Francis Curzon, 5th Earl Howe

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Francis Richard Henry Penn Curzon, 5th Earl Howe (b. 1 May 1884, Mayfair, London - d. 26 July 1964, Amersham, Buckinghamshire) was a British Naval officer, Member of Parliament, motor racing driver and promotor. In the 1918 UK General Election he won the Battersea South seat, representing the Conservative Party, which he held until 1929. While in Parliament he took up motor racing, and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1931. He ascended to the Peerage in 1929, succeeding his father as the 5th Earl Howe. Earl Howe co-founded the British Racing Drivers' Club with Dudley Benjafield, and served as its President until his death in 1964.

Contents 1 Early career 2 Motor racing career 3 Post-war career 4 Complete European Championship results 5 References

[edit] Early career

Francis, Viscount Curzon joined the Royal Navy after leaving school, following in a long familiy tradition. After active service during the First World War, for part of which he was aide-de-camp to George V, he retired from the Royal Navy and moved into politics. In the 1918 General Election he won the Battersea South seat, standing for the Conservative Party. Following his father's death in 1929 Francis Curzon ascended to the title Earl Howe, making him ineligible for Parliamentary re-election. However, during his later years as an MP Curzon had begun to become involved in motor racing. An associate of the infamous Bentley Boys, he was instrumental in forming the ideas which led Dudley Benjafield to set up the British Racing Drivers' Club in 1928. The newly enobled Earl Howe was elected its President at the BRDC's first Annual General Meeting in 1929.

[edit] Motor racing career

Francis Curzon made his race debut at the comparatively old age of 44, in the 1928 Irish TT. After leaving the House of Commons he pursued his driving career with increasing vigour. During the 1930s he became a well known driver, competing in many national and international races, most notably the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He entered the endurance classic six times between 1929 and 1935, only missing the 1933 event. For the first year he was entered as a part of the Bentley factory team, but latterly he entered his own cars. It was in his own Alfa Romeo 8C that he won the race in 1931, driving in partnership with Henry Birkin.

Away from La Sarthe, Earl Howe (as he was most commonly entered following his father's death) drove in a variety of automobiles. Indeed, in the mid-1930s he was credited by Time magazine as having "Europe's most elaborate" collection of racing cars. Although patriotic, he was often forced to buy and run cars built outside the UK, as once Bentley had withdrawn from motor sport there were no realistically competitive British-built machines available. He won the Donington Park Trophy race in 1933, and added to his victory haul with a win in the 1938 Grosvenor Grand Prix, in South Africa. In addition to these two victories he also took podium finishes in eleven other major races between 1933 and 1939. In 1937, Howe was seriously injured in an accident driving his ex-Benjafield ERA R8B, while challenging Prince Bira for the lead in the Campbell Trophy at the Brooklands circuit.

Aside from assuming the Presidency of the BRDC, Earl Howe also served as Vice-President of the FIA's Commission Sportive Internationale, the governing body of international motorsport at the time. He also kept motorsport issues on the political landscape, with numerous speeches in the House of Lords.

[edit] Post-war career

The start of the Second World War effectively ended Earl Howe's front line driving career, and he returned to the Navy. At the end of the conflict he moved into race organising, although he continued to prepare and enter cars for other drivers, including Tazio Nuvolari. As President of the BRDC he was instrumental in organising the first British Grand Prix, at Silverstone in 1948, which gained full Formula One World Championship status at the Championship's inception in 1950. He also instituted the annual BRDC International Trophy meeting at the same circuit. Under Earl Howe's 35-year stewardship, the BRDC went from private dining club to one of the most successful and high profile motor sport associations in the world. Francis Curzon, 5th Earl Howe died in July 1964.

Today, the BRDC maintains a highly prestigious award in his memory: The Earl Howe Trophy, awarded annually "to the highest placed British Driver in the Indy 500 race or to the British driver who has established the most meritorious performance of the year in North America."[1] The current holder is Dan Wheldon.

[edit] Complete European Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Entrant	Make	1	2	3	4	5	EDC	Points
1931	Private entry	Bugatti	ITA	FRA 12	BEL			25=	20
1932	Private entry	Bugatti	ITA	FRA 9	GER			9=	20
1935	Private entry	Bugatti	BEL	GER	SUI 10	ITA	ESP	21=	36
1936	Private entry	Bugatti	MON	GER	SUI Ret	ITA		26=	30

[edit] References

• The Golden Era - Drivers (H). The Golden Era of Grand Prix Racing. Retrieved on March 4, 2007.
• "Revival Race", TIME, 16 October 1936. Retrieved on March 4, 2007.
• Earl Howe. The Brooklands Society. Retrieved on March 4, 2007.

Preceded by new constituency	Member of Parliament for Battersea South 1918 – 1929	Succeeded by William Bennett
Preceded by Dudley Benjafield	BRDC President 1929 – 1964	Succeeded by Gerald Lascelles
Preceded by Woolf Barnato Glen Kidston	Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1931 with: Henry Birkin	Succeeded by Raymond Sommer Luigi Chinetti