Sir Henry Segrave biography

 Sir Henry Segrave biography

Sir Henry Segrave, (born Sept. 22, 1896, Baltimore, Md., U.S.—died June 13, 1930, Lake Windermere, Westmorland, Eng.), American-born English vehicle and motorboat racer who set three world land velocity data.

Educated at Eton and Sandhurst, Segrave served with the Royal Air Force in World War I. During the conflict he grew to become all in favour of vehicle racing by a go to to the Sheepshead Bay, Long Island, N.Y., course. He gained the French Grand Prix (1923) and the San Sebastian Grand Prix (1924) in Spain, wherein he was the primary racer to put on a crash helmet. He additionally gained the 200-mile (322-kilometre) race at Brooklands in England (1921, 1925, and 1926) and competed in lots of hill climbs and velocity trials from 1914 to 1927.

In 1926 he first broke the land velocity report, driving a Sunbeam at 152.33 mile/h (miles per hour [245.15 km/h]). On March 29, 1927, at Daytona, Fla., driving a 1,000-horsepower Sunbeam with a World War I aero-engine, he grew to become the primary driver to exceed 200 mile/h (320 km/h) and established a brand new report of 203.79 mile/h (327.97 km/h). He set a 3rd report of 231.44 mile/h (372.48 km/h) in March 1929.

Segrave started racing motorboats in 1927, successful the International Championship at Miami, Fla., in 1928. Immediately after setting a water velocity report of 85.8 knots, he was fatally injured when his boat—touring at a velocity of greater than 86 knots—broke aside, presumably after hitting a floating tree limb. His e-book, The Lure of Speed, was revealed in 1928. He was knighted in 1929.