15 Facts About Denis Jenkinson

Denis Jenkinson gained fame as the navigator for Stirling Moss in their record-breaking triumph in the 1955 Mille Miglia cross-country race.

Denis Jenkinson has constructed himself a very nice motor-bicycle of Norton parts, with taper forks, much of the work being accomplished by torch-light in a small shed.

Denis Jenkinson competed as a sidecar passenger the following two seasons, latterly for BMW.

Denis Jenkinson rarely wrote about his personal life but mentioned how he would pick up Mike Hawthorn, living nearby, who would ride it with Jenks as passenger.

Denis Jenkinson abandoned front-line competition to become Continental Correspondent for Motor Sport.

Denis Jenkinson spent his summers touring Europe and his winters in a succession of 'digs' in England; Jenks eventually settled near Crondall in Hampshire in a tiny run-down house with no mains electricity or water, largely full of his archives and of parts of vehicles he was 'fettling'.

Denis Jenkinson was legendary in the sport for the lack of basic domestic amenities in his home; to Jenks nothing mattered but racing.

Denis Jenkinson became accepted as the 'elder statesman' of British racing journalists due to his closeness to the teams and drivers, his conversational writing style and his obvious and enduring passion for the sport.

Denis Jenkinson later adopted an E-Type Jaguar as his work transport, although at home he had assorted decrepit vehicles including an elderly Mercedes-Benz saloon, a Citroen 2CV and others.

Denis Jenkinson's book The Racing Driver was based on his experience as navigator and is a true classic worthy of any motorsports literature collection.

Denis Jenkinson was one of the first ex competitors to go into reporting and journalism, a commonplace in today's coverage of Formula One with the likes of Jenson Button, Martin Brundle and Nico Rosberg.

For many years in the 1950s he produced an annual Racing Car Review for Motor Sport, but stopped doing so as he became increasingly disgruntled with the discrepancies between the chassis numbers teams quoted and what was actually being raced; rather than compromise his journalistic integrity, Denis Jenkinson simply stopped producing the books.

Denis Jenkinson developed the classification of a driver's effort into "tenths".

Denis Jenkinson remained a motorcycle enthusiast, and competed in hillclimbs and sprints on his own Tribsa hybrid well into his seventies.

Denis Jenkinson suffered a series of strokes in 1996 and moved to a home administered by the motor industry benevolent fund.