Eric Crudgington Fernihough (17 February 1905 – 23 April 1938) was a British motorcycle racer.

Career

In 1927, Fernihough made his only participation in the Isle of Man TT, finishing thirteenth in the 250 cc Lightweight TT.^[1]

In the first half of the 1930s, Fernihough took part in many international races for the Excelsior Motor Company. In April 1930 he won the North West 200 race in Northern Ireland in the 175 cc category. In the Belgian Grand Prix of the same year, Fernihough finished second to the local rider Yvan Goor.^[2] In September 1930, he won the UMF Grand Prix in Pau, France.^[3]

In June 1931, Fernihough won his second UMF Grand Prix in the 175 cc category and with it the title of European Champion.^[4][5] That year he also won the Belgian Grand Prix and the 250 cc category races at the North West 200 and Swedish TT.^[2]

In 1932, Fernihough won the 175 cc races at the Dutch TT, the UMF Grand Prix and the Belgian Grand Prix.^[6] 1933 saw Fernihough and Excelsior win their fourth consecutive UMF Grand Prix in the 175 cc class.

In 1935, riding a Brough Superior, Fernihough improved the lap record at the Brooklands circuit, one of the fastest tracks of the time, to 123.58 miles per hour (198.88 km/h).^[7]

In 1936, Fernihough set a new motorcycle land-speed record for solo motorcycles over the flying mile on a Brough Superior at a speed of 163.82 miles per hour (263.64 km/h). The following year, he improved the record using a supercharged 1000 cc J.A.P. engine, upping the flying kilometre record to 169.79 miles per hour (273.25 km/h). He also set a new record for sidecar motorcycles at 137 miles per hour (220 km/h).^[8]

Fatal accident

The place of Fernihough's death: Hungarian Route 5, km 45-46

On 23 April 1938, Fernihough crashed while attempting to break the motorcycle land-speed record at Gyón, Hungary.

Statistics

References