Prior to taking part in the British Grand Prix, Shawe-Taylor would be asked to take part in what would be another historic race for the Brit. John Wyler had been noticing that Brian had become truly talented behind the wheel of a race car. Therefore, Wyler offered Shawe-Taylor the opportunity to drive an Aston Martin DB2 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans at the end of June. Shawe-Taylor jumped at the chance.
The 24 Hour race began with a tragedy as French driver Jean Larivière crashed and died in the early stages of the race. Despite the dark clouds hanging over the track as a result, Shawe-Taylor was experiencing some silver-linings.
After completing 267 laps, Peter Walker and Whitehead won the race in a Jaguar XK120C. However, Shawe-Taylor, and co-driver George Abecassis, had reason to celebrate themselves. The pairing managed to finish 2nd in class and 5th overall. This was further testament to Shawe-Taylor’s ever-improving form behind the wheel.
Shawe-Taylor arrived at Silverstone to take part in only his second Formula One race and was surely under no false illusions. The fact was both Ferrari and Alfa Romeo SpA brought four cars each to the race. Forget a top-five. To finish in the top-ten, if not Ferrari or Alfa Romeo, was going to be a splendid achievement. However, Shawe-Taylor would show his true abilities as a racing driver when the pressure was on.
As expected, Ferrari and Alfa Romeo occupied the first-eight spots on the starting grid. Despite the presence of many other more-experienced and successful drivers, Shawe-Taylor was able to put together a lap fast enough to enable the privateer, in the old ERA chassis, to start the race 12th.
During the race, on the mild and dry day, Ferrari and Alfa Romeo both lost drivers to mechanical problems. Farina fell out of contention, after setting the fastest lap of the race, due to clutch problems. Alberto Ascari fell out after fifty-six laps with gearbox problems. It really didn’t matter all that much. Jose Froilan Gonzalez and Juan Manuel Fangio were in a league all their own. The two Argentineans managed to lap the rest of the field twice by the end of the 90 lap race. By the end of the race, Shawe-Taylor had put together a performance of his own.
Shawe-Taylor was the highest finishing ERA driver and private entrant. Though he was six laps down to Gonzalez and Fangio, he, himself, had managed to lap the next-highest ERA driver twice. At the waving of the checkered flag, Shawe-Taylor had managed to finish an impressive 8th place; only three places away from the points. This had been a remarkable result from the man.
After what had to be a euphoric result at the British Grand Prix, Shawe-Taylor enjoyed scoring what had been only his second victory ever at the National Boreham, which was a Formula Libre race held in the early part of August.
Despite the fact he was now in his mid-thirties, Shawe-Taylor was getting better with age. However, at Goodwood, in September of ’51, Shawe-Taylor’s world would come crashing down around him, literally.
Brian Shawe-Taylor was truly riding a wave of momentum as he went to Goodwood at the end of September for the 4th Goodwood Trophy race.
The race distance that year had been further increased to fifteen laps. After qualifying for the race, Shawe-Taylor seemed poised for what could have been a very surprising result. Tony Rolt had managed to take the pole. Shawe-Taylor was right beside him starting the race from 2nd place. He had managed to beat out Giuseppe Farina in his Alfa 159 and Reg Parnell in a Ferrari 375.
While Shawe-Taylor may have been looking forward to a great result, after the first lap, he became more concerned with just living. On the first lap of the fifteen lap race, Shawe-Taylor and Antonio Branca came together in a terrifying crash. Despite being seriously injured, Shawe-Taylor managed to escape with his life. He took the hint and decided to escape altogether.
Brian Shawe-Taylor competed in two Formula One races throughout his career. He had managed to put in a couple of really impressive performances, especially at the British Grand Prix in 1951. However, he would end his career in the World Championship having never won a race, led a lap, or, score a single championship point.
