Pastimperfect/'B Bira' revisited: I've been taken to task for not mentioning the Siamese racing driver "B Bira's" Irish races in my recent column on him.
Bira and his mentor Prince Chula enjoyed racing here on many occasions during the 1930s and also after the return of motor racing after the second World War. As well as competing at the Phoenix Park, the White Mouse team also raced at Cork's Carrigrohane circuit as well as the Limerick street circuit and at Ballyclare in 1946.
Bira first raced in Ireland in the 1936 Phoenix Park motor races organised by the Irish Motor Racing Club, driving in the 200-mile handicap race which counted towards the British Racing Drivers Club's prestigious Gold Star competition in which Bira was in a close points struggle with Dick Seaman.
In the race Bira was placed second and became the first driver to lap the Phoenix Park circuit at more than 100 mph, establishing a lap record of 102.3 mph driving his ex-Whitney Straight Maserati.
At season's end he was the Gold Star winner by a single point.
In 1937 he raced in two events at the Phoenix Park, beating the ERA of Raymond Mays in the handicap race while driving his Maserati and retiring when in pursuit of Mays while driving his Delage in the scratch race. In 1938 it seemed as if Bira would take his first Phoenix Park win, but the engine of his Maserati failed half way, leaving victory to the Multi-Union of Chris Stanisland.
In 1936 Bira retired while leading from the Cork Grand Prix and in 1937 he suffered a rare accident when his Maserati was badly damaged. In the 1938 race he finished second (again driving the Maserati) to Rene Dreyfus.
At Limerick in 1936, Bira was a witness to the tragic death of the Duke of Grafton and his own race ended when he damaged a front wheel against a kerb at Punch's Cross.
Bira's final appearance in an Irish race was perhaps his most dramatic. The race was the first to be held post-war in Britain or Northern Ireland and was run over the Ballyclare circuit for the International Ulster Trophy.
In the final stages of the race, Bira led in his ERA from the hard-charging Reg Parnell's Maserati. Almost side-by-side the two arrived at the last corner but Parnell, in trying to come through on the inside line, lost the rear of his car for a moment which was enough to give Bira a dramatic win.
It was Bira's final appearance here and in 1955 he retired. He died two days before Christmas in 1985 after suffering a heart attack on the platform of Baron's Court Tube station in London.
Of all racing drivers of his era, Bira seems to have touched the hearts of more followers of the sport than any other.
One correspondent told me of how as a boy he had sent a photo to Bira requesting that he sign it. A reply was received from Prince Chula explaining that Bira was in Europe and would oblige upon his return.
Sure enough, a few weeks later, the photograph was returned with the inscription 'To Peter, the great enthusiast, B Bira'. Now, that's a real hero.