In the middle-part of June, Shawe-Taylor finished the 12th British Empire Trophy race in 4th place. He had started the race from 5th and was only beaten by Gerard, Harrison and de Graffenried over the course of the 36 lap race.
The next top-five result came one month later at the 4th Junior Car Club Jersey Road Race held on the island of Jersey. Shawe-Taylor started the race 6th. Over the course of the 55 lap event Peter Whitehead, who had started 2nd was able to take over the lead when David Hampshire suffered magneto problems in his Maserati 6CM. Reg Parnell charged from a 7th starting spot to settle into 2nd. And, Emanuel de Graffenried was able to also move up from starting 5th to sit in 3rd.
By the end of the race, Whitehead had managed to lap the entire field. Parnell came home a distant 2nd for Scuderia Ambrosiana and de Graffenried followed in 3rd. Bob Gerard was able to hold off Shawe-Taylor and nudged out a 4th place finish. Shawe-Taylor was able to make it three-straight top-five finishes with his 5th place.
After a retirement at Dundrod in August due to a magneto problem, Shawe-Taylor was able to get back to scoring good results. Two races remained on the Brit’s calendar for 1950. The first of those two was the 2nd BRDC International Trophy race at Silverstone. The race was 35 laps of the 2.88 mile road course and the field was filled with plenty of competition, including Giuseppe Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio for Alfa Romeo SpA, Reg Parnell, Bob Gerard and Stirling Moss.
Throughout the entire race-weekend, Shawe-Taylor was in a whole different league. The race consisted of two 15 lap heat races and a 35 lap final. The British driver was in the second heat and set a time during practice that enabled him to start the heat 6th. During the race providence saw fit to clear the road in front of Shawe-Taylor with the exception of one stubborn Argentinean by the name of Fangio. The British driver finished 2nd in the heat. Those who had qualified and started in front of him suffered from accidents or failures that dropped them out of the final race. Therefore, heading into the 35 lap final, Shawe-Taylor’s ERA occupied the 3rd place starting spot on the grid, right next to the 158 Alfettas of Farina and Fangio.
Despite being in an outclassed ERA B, the Brit proved his ability as a preparer of race cars and as a driver. Throughout the course of the final race, Shawe-Taylor just could not mount a serious challenge for Farina and Fangio, but even Peter Whitehead and T.C. Harrison had managed to get by. However, Shawe-Taylor was anything but slow. He managed to click off a number of laps with a pace even faster than that of Fangio, but, he just couldn’t sustain the pressure. Shawe-Taylor was, however, able to hold off a charging Stirling Moss to finish the race 5th.
Shawe-Taylor’s final race of 1950 was the short, 12 lap 3rd Goodwood Trophy race. This short run provided Shawe-Taylor the perfect opportunity to keep his run of top-five finishes going. However, the race was also just short enough that if he put a foot wrong at any point in time, the chances of recovery were dramatically lessened.
Johnny Claes had the pole driving a Talbot-Lago T26C for Ecurie Belge. Brian Shawe-Taylor continued to prove his pace as a driver as he started the race from 6th place on the grid. He had qualified better than some names like Moss, de Graffenried, Parnell and Bira. Unfortunately, all but one of them was able to get by Shawe-Taylor during the race.
While Johnny Claes fell out of the race, Parnell, Bira and Gerard had been on a charge up through the field and were able to take over spots at the top. By the end of the race, Parnell had achieved the victory. Prince Bira and Gerard finished 2nd and 3rd. Shawe-Taylor was able to finish 5th once again.
1950 turned out to be a rather successful season for the British driver. Shawe-Taylor had managed to keep himself from many retirements throughout the season. In fact, he suffered only one failure. Of the remaining five grand prix races. Shawe-Taylor’s successful grand prix season was accented by his first-ever victory he scored in October of 1950 at the Formula Libre National Castle Combe race.
1951 saw Shawe-Taylor compete in one-less race than he had the previous year. It also saw him take his place in Formula One history, and also, suffer an accident that would cause him to walk away from racing.
The season started earlier for Shawe-Taylor in 1951 than the previous year. Organizers of the 3rd Richmond Trophy race moved the date of the race up into the later part of March. Once again, the race was 12 laps in length.
Similar to what he had done the year before, Shawe-Taylor took a 6th place starting spot. Graham Whitehead had the pole driving his own ERA B. 2nd place starter Fred Ashmore was unable to start the race. Pole-sitter, Whitehead, faltered at the start of the race and Reg Parnell’s race came to an end on the 5th lap due to engine problems. These problems all helped Shawe-Taylor improve upon his best-ever finish in the higher-class grand prix races. Prince Bira would go on to win the race, but, Shawe-Taylor was able to wield his old-school ERA B around the 2.38 mile track to finish 2nd.
Shawe-Taylor kept his incredible string of top-five results going with a 4th place finish at Goodwood in a Formula Libre race in May of ’51. He then followed with another trip to the podium in the 5th Ulster Trophy race held at Dundrod, Northern Ireland in early June. Giuseppe Farina took the victory in his Alfa Romeo SpA 159. Reg Parnell finished 2nd in a G.A. Vandervell Ferrari 125. In a drive worthy of great praise, Shawe-Taylor managed to finish 3rd after holding off competitors over the course of the race around the high-speed 7.41 mile road course. This result undoubtedly helped the Brit’s confidence heading to Silverstone and the British Grand Prix a little over a month later.
