Denis Jenkinson
Encyclopedia
Motor Sport (magazine)
Motor Sport was founded in the UK in 1924 as the Brooklands Gazette, the first edition appearing in July of that year. In August 1925 the title was changed to the all-encompassing "Motor Sport". For most of its history , the editor of the magazine was Bill Boddy.The monthly magazine underwent a...
, was a journalist deeply involved in motorsport
Motorsport
Motorsport or motorsports is the group of sports which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles, whether for racing or non-racing competition...
s. As Continental Correspondent of the UK-based Motor Sport magazine, he covered Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
and other races all over Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
Jenkinson became a motor sport enthusiast in the mid-1930s:
"In 1936 I saw a racing car "in the
flesh" or should I say "in the metal,"
for the first time, that was an E.R.A.
at the schoolboys' Exhibition. Later in
the year, whilst staying at Brighton, I
found that the Lewes Speed TrialsLewes Speed TrialsThe Lewes Speed Trials were speed trials held on a defunct course in Lewes, Sussex, England, sometimes known as "The Motor Road."-History:The first meeting took place on July 27, 1924, on "a private road near Lewes", location unidentified. The event was organised by the Brighton & Hove Motor Cycle...
were
quite near, so off I went to find the venue.
It was there that I first saw racing-cars
in action, what a thrill!"
Jenkinson was studying engineering at the Regent Street Polytechnic
University of Westminster
The University of Westminster is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. Its origins go back to the foundation of the Royal Polytechnic Institution in 1838, and it was awarded university status in 1992.The university's headquarters and original campus are based on Regent...
when the Second World War broke out. As a conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
, he served in a civilian capacity at the Royal Aircraft Establishment
Royal Aircraft Establishment
The Royal Aircraft Establishment , was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the UK Ministry of Defence , before finally losing its identity in mergers with other institutions.The first site was at Farnborough...
in Farnborough
Farnborough Airfield
Farnborough Airport or TAG London Farnborough Airport is an airport situated in Farnborough, Rushmoor, Hampshire, England...
. This brought him into contact with Bill Boddy
Bill Boddy
William "Bill" Boddy, MBE was a British journalist who was the editor of Motor Sport from 1936 to 1991. He contributed regularly to Motor Sport magazine, continuing a career that lasted eighty-one years.-Career:...
, editor of Motor Sport, and other enthusiasts. In 1943 Motor Sport reported: "D.S. Jenkinson has constructed himself a very nice motor-bicycle of Norton parts, with taper forks, much of the work being accomplished by torch-light in a small shed."
After the war Jenkinson started competing on two and four wheels, but he lacked the funds to race regularly. He found that acting as sidecar
Sidecar
A sidecar is a one-wheeled device attached to the side of a motorcycle, scooter, or bicycle, producing a three-wheeled vehicle.-History:A sidecar appeared in a cartoon by George Moore in the January 7, 1903, issue of the British newspaper Motor Cycling. Three weeks later, a provisional patent was...
passenger to top riders enabled him to both enjoy top-level European competition himself while being paid and to scratch a living writing about it - he was passenger to Eric Oliver
Eric Oliver
Eric Staines Oliver was an English motorcycle racer best remembered as four time FIM Sidecar World Champion, riding a Norton. His passenger in 1949 was Denis Jenkinson...
(with whom he became World Champion in 1949
1949 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1949 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the inaugural F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix season. The season consisted of six Grand Prix races in five classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc and Sidecars 600cc...
) and Marcel Masuy.
Jenkinson abandoned front-line competition to become Continental Correspondent for Motor Sport. He spent his summers touring Europe and his winters in a succession of 'digs' in England; Jenks eventually settled near Crondall
Crondall
Crondall is a village and large civil parish in the north east of Hampshire, England and is all that remains of the old Hundred of Crondall referred to in the Domesday Book of 1086. Various earlier spellings have in common the use of a "u" instead of the "o" and the village is still properly...
in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
in a tiny run-down house with no mains electricity or water, largely full of his archives and of parts of vehicles he was 'fettling'. He was legendary in the sport for the lack of basic domestic amenities in his home; to Jenks nothing mattered but racing. He became accepted as the 'elder statesman' of British racing journalists due to his closeness to the teams and drivers, his conversational writing style and his obvious and enduring passion for the sport.
DSJ loved to race and drive Porsche
Porsche
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....
cars and coined the term wischening for the manner in which one may corner successfully in a Porsche 356
Porsche 356
The Porsche 356 was the company's first production automobile. It was a lightweight and nimble handling rear-engine rear-wheel-drive 2 door sports car available in hardtop coupe and open configurations. Design innovations continued during the years of manufacture, contributing to its motorsports...
. He later adopted an E-Type Jaguar
Jaguar (car)
Jaguar Cars Ltd, known simply as Jaguar , is a British luxury car manufacturer, headquartered in Whitley, Coventry, England. It is part of the Jaguar Land Rover business, a subsidiary of the Indian company Tata Motors....
as his work transport, although at home he had assorted decrepit vehicles including an elderly Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
saloon, a Citroën
Citroën
Citroën is a major French automobile manufacturer, part of the PSA Peugeot Citroën group.Founded in 1919 by French industrialist André-Gustave Citroën , Citroën was the first mass-production car company outside the USA and pioneered the modern concept of creating a sales and services network that...
2CV and others.
His most famous competitive outing though was as navigator for Stirling Moss
Stirling Moss
Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss, OBE FIE is a former racing driver from England...
during the 1955 Mille Miglia
Mille Miglia
The Mille Miglia was an open-road endurance race which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 ....
; his article on this With Moss In The Mille Miglia is generally recognised as a classic of motor racing journalism. His book The Racing Driver was based on his experience as navigator and is a true classic worthy of any motorsports literature collection. His "pacenotes
Pacenotes
In rallying, pacenotes are a commonly used method of accurately describing the route to be driven in extreme detail. As well as dictating the general route to be taken, in terms of turnings, junctions, etc, all notable features of the route which might affect the way it is driven at speed are...
" while on this event was pioneering, leading up to today's use of pacenotes in rallying
Rallying
Rallying, also known as rally racing, is a form of auto racing that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars...
.
One of Jenks' most famous exploits was road-testing an unregistered, unsilenced and very much not road-legal Lotus
Team Lotus
Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport series including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar and sports car racing...
Formula Two car on the roads near his Hampshire home on Christmas Day 1958, the logic being that the roads would be quiet and few police would be active.
As well as his journalism, Jenkinson went on to write several other motorsports books about Porsche, Frazer Nash
Frazer Nash
Frazer Nash was a British sports car manufacturer and engineering company founded by Archibald Frazer-Nash in 1922. It produced sports cars incorporating a unique multi-chain transmission before World War II and also imported BMW cars to the UK. After the war it continued producing sports cars with...
, the Jaguar E-type
Jaguar E-type
The Jaguar E-Type or XK-E is a British automobile, manufactured by Jaguar between 1961 and 1975. Its combination of good looks, high performance, and competitive pricing established the marque as an icon of 1960s motoring...
, the 2.5 litre Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
, Juan Manuel Fangio
Juan Manuel Fangio
Juan Manuel Fangio , nicknamed El Chueco or El Maestro , was a racing car driver from Argentina, who dominated the first decade of Formula One racing...
, the Schlumpf Collection and a particular Maserati
Maserati
Maserati is an Italian luxury car manufacturer established on December 1, 1914, in Bologna. The company's headquarters is now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. It has been owned by the Italian car giant Fiat S.p.A. since 1993...
. A compilation of some of his best pieces, and biographical articles about him, was published soon after his death as Jenks: A Passion For Motor Sport.
For many years in the 1950s he produced an annual Racing Car Review for Motor Sport, but stopped doing so as he became increasingly disgruntled with the discrepancies between the chassis numbers teams quoted and what was actually being raced; rather than compromise his journalistic integrity, Jenkinson simply stopped producing the books.
Jenkinson also developed the classification of a driver's effort into "tenths". 10/10ths being the highest, attained by only a few drivers in history; the ability to 'Tiger' (to race at ten-tenths and achieve feats that other drivers would find impossible) was seen as crucial for a champion.
In the sixties Jenkinson did much to promote the sport of drag racing in the pages of Motor Sport magazine. On September 14, 1963 he rode his NorBSA motorcycle, a BSA Gold Star 500cc engine in a modified and lowered Norton frame, at the Brighton Speed Trials
Brighton Speed Trials
The Brighton Speed Trials, in full The Brighton National Speed Trials, is commonly held to be the oldest running motor race. The first race was held July 19–22, 1905 after Sir Harry Preston persuaded Brighton town council to tarmac the surface of the road adjacent to the beach between the Palace...
. He drove an Allard Dragon dragster and also rode a 648 c.c. Triumph sprint motorcycle in the 1965 Drag Festival. He remained a motorcycle enthusiast, and competed in hillclimbs and sprints on his own Triumph-BSA
Birmingham Small Arms Company
This article is not about Gamo subsidiary BSA Guns Limited of Armoury Road, Small Heath, Birmingham B11 2PP or BSA Company or its successors....
hybrid well into his seventies.
In his later years, he become involved with Brooklands Museum
Brooklands Museum
Brooklands Museum is an independent charitable trust, established in 1987, whose aim is to conserve, protect and interpret the unique heritage of the Brooklands site. It is located south of Weybridge, Surrey and was first opened regularly in 1991 on of the original 1907 motor-racing circuit...
and was involved in several adventurous operations, including exploring sealed up underground air raid shelters. Despite his advanced years, he worked as hard as any of the others involved and never asked for or received any special treatment.
Jenkinson suffered a series of strokes in 1996 and moved to a home administered by the motor industry benevolent fund BEN; he died on November 29, 1996.
Books
A partial list of the books written by Jenkinson follows. Not included are several monographs for the Profile series.- The Racing Driver: The Theory and Practice of Fast Driving (1959)
- Grand Prix Cars (1959)
- A Story of Formula 1 1954-1960 (1960)
- The Maserati 250F (1975)
- The Batsford Guide to Racing Cars (1978)
- Porsche 356: Coupé, Cabriolet, Roadster, Speedster & Carrera (1980)
- Jaguar E Type: 3.8 & 4.2 6-cylinder, 5.3 V12 (1982)
- Porsche: Past and Present (1983)
- From Chain Drive to Turbocharger: The A.F.N. Story (1984)
- Maserati 3011: The story of a racing car (1987)
- Motorcycle road racing: the 1950s in photographs (1989)
- Grand Prix Winners: Motor Racing Heroes since 1950 (1995)
- Jenks: A Passion For Motorsport (1997)
- A Passion for Porsches (2001)