Three Championship was an international Auto racing, motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It was a junior-level Formula racing, feeder formula ...

championship. The

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

engined car did not finish the race after an accident.

Val Musetti Valentino Musetti (born 7 January 1943 in Pontremoli, Tuscany, Italy), often known as just Val Musetti, is an Italian-born English film and TV stuntman and retired motor racing driver. Highlights of his career include finishing third in the Shell ...

raced an RP11 at the Christmas Championship Trophy. The following year Pryce won the opening round of the BRSCC British F3.

scored a third-place finish in the opening round of the BRSCC North Central British F3. In Formula Super Vee, Manfred Schurti won four races and was placed first in the German championship. Scott won the American championship again in 1972 driving a Royale.

Paul Dalton Paul Dalton (born 25 April 1967) is an English former Association football, footballer who played as a Midfielder#Winger, winger in the Football League for Hartlepool United F.C., Hartlepool United, Plymouth Argyle F.C., Plymouth Argyle, Hudders ...

drove an RP5 in the

SCCA The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional r ...

Continental Championship for

Formula B Formula Atlantic is a specification of open-wheel racing car developed in the 1970s. It was used in professional racing through the IMSA Atlantic Championship until 2009 and is currently primarily used in amateur racing through Sports Car Club o ...

/C. But without major results. In the British Formula Atlantic championship Tom Pryce and Ray Allen drove a Royale RP12. The car received some good results. Pryce won one race and scored another podium finish. Ray Allen scored two podium finishes at

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

and

Oulton Park Oulton Park is a hard surfaced track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England. It is about from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection a ...

. Royale also scored its first win at the prestigious

SCCA National Championship Runoffs The SCCA National Championship Runoffs is the end-of-year championship race meeting for Sports Car Club of America Club Racing competitors. Divisional champions and other top drivers from the SCCA's 116 regions are invited to participate at the ...

. William Holbrook won the

C Sports Racer C Sports Racer (CSR) now known as Prototype 1 (P1) is a class in the Sports Car Club of America. it consists of open top prototype style cars. The maximum displacement is 1615cc, in a 2 valve crossflow engine, with a minimum weight of 1300lbs w/dr ...

class in an RP4. 1973 was again highly successful for Royale in Formula Super Vee.

Harry Ingle Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

and Bob Lazier won races for the British marque. Lazier finished third in the championship behind Harry Ingle.

Bertil Roos Bertil Roos (October 12, 1943 – March 31, 2016) was a Swedish racing driver from Gothenburg. He participated in a single Formula One Grand Prix, his home race in 1974, from which he retired with transmission failure. Career Despite enjoying ear ...

won the championship in a Tui. Former Formula Super Vee champion Manfred Schurti raced a Royale in various

Formula 2 Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name return ...

races. Schurti struggled to qualify. The only race he qualified Schurti did not finish due to a

camshaft A camshaft is a shaft that contains a row of pointed cams, in order to convert rotational motion to reciprocating motion. Camshafts are used in piston engines (to operate the intake and exhaust valves), mechanically controlled ignition systems ...

failure. The best result in Formula 3 came at Thruxton with

Andy Sutcliffe Andy Sutcliffe (9 May 1947 – 13 July 2015) was a British racing driver from England. Born in Mildenhall, Suffolk, Sutcliffe began his racing career in 1969. He competed in Formula Three from 1970 to 1973, before contesting the 1974 European F ...

. In the opening round of the BARC F3 championship Sutcliffe scored a second-place finish. Royale RP21

The following year Royale was again very competitive in Formula Super Vee.

Tom Bagley Tom Bagley (born December 3, 1939, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), is a former driver in the USAC, CART Championship Car, IMSA, Formula Atlantic, and Trans-Am Series. He raced Indycars in the 1978-1980 and 1983 seasons, with 42 combined career start ...

scored two wins in the American championship. Bagley, Walter Wilkins,

Richard Melville Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

and Billy Scott all scored podium finishes racing Royales. Bagley finished third in the championship. In Europe the marque had less success. Ruedi Caprez and Baron de St. Hubert scored podium finishes. 1975 marked the year Royale built its last Formula Super Vee cars.

Rory Byrne Rory Byrne (born 10 January 1944) is a South African semi-retired engineer and car designer, most famous for being the chief designer at the Benetton and Scuderia Ferrari Formula One teams. Byrne-designed cars have won ninety-nine Grands Pri ...

joined the design team and designed the RP19.

Bobby Rahal Robert Woodward Rahal (born January 10, 1953) is an American former auto racing driver and team owner. As a driver he won three championships and 24 races in the CART open-wheel series, including the 1986 Indianapolis 500. He also won the 2004 ...

was the only Royale driver to score podium finished. Rahal finished second at

Mosport Park Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (formerly Mosport Park and Mosport International Raceway) is a multi-Race track, track motorsport venue located north of Bowmanville, in Ontario, Canada, east of Toronto. The facility features a , 10-turn road cou ...

and third at Watkins Glen. Geoff Lees, driving a Royale RP21, won the 1975

Formula Ford Festival The Formula Ford Festival is an annual meeting of Ford-powered single-seat racing cars which is held at the end of the British racing season, at the Brands Hatch motor racing circuit in the county of Kent, in Southern England. The events are hel ...

. This was the last Festival to be driven at the

Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit Snetterton Circuit is a motor racing course in Norfolk, England, originally opened in 1953. Owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, it is situated on the A11 road north-east of the town of Thetford and south-west of the cit ...

. South African driver

Rad Dougall Robert Anthony Dougall (born 7 September 1951) is a South African former Auto racing, racing driver. Racing record Complete European Formula Two Championship results (:Template:Motorsport driver results legend, key) (Races in bold indicate pole ...

finished third also driving a Royale. Lees also won the BRDC and BRSCC Formula Ford championships. With the demise of Formula Super Vee Royale began to focus on

Formula Ford 2000 Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula For ...

. Rory Byrne built a prototype and in 1977 production began on the RP25. In 1976 Rory Byrne designed Royales last Formula 3 car. Byrne designed and built the chassis and suspension. But before the car was finished the project was sold to Roger Andreason and Paul Fox who completed the bodywork. The car was renamed Druid 377. Due to the lack of ground effect the car was not competitive in Formula 3 and was rebuilt as a Formula Atlantic car for the 1979 season. With driver Roger White the car had some top ten finishes. A further two chassis were built. Meanwhile, in Formula Ford Jim Walsh won the 1976 BRDC championship. In 1977 Royale made its debut in Formula Ford 2000. Rad Dougall had a very good season as he won the BARC championship and the MCD championship. He won a total of 14 races. Fellow Royale driver Kenny Gray won another three races. A Royale car also won the BARC Formula Ford 1600 championship. David Leslie won nine races and secured the championship.

Kenny Acheson Kenneth Henry Acheson (born 27 November 1957) is a British former racing driver from Northern Ireland who competed for RAM Racing in the 1983 and 1985 Formula One seasons. He completed only one of his three race starts, finishing in 12th posit ...

won the championship the following year driving a Royale.

1980s

Royale was one of the few constructors to design a new car for the Formula Talbot series along with Sparton. Most entries were redesigned Formula Ford 2000 cars. The cars used a

Talbot Sunbeam Talbot was an automobile marque introduced in 1902 by English-French company Clément-Talbot. The founders, Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 20th Earl of Shrewsbury and Adolphe Clément-Bayard, reduced their financial interests in their Clément-Talb ...

1.6 litre engine that ran on

methanol Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical and the simplest aliphatic alcohol, with the formula C H3 O H (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often abbreviated as MeOH). It is a ...

fuel. The series folded in 1982 after three seasons.

Pat Symonds Patrick Bruce Reith Symonds (born 11 June 1953) is a British motor racing engineer. He was the Chief Technical Officer at Williams Grand Prix Engineering, from 2013 until 2016 having previously worked at the Benetton, Renault and Virgin Formula ...

designed the Formula Talbot, Formula Ford 1600 and Formula Ford 2000 cars built by Royale in 1980. The marque dominated the

British Formula Ford 2000 British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

championship. Royale RP27's won all races in the BARC championship. Richard Trott won the championship. Trott also won the MCD Formula Ford 2000 championship. In Formula Ford 1600 Royale won three races in the BARC championship with

Jonathan Palmer Jonathan Charles Palmer (born 7 November 1956) is a British businessman and former Formula One racing driver. Before opting for a career in motor racing, Palmer trained as a physician at London's Guys Hospital. He also worked as a junior phys ...

, Rob Tennant and Rick Morris. The following year was less successful for Royale. The RP29 and RP30 were race winners in their championships but could not secure championship titles. In Formula Ford 1600 David Wheeler was the most successful Royale driver winning two races in a

Van Diemen Van Diemen International, Ltd. was a British race car manufacturer based in Snetterton, Norfolk, United Kingdom. The company had a reputation for high-volume production runs of its cars, the most well-known of which is its series of Formula For ...

dominated season. Van Diemen also dominated the Formula Ford 2000 championship. Royale achieved five wins with Tim Davies and two wins with Mike Taylor. In 1982 Mike Taylor entered a Royale S2000M, Royales first

Sports 2000 Sports 2000 is a restricted-rules class of two-seat, mid-engined, open-cockpit, full-bodied sports-prototype racecar used largely in amateur road racing. Sometimes known as S2000 or S2, the class was developed by John Webb, then of the Brands Hatch ...

car, in the British Sports 2000 Championship. The British driver won three races.

Jeremy Rossiter Jeremy Stuart Rossiter (born 18 June 1950) is a British auto racing driver. He has competed in various forms of motorsports including single-seater, sports cars and saloon cars. In 1989 he drove for the works Vauxhall team in the British Touring ...

and David Sutherland also won races in the championship driving Royales. The

Thundersports The Thundersports Series was a domestic championship which took place in mainly at Brands Hatch ran circuits, for prototype sportcars and also featured cars that were eligible for Can-Am and Group C2 racing. To bring some real excitement, noise ...

championship was launched in 1983. Royale S2000M cars were eligible in this

style sports car championship. Royale achieved three podium finishes. The S2000M also won races in the British S2000 championship with David Sutherland. Keith Fine won the only race for Royale in the British Formula Ford 1600. Bob Marston designed a new S2000 car for 1984. The car achieved a second place at

in the Thundersports championship. In the British S2000 championship James Thompson won four races. Thompson secured the championship finishing in front of Sean Walker both driving Royales. 1984 was also the year the last Formula Ford 1600 chassis were built by Royale. The Royale RP36, of which 14 were built, could not achieve significant results. The following year the last Formula Ford 2000 chassis were built. But with

Reynard Reynard the Fox is a literary cycle of medieval allegorical Dutch, English, French and German fables. The first extant versions of the cycle date from the second half of the 12th century. The genre was popular throughout the Late Middle Ages, as ...

and Van Diemen dominating the market, Royale could not win any races. In S2000 Royale had stiff competition from

Shrike Shrikes () are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of 34 species in four genera. The family name, and that of the largest genus, ''Lanius'', is derived from the Latin word for "butcher", and some shrikes are also know ...

and Tiga.

Ian Flux Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...

won round 14 at Thruxton. Bob Marston designed a new S2000 car, the RP42. Mike Taylor finished second in the championship winning six races. Taylor went on to win the following season in a RP42. The British driver also scored podium finishes in the Thundersports championship in 1986 and 1987. Royale made its first

Group C Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for touring cars and ''Group B'' for GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 special production cars (closed top touri ...

car in 1985. The Royale RP40 would be rebadged as the

Argo In Greek mythology the ''Argo'' (; in Greek: ) was a ship built with the help of the gods that Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece. The ship has gone on to be used as a motif in a variety of sour ...

JM16 after Royale ceased to produce racing cars. The car would achieve a ninth place in its inaugural race, the 1984 24 Hours of Daytona.

Lyn St. James Lyn St. James (born Evelyn Gene Cornwall; March 13, 1947) is an American former race car driver. She competed in the IndyCar series, with eleven CART and five Indy Racing League starts to her name. St. James is one of nine women who have qualifi ...

and

Howdy Holmes Howdy Holmes (born December 14, 1947 in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is a former racing driver in the CART Championship Car series. He began racing in the early 1970s and was based in Stockbridge, Michigan, about southeast from downtown Lansing and ...

achieved a third-place finish in the Watkins Glen 500 Kilometres.

Racing cars

Royale Racing LLC

In 2008, Christopher Shoemaker purchased the rights to the company's trademarks and founded Royale Racing LLC, which repairs, maintains and rents vintage Royale machines. It does not produce original vehicles.

References

{{reflist

External links

Royale Racing
British racecar constructors Sports car manufacturers Automotive motorsports and performance companies Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1968 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1987 Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United Kingdom 1968 establishments in England 1987 disestablishments in England