General Information
The first 24 hour race to take place on a closed course was at Brooklands, eleven days after its opening in 1907. This incurred the wrath of local residents and would lead to the Double Twelve race, the first of which took place on 10th and 11th May 1929. This format meant the race took place for 12 hours each between 8am to 8pm and between it, the cars were locked up overnight to prevent maintenance work from being performed on them.
The Double Twelve of 1931 took place on 8th and 9th May. H.J ‘Aldy’ Aldington entered a works team of 3 Frazer Nashes as follows:
Car number 23 – Supercharged Anzani –engined car driven by
T.G Moore & W.S Braidwood.
Car number 24 – Meadows –engined car, registration MV 158, driven by
C.M Harvey &
H.J Aldington.
Car number 25 – Meadows-engined car, registration MV 159, driven by D.A Aldington & Mrs ‘Tommy’ Wisdom.
Of the 3 cars, numbers 23 & 25 retired at roughly the same time on the second day, a few hours before the finish. The Anzani car had blown a second pair of big-ends, and the Meadows car had engine trouble also. The remaining Meadows-engined car, registration MV 158, continued on to the finish, but too far behind to be classed as an official finisher.
Full Report by Autocar – 15/05/1931
