10 replies to this topic

[exclubracer]

Hi guys.

Following his mentions on the terryshep thread it seems that quite a few people remember him so I thought it might be a good idea for a dedicated thread to Peter. (fluebrush??)

I must admit I've never heard of him and a quick google only brought up the Motorsport Memorial site so perhaps we could discuss his career in a little more depth?

Thanks.

Mick.

[Geoff E]

I went to Cadwell as a kid in the late 50s and I think his was the only name I remember from that visit, so I guess he must have had some success. Perhaps I saw him one more time, then he didn't come anymore. It was just a few years ago (through the power of Google) that I realised the reason that I didn't see him again.

[Stu Pidman]

Unfortunately there seems to be very little information recorded about Pete's career.
I do remember that he was a pretty good rider and had his good days.
Hopefully some of our senior members have saved programmes etc. from their younger days.

[Herr Wankel]

Unfortunately there seems to be very little information recorded about Pete's career.
I do remember that he was a pretty good rider and had his good days.
Hopefully some of our senior members have saved programmes etc. from their younger days.

A few years ago I read a book on Ariels by Peter Hartley. Apparently 'Fluebrush' was quite a successful rider on a Hartley tuned Red Hunter in the 50s. Beating a lot of stuff he shouldn't have. I had one in the 70s that only had a Hartley cam in it. It went like hot snot !!

HW

[Russell Burrows]

With Bob Brown at Saltzburg.

[JJ650SS]

Hi guys.

Following his mentions on the terryshep thread it seems that quite a few people remember him so I thought it might be a good idea for a dedicated thread to Peter. (fluebrush??)

I must admit I've never heard of him and a quick google only brought up the Motorsport Memorial site so perhaps we could discuss his career in a little more depth?

Thanks.

Mick.

Hello Mick, I know this is an old thread and I've already replied to Russell, but just in case you don't see that and you're still active on here I thought I'd reply with some info on Peter Ferbrache and his career..I the 1950s and early 1960s my Grandfather and my Dad were mechanics for a Privateer racer who raced on short circuits and at the Isle of Man TT, they both knew Pete well and Dad's stories about him confirm that he was a real character who definitely 'lived life in the fast lane' !.. I don't know where he was originally from but he had served in the RAF in Bomber Command during World War 2 (as Aircrew, a Rear Gunner I believe..) and his experiences during that time had left him with a severe stammer when he was stressed. Dad said he was 'very well spoken' and sported a large moustache (hence the 'Fluebrush' nickname I believe) His Father, Jackson Ferbrache, acted as his fixer when he went racing, entering Pete in races and booking accommodation etc.. but often forgot things.. Apparently Pete called Jackson by his Christian name rather than 'Dad' or 'Father' etc.. and on such occasions Dad could clearly remember Pete yelling at Jackson in a posh accent 'OH FOR F-F-F-F-F-FACK'S SAKE JACKSON !..'

I think that Pete was a bit of a hero to my Dad (who always spoke very highly of him..) so I've been looking for more info about him on the web and in old race programmes etc.. for some time now, but there seems to be very little available and, given that most of the people who would have known him at the time are likely to be long gone (sadly including both my Dad and my Grandad..) we probably won't find out much more (unless you have something ?..) - All I know about Pete's career is that he raced a Hartley Ariel in the early days, moved onto Nortons for a time, competed once in the Junior and Senior Clubman's TTs (Isle of Man, 1955 I think..) on BSAs - presumably 350cc and 500cc Goldstars ? - coming a very respectable 4th in the Senior and 3rd in the Junior. He then went on to race AMCs (AJS & Matchless) at the end of his career. Sadly, as you probably already know, Pete was killed on 25th June 1960 while competing in the 1960 Dutch TT on an AJS - this was probably a 'Junior' race on a 350cc AJS 7R because the 500cc 'Senior' AMC racer was badged as a Matchless G50 - but I've not been able to confirm that.. Best wishes, John. 

Edited by JJ650SS, 13 July 2023 - 15:34.

[Michael Ferner]

I always wondered how the name is pronounced, perhaps "fluebrush" is a pointer, does anybody know? I don't have much about his personal background, except that during his active time he was always listed as living in Enfield, and his WW2 past (RAF gunner) was also frequently mentioned, and that he was unmarried and 35 or 36 years old when he died. I never saw his profession mentioned, which particularly intrigues me, since he must have had some money, because at one point he appears to have owned five (!) racing motorcycles at the same time. Between the lines of commentary, one can also glean that he was a 'character', and his riding style was described as stylish and fast - a quick man, and with some success as we will see.

 

His name starts appearing in newspapers in 1951, when he apparently began racing in short circuit club events after an introduction through grass track racing. Brands Hatch, Cadwell Park, Alton Towers and Osmaston Manor were his favourite hunting grounds, but he also competed at Shelsley Walsh hill climb and many other venues during that time. His main weapon was a 500cc JAP-engined Hartley Ariel, but he also used a 350cc JAP and a 125cc EMC/Puch to good effect. In the summer of 1955, he appeared with a couple of BSA Goldstars at the Clubman's TT, the only year that event was held on the Clypse circuit. Billed as a "Short Circuit star", he was amongst the fastest right from the start (4th in Junior and 3rd in Senior practice), and was fifth on the opening lap of the Junior race, improving to fourth on the second lap and then third after Ernie Washer crashed shortly after half distance, well behind (two and a half minutes) winner Jimmy Buchan junior and South Africa's Danny Joubert, but also comfortably clear of the next man. Within an hour he pushed the half-litre Goldstar towards Bray Hill, but it wouldn't fire up and he was reportedly "last away", with #28 in a field going up to #33, so that he didn't appear on the leaderboard until the second half of the race, fighting his way back up to fourth at the finish, again roughly two and a half minutes in arrears.

 

An excellent showing by all accounts, and after finishing the season off with another win at Cadwell Park over a field that included double Ulster GP runner-up John Hartle, no less (though he crashed in his heat and didn't actually start the final), Ferbrache was ready to take the next step: armed with a couple of Nortons, he was going to race against the major stars of his time in the British National and International events in 1956, starting with a 500cc win at Mallory Park during TT week, and thus against a 'light field', but still including some future stars like Bob Anderson, coming off a recent win in the Northwest 200 - in the unlimited main event, however, Anderson beat Ferbrache into second. At Cadwell Park in September, Peter finished fourth in the 20-lap main, behind men like Hartle, Bob McIntyre and Alan Trow - this was 'hot company', indeed, and to merely keep pace was already an achievement! In early 1957, he was second in a 350cc at Mallory Park behind Anderson again, beating Australia's hot newcomer Eric Hinton (who won both the 500cc and the unlimited main the same day) in the process, while in August he finished third at a Cadwell Park 350cc behind Hartle and double 1956 Clubman's TT winner Bernard Codd. Next up was the Manx GP in September, with practice commencing a week before and Ferbrache second fastest newcomer and third fastest overall on the first day, then improving by more than a minute on his first lap 24 hours later, but sadly the day ended in tears when on the very next lap he went down at the last left-hander before Windy Corner after his engine seized, breaking a knee cap. The accident kept him out of racing for the rest of the year, and apparently spooked him enough to never again return to race on the Mountain Circuit.

 

1958 saw him acquire an AJS 7R to set out and conquer the continent, warming up with runnerup finishes in unlimited mains at Mallory in March and Crystal Palace in April, plus a third place finish at Mallory again in a 350cc race on the new AJS, but using his 350 Norton to finish third in his Continental debut at Mettet/Belgium on May 4, behind John Surtees and Dave Chadwick. A week on, he was entered in both the Senior and Junior events at Hockenheim/Germany but didn't finish in the top six in either, then was second on his AJS at Tubbergen/Holland later the same month, less than twenty seconds behind Germany's Fritz Kläger, taking a rare victory for Horex, but well clear of Karl Hoppe, Bob Matthews, future GP winner Bert Schneider and local Champion Joop Vogelzang. For the Dutch TT at Assen five weeks later, Ferbrache entered his AJS but retired on lap 4 with engine failure, then finished 19th at the German GP (Nürburgring) in July and ninth (back on his 350 Norton) at the Swedish GP (Hedemora) a week later. In August, at the Zandvoort International he took two thirds (500 Norton and 350 AJS), beating the likes of Jack Ahearn, Noel McCutcheon and Bob Matthews, then won on his big Norton at Tampere/Finland September 7, before rounding off a successful season with a second place (behind Mike Hailwood, both on 500cc Nortons) in the unlimited main at Crystal Palace in October.

 

A Matchless G50 joined the stable for the 1959 season, and Ferbrache lost no time in making the investment worth his while, winning both the Senior and Junior (on the AJS) races at Crystal Palace on Easter Monday. That was just the beginning of a super successful year for him, and next on his itinerary was the Spanish GP three weeks hence, an event which would prove to be more important than he could have imagined at the time. During the late fifties, the Spanish race had lost its status as a World Championship qualifying round, which was due to a conflict with the sanctioning body FIM in 1956, and meant that, naturally, the starting field would not be of quite the highest standard, but in truth this didn't really matter that much since, almost as a rule, championship races in Spain for many years usually had comparatively poor fields, while the non-championship Spanish Grands Prix had better fields than almost all the other Internationals. As a matter of fact, all the non-championship Spanish GP solo races in 1957 and '58 had been won by the works MV Agusta team and their World Champion riders Carlo Ubbiali and John Surtees, while another works MV with Carlo Bandirola up had beaten the absolute track record that had been established during a World Championship event. That said, there was no works team present for the 1959 edition, but neither were there any for, say, the 1971 or '72 Spanish Grands Prix, and who is to say that Dave Simmonds or Chas Mortimer were not 'true' 500cc Grand Prix winners? All this to say that Peter Ferbrache entered a very select group by winning the 1959 Spanish GP in the 500cc category, and did so very convincingly, missing pole position by only one tenth of a second, but beating that time by more than five seconds in the race to win at a very respectable speed of 107.1 kph (compared to 108.1 and 109.1 kph by Surtees in '57 and '58, respectively), and beating World Championship GP 'podium finishers' Hansgünther Jäger, Ralph Rensen and John Grace to the finish, besides lapping everybody else - and 'someone' in Spain took notice!

 

Before anything could come of this, there were races to run, and to win: returning to Mettet in May produced two fastest race laps, but retirement on his 350 Norton and a second place on the Matchless, narrowly beaten by Australian Tom Phillis and his Norton. Finnland continued to be good to Ferbrache, as he won both the Senior and Junior events on his AMC machines at Helsinki on May 10, beating Ken Kavanagh and Bob Matthews in both races, as well as Sweden's Speedway star Olle Nygren. At the Dutch TT in Assen he finished ninth on the AJS, but retired from the 350cc Belgian GP one week later - both these races did not count for the World Championships because they were held to the new (and shortlived) Formula One regulations, but attracted all-star fields nonetheless: Gary Hocking, Mike Hailwood and Jim Redman, for example, to mention only those who would go on to win multiple world titles. It was back to Spain in August for the Bilbao GP, and in an unseasonable rain storm Peter took the lead from the start, with Italian veteran Carlo Bandirola catching up on his works MV (no longer a 'proper' member of the MV team, Bandirola was given a bike to compete on his own account in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the success of the company, and his popularity at home and in Spain). By half distance of the 73 mile race, the red machine had caught up with the Matchless, and the dashing Italian tried to pass at once, only to crash out spectacularly, paving the way for another win for the increasingly popular Ferbrache. Nor was he done with it, as he repeated at Tampere on September 6, this time on the Ay-Jay.

 

It is interesting to note that the Spanish newspaper El Mundo Deportivo, in their report of the Bilbao races, produced the extraordinary printing error of mentioning "el inglés Ferbrache, sobre Montesa" contesting the lead in the 500cc race, which cannot have confused anybody in Spain since the Montesa company was well known for producing lovely little lightweight two-strokers, but certainly nothing beefy enought to trouble an MV four! Whether it was a grapevine rumour infiltrating the subconscious of a hapless MD reporter in conjunction with the Matchless alliteration, or maybe it was just that 'someone' simply liked the suggestion (that 'someone' being Montesa boss Pere Permanyer), in any case after a few more fall and winter racing appearances in Spain (including another win at Málaga in February), Ferbrache was indeed announced as the new foreign factory rider for the Spanish company a few weeks before the 1960 Spanish GP! Now, with the benefit of hindsight it's easy to dismiss the Montesa deal as ho-hum news, but it's worth remembering that throughout the history of professional motorcycle racing, it has always been the dream of every privateer to finally land a 'works' ride, and no more so than during the lean times of the late fifties/early sixties, when one after the other of the big factory teams closed down, leaving precious few openings for the rising stars of tomorrow. A factory ride was not only a financially lucrative offer, but also very often the key to much-vaunted racing success.

 

Seen by the light of day, Montesa didn't look like such a bad deal to start with, since the young company (founded in 1945) had risen enormously fast to be likely the biggest, but certainly the most successful motorcycle manufacturer in Spain in the immediate postwar years, winning no fewer than a dozen Spanish championships during a time no other Spanish make managed to win even a single one! (British manufacturers taking most of the accolades, with several Italian, a couple German and even one French victory in between) True, Montesa had closed its racing shop after the 1957 season, like so many others, and lost some key personnel to the new Bultaco firm in the process, but it was still a financially sound business, and the decision to re-enter the sport was big news in Spain. Ferbrache must have counted himself lucky to get such an opportunity in his mid-thirties, when younger up-and-coming riders, like Australians Bob Brown and Tom Phillis for example, couldn't find anything better than a Japanese (!!) manufacturer with a funny name, which had only once appeared in Europe to date, running so far behind the leaders that one of those was able to spend several minutes at the pits repairing an oil pipe, and still finish almost four minutes ahead of the fastest Japanese bike! How could he (or anybody else, for that matter!) have known, that within twenty-five years Honda would be able to buy the whole Montesa company with petty cash...

 

As it was, the new Montesa was not ready in time for the Spanish Grand Prix, but luckily Ferbrache had brought his Norton along for the 500cc contest, and with MV present this time it was going to be a big race, no doubt, even if World Champion John Surtees was away, furthering his four-wheel career in England. Instead, Count Agusta had sent just a single bike for Italian Champion Remo Venturi, very much the coming man if not quite up to the standard set by Surtees. New to the demanding Montjuïch circuit, Venturi still led away from the start, but lo and behold, Ferbrache passed him after just a few laps and quickly drew away! Before the race, the absolute track record still stood at 2'01.21", set by Bandirola and MV in 1957, but Ferbrache was in no mood to dawdle, and soon had it down to 1'58.77"! Only problem was that young Southern Rhodesian (now Zimbabwe), Jim Redman, who was keeping well up on his Norton, and after two years of riding the Continental Circus he was now ready to hit it big: on the very last lap, Redman pulled out all the stops and with a new lap record of 1'58.45" he just pipped Ferbrache to the post by 83 hundredths of a second! Venturi was a disgruntled third... A fortnight later at Pau in Southern France, Ferbrache was able to return the compliment by beating Redman's Norton soundly into second place with his AJS (by 12.6", while also finishing second on the Matchless, 10.1" behind Rob Fitton's Norton, with South Africa's Paddy Driver a distant third both times) - again, the significance is only revealed in hindsight: Redman would race a Honda for the first time within an hour before Peter's last ever start, and go on to win six World Championships for the Japanese factory, becoming one of the all-time superstars of the sport!

 

As the clock ticks down to that fateful day, Ferbrache has to swallow a few disappointments: it soon transpires that Montesa is not (yet?) ready to take on the world, limiting its 1960 programme for the factory team to seven races in Spain alone. Peter, however, is given a "works production" bike to use as he sees fit - not quite the life of a factory rider, but still an advantageous arrangement. And as meteorologic spring moves north, Ferbrache follows, racing at the (non-championship) Austrian GP on May 1 (a close third on the AJS behind František Šťastný/Jawa and John Hartle/Norton), then Sankt Wendel (back in Germany) a week later with the Montesa, finishing a disappointing seventh behind three 'works' MZ and three private Ducatis. Apart from the deep South (Spain), Ferbrache is always happiest and most popular in the far North (Finnland), and he proves it again with victories on the Ay-Jay at Helsinki and a Junior/Senior double at Turku on consecutive weekends, then heads back south for a double date over the Whitsun weekend, Chimay in Belgium on Sunday and Tubbergen the next day. At the fast Chimay course, his AJS is narrowly beaten by the two Nortons of Austrian Rudi Thalhammer and Jim Redman, all three finishing within little more than half a second, then Peter takes a distant third on his half-litre Norton, behind Redman again and Belgium's Champion Raymond Bogaerdt. On Monday, the relatively unknown Thalhammer, a 350cc rookie at that, beats him again, this time by eight tenths, but at least the Montesa begins to show promise, with a third place finish behind the Ducatis of the German and Dutch Champions, respectively, Willi Scheidhauer and Cas Swart.

 

From Tubbergen, Ferbrache heads straight for Assen (about 100 km north), where he is later reported as having arrived two weeks before the race, alone and to work on his bikes (having retired from the 500cc race at Tubbergen due to "lubrication problems"). I have no entry list for the Dutch TT that year, but he does not appear to have entered the Montesa, concentrating on his AMC bikes instead, and making third best time on the Matchless and fourth on the AJS on the first day of practice. Not able to better his times on the Friday, he slips to fourth on the grid for the Senior event, and out of the top five in the Junior, the latter being the second race on the programme, after the 'quarts'. From the start, Ferbrache is mixing it up with the fast ones, a photograph published in Monday's papers showing him in close company with Dickie Dale (14th at the finish after problems), Bob Anderson (third) and John Hempleman (sixth), but then on lap 9 he goes missing. Initial reports are not alarming, he's gone down on the straight near Meeuwenmeer (at the Southern end of the track) due to an apparent blockage in the bike's engine or transmission, but the marshals are signalling "Driver okay - no injuries"! However, his condition worsens rapidly, consistent with the symptoms of a cerebral haemorrhage. Transported to the Wilhelmina Hospital in Assen, he's soon relocated to the University Hospital in Groningen, and already on Saturday evening operated by Prof. Dr. C. H. Lenshoek, a neurosurgeon. By Sunday morning, his condition is listed as "extremely critical, with little hope for recovery", and he dies Tuesday evening without having regained consciousness. There's little doubt that he could have survived given appropriate first aid and professional treatment at site and, most importantly, in time, but alas - that kind of luxury for Grand Prix motorcycle racers would have to wait for another two decades, at the very least.

Edited by Michael Ferner, 19 July 2023 - 07:16.

[Tim Murray]

I always wondered how the name is pronounced, perhaps "fluebrush" is a pointer, does anybody know?

This may be irrelevant as the man himself may have pronounced his name differently, but anyway: I grew up on Guernsey, Channel Islands, where the name Ferbrache is common, being an old Guernsey-French name. Indeed the current head of government on Guernsey is also called Peter Ferbrache (he and I were at school together) and I suspect that the racing Peter Ferbrache may have had family links to the island.

Anyway, on Guernsey the closest to the correct pronunciation is probably ‘Furbrash’, but if you can modify that slightly with just a hint of ‘Fairbrush’ you’ll be pretty much spot on.

[milestone 11]

This may be irrelevant as the man himself may have pronounced his name differently, but anyway: I grew up on Guernsey, Channel Islands, where the name Ferbrache is common, being an old Guernsey-French name. Indeed the current head of government on Guernsey is also called Peter Ferbrache (he and I were at school together) and I suspect that the racing Peter Ferbrache may have had family links to the island.
Anyway, on Guernsey the closest to the correct pronunciation is probably ‘Furbrash’, but if you can modify that slightly with just a hint of ‘Fairbrush’ you’ll be pretty much spot on.

I've just seen Michael's post and was about to answer. Ferbrache is very much a Channel Island name, moreso in Guernsey but quite common in Jersey also. Whilst we are only a few miles apart, the Guernsey/Jersey accents are quite different. In Jersey, the name is pronounced Furbrush.

[Michael Ferner]

Thanks to you both for the lead on pronunciation!

 

As a matter of fact, I just found, on the German wikipedia page for Montesa, mention of a certain "Peter Fairbridge" - no idea where this comes from, but likely oral tradition, so there could well have been some variation!

[Michael Ferner]

Nice pictures on this (Spanish) site:

 

http://www.pilotos-m...rachePeter.html