Selwyn Francis Edge
Selwyn Edge, better known as S F Edge, had been a successful cycle racer when he took up motor racing in 1900. He won his class the 1,000 mile race from Newbury to Edinburgh and back in 1900 in which only 35 of the 64 starters finished. In 1902 he won the Gordon Bennett race in France but was unsuccessful in the following two years.
A week before the official opening of the Brooklands Circuit in 1907, Edge led a team of three Napier cars with the intention of averaging 60 mph over 24 hours. All three cars achieved this but the fastest was driven by Edge himself, driving single-handed and averaged 65.09 mph, a distance of 1,581 miles a record not to be broken for another 18 years.
Edge returned to Brooklands in 1922, driving a Spyker, attempting to break his 24 hour record of 1907. By this time the event had become the 'Double-Twelve' with cars running for 12 hours on Saturday and 12 hours on Sunday, at the insistence of local residents. The average speed was 74.27 mph with a distance of 1,782 miles.
Edge was once again at Brooklands for the inauguration of the Campbell Circuit in April 1937. He was a sponsor of the new circuit and led the parade in a 1903 Napier.
Edge was a leading force in the development of the Napier motor company and he went on to control AC Cars but when the company collapsed in 1929 he withdrew from the motor industry.
From 1903 to 1905 Selwyn Edge was successful in motor boat racing in vessels called by the 'Napier' name. In particular he won and was placed second in the same race in Napier II and Napier I, respectively in the 1905 race in Monaco. This was possible because at that time the owner and entrant was credited with the result even if they had not actually been in the boat! In fact Edge was in Napier II but even then the driver was given as Dorothy Levitt.
After an apprenticeship in locomotive engineering WO Bentley moved on to motor design and manufacture. He took part in the 1909 and 1920 Isle of Man TT motorcycle races, without success. With his brother he modified the engine of a DPF car and took several records at Brooklands in 1913 and 1914.