- Kay Petre
Kay Petre, born
May 10 ,1903 - diedAugust 10 ,1994 , was an earlymotor racing star.Born Kathleen Coad Defries in
Toronto, Canada but raised inEngland , Petre was a star at the legendary Brooklands track. The exploits of this 4'10" lady caused a media sensation at the time. The abiding image of Kay is a tiny woman seated in a huge 10.5 litre V12Delage . This was the car in which she battled for the Women's Outer Circuit Record atBrooklands withGwenda Stewart . Kay gained the upper hand on 26th October 1934 with a 129.58mph lap, but in August 1935 Gwenda fought back with a faster lap. A determined Kay took her record back the same day with a 134.75mph pass but Gwenda, driving theDerby-Miller , had the last laugh three days later at 135.95 mph.Although she is always associated with the Delage, Kay started racing in a
Wolseley Hornet Special bought for her by her husband. She also raced an Invicta and aBugatti in which she won ahandicap race in 1935. However, she was most successful in a series of Rileys. She was ninth in the Mountain Grand Prix at Brooklands in a Riley 1.5 in 1934, against tough opposition. Her first visit toLe Mans was also that year. She andDorothy Champney finished thirteenth, driving a Riley Ulster Imp. The Riley connection continued next year but Kay and Elsie "Bill" Wisdom failed to finish with ablown engine .Between 1934 and 1936, Kay was a regular at all the big British races like the Brooklands 500 Miles and Double Twelve Hours, plus
sports car races atDonington Park and Crystal Palace. She partnered some big names, such asDudley Benjafield andPrince Bira of Siam. She also drove in rallies and was an accomplished hillclimb driver, claiming the Ladies' Record atShelsley Walsh twice.In 1937 Petre travelled to
South Africa for theGrand Prix motor racing season with her Riley. Here she befriended the legendaryBernd Rosemeyer , who was racing for Auto Union. Competing against him and other top drivers of the day, she drove in three Grands Prix, scoring a sixth place in the Grosvenor GP but failing to finish the others. In September 1937, she went toFrance to race a "Grasshopper" Austin in theParis toNice rally.She was driving for the works Austin team at Brooklands when her career was ended by a terrible accident. During practice for the 500 Mile race,
Reg Parnell misjudged an overtaking move, lost speed, slid down the banking and hit her Austin Seven from behind. She crashed badly and was seriously injured.She never raced competitively again.Much later, she designed fabric patterns for the interior of the
Mini and was a motoring journalist. She died in 1994, at the age of ninety-one.
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