Recently Phillip Plato, Chair of the OP Society and founding member of the OP Car and Motorcycle Club was contacted by Anthony Fenwick-Wilson (1953 - 1957) who at the age of 85 was retiring from the world of motor racing.  Anthony writes:

The will is still very willing but at nearly 85, Old-Father-Time has decreed that my motor-racing days are now over. I suppose I can’t really complain though. Over the past nine years, ‘Rosita’, my 1935 straight-eight, Railton, has proudly carried the Pangbourne flag round most of the country’s major circuits, with a moderate collection of tin pots, and not forgetting a few agricultural excursions into the tracks’ countryside.

I  also have a classic Bentley, a 1953 ‘R’ Type called Burgundy Bess. Vintage racing is a thriving sport, with some meetings attracting over 150 cars, from Edwardian aero-engined behemoths, to 1950s formula 1 Coopers. 

I had intended to celebrate my 85th with a few circuits of the wall-of-death on a 1932 ‘Indian’ motorcycle, but I would have had to go round at 40 m.p.h. to enable the centrifugal force to keep the bike from falling off the wall. The snag being that at that level of g-force, my rather over abused heart would have possibly stopped – Ah well, short of reincarnation, it looks like a more sedentary and gentle life beckons.

However, Anthony can rest assured that the mantel has been passed on to our current generation of Pangbournians, and in particular, Leo Robinson, a current Year 10 pupil at the College.  Leo has recently Joined JHR Developments team in the F4 British Championship 2024.  Leo has a multitude of national and international Karting titles to his name.  In 2023 he moved into car racing, becoming the youngest ever race winner in the Ginetta Junior.  Mid season he switched to the Danish F4 Championship, scoring 10 podiums in 10 starts and finished as the best points scorer in the second half of the season , finishing fourth in the championship.

Leo will be making his F4 British Championship debut in April and is proud to race under the flag of his maternal nation Algeria.  He is grateful for the contiuned support of the FASM (Federation Algerienne des Sport Mecaniques).

If you have an interest in all things motor sport then why not join the OP Car & Motorcyle Club,  Full details can be found on the Pangbournian Portal, just click on the page marked Clubs.