Larger than life

[dimrub]

At the 1953 event Hamilton and Rolt had been disqualified for practising in a car with the same number as another on the circuit at the same time.
Hamilton was a larger-than-life character,[3] and his account of what followed has passed into motor racing legend: by the time Jaguar team manager Lofty England persuaded the organisers to let them race, both drivers were drunk in a local bar; when the race was under way the team tried to sober Hamilton up by giving him coffee during the pit stops but he refused it, saying it made his arms twitch; instead he was given brandy. Lofty England refuted the story: "Of course I would never have let them race under the influence. I had enough trouble when they were sober!"