The
following blog relates to Ian Hopper’s appearance at the International car race
meeting held at Charterhall on the 11th October 1952.
Ian Hopper
and his H3 Hopper Special were by now a force to be reckoned with in both
National and International hill-climbing events, having won the previous year’s
Bo’ness International and winning both the Bo’ness and Rest & Be Thankful
International events in 1952. He also competed in his first International car
race at Turnberry on the 23rd August 1952, finishing 3rd
in his heat but had a DNF in the final.
The Glasgow Daily
Record & Newcastle Journal car race meeting at Charterhall was the first
International event staged by the Winfield Joint Committee. They had previously
run National events at Winfield Aerodrome, some ten miles away from the current
venue. Both circuits were ex-RAF fighter aerodromes in the Border region of the
country and being easy to visit, attracted large crowds. Charterhall had a very
long (3/4mile) and hence fast straight and was known at the time as an ‘engine
wrecker’.
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| Circuit plan |
Ian was entered
in the Sports Car Class – up to 1500cc. This was a straight 20 lap race and was
the first event of the day. His old sparring partner Jimmy Gibbon was also
there, along with the ‘up-and-coming’ David Blane from Paisley. David was
driving the actual Jowett Jupiter than won its class in the 1951/52 Le Mans
24hour race and also the 1951 Tourist Trophy race. Although the entry was not
large, it produced one of the most exciting of the day’s races and had the
crowd on their toes from the off.
To quote the
17th October edition of Autosport:-
 |
| R.G. Shattock in RGS Atlanta |
"The first
race, for sports cars of up to 1½ litres, produced a fierce battle between R.G.
Shattock (RGS Atlanta), Jim Gibbon (Rover Special) and Ian Hopper (Hopper
Special). For lap after lap the trio passed and re-passed, with Gibbon showing
the most enterprise at the bends. Hopper fell back, leaving Gibbon and Shattock
to fight it out. The last-named green car displayed really excellent
road-holding: Gibbon’s rear suspension became progressively softer and his
challenge consequently eased off. Jim Lawrence took third place with his
Cooper-MG".
So what
happened to Ian and the Hopper Special?
At the
height of the Shattock/Gibbon/Hopper battle, Ian had set the fastest lap of the
event at 1min. 39.5secs – 72.5mph. Sadly he subsequently suffered a big-end
problem, slowed and eventually had to retire. However, a most interesting
photograph taken by Pelham-Burn & Cox Photographers from Fearnan, shows Ian
proceeding in a reverse direction to the race. Quite why he was doing this I
guess we will never know, but he was never one to follow convention, does not appear perturbed and the car does not
look externally damaged.
 |
| Ian Hopper facing the wrong way in H3 |
Luckily we also have a have a photograph of Ian and the Hopper Special going in the correct race direction that day. Perhaps in the previous shot he was returning to the paddock against the flow of traffic. His front wheels are turned hard to the left and this would be the case if the paddock was indeed his destination. Whatever the scenario it would have been a worrying time for P. Holyoake in is Rover Special.
 |
| Ian in normal race direction |
What is
clear is that the Charterhall International was a great success.
On that Saturday
in October a crowd of over 60,000 turned up to see a first-class event,
although the anticipated battle between Farina’s Thin Wall Special and the BRM’s
of Parnell and Wharton never materialised. Connaught’s achieved an ambition in
returning a 1-2-3 victory in the Formula 2 race. Ian Stewart defeated Stirling
Moss, both in C-Type Jaguar’s, to round off a great season for Ecurie Ecosse.
Sadly all
Ian Hopper took home that day was a dashboard plaque:
It is fair
to say that he was capable of winning his event and was unfortunate on the day.
But that is the nature of racing; you have to finish too win. He had won on the
same circuit previously that year and in his hands the Hopper Special was no
slouch.
Hopefully Joe
Potts, the designer and manufacturer of the H3 Hopper Special rolling chassis
was not too disappointed. What with Ian’s effort in the 1500cc Sports Car Class
and the fact that seven of his Bellshill produced JP cars were entered in the
Formula 3 event, would surely have bought a smile to his face.
Including
himself the drivers were:- Bill
Frew JP(Vincent)
Joe
Potts JP
Cliff
Carter JP
Johnnie
Higham JP
Ian
Sutherland JP(Vincent)
David
Blane JP
C.M.
Mauritzen JP
So all in
all a good turnout for the Bellshill brigade.
