Dudley Benjafield

Joseph Dudley Benjafield, MD was born on 6 August 1887, in Edmonton, London, UK. He attended the University of London and received his MD from University College Hospital in 1912. Specializing in bacteriology, he served in Egypt during World War I and later used his expertise combating the great flu epidemic of 1918-1919.

Benjafield had a passion for motorsports which started with boating, but moved on to automobiles in the 1920s, following the accidental destruction of his beloved motor launch. Upon purchasing a Bentley 3-litre, he started racing in 1924 and 1925. Benjafield's success led to him being offered to drive a company racer at the behest of Bentley founder W.O. Bentley. He competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans seven times, and won the event in 1927 with co-driver and fellow "Bentley Boy" S. C. H. "Sammy" Davis; while their car was badly damaged, they frantically made on-the-spot repairs and wound up winning the race.

Benjafield later created the British Racing Drivers' Club, and continued racing until 1936. He died in 1957.

Sporting positions
Preceded by Robert Bloch André Rossignol	Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1927 Sammy Davis	Succeeded by Woolf Barnato Bernard Rubin
Preceded by none	BRDC President 1928–1929	Succeeded by Francis Curzon

Winners of the 24 Hours of Le Mans

Eight-time	Tom Kristensen

Six-time	Jacky Ickx

Five-time	Derek Bell Frank Biela Emanuele Pirro

Four-time	Yannick Dalmas Olivier Gendebien Henri Pescarolo

Three-time	Woolf Barnato Rinaldo Capello Luigi Chinetti Hurley Haywood Phil Hill Al Holbert Klaus Ludwig Marco Werner

Two-time	Tim Birkin Ivor Bueb Marcel Fässler Ron Flockhart Jean-Pierre Jaussaud Gérard Larrousse JJ Lehto André Lotterer Allan McNish Manuel Reuter André Rossignol Raymond Sommer Hans-Joachim Stuck Benoît Tréluyer Gijs van Lennep Jean-Pierre Wimille Alexander Wurz

One-time	Aïello Alboreto Amon Ara Attwood Baldi Bandini Barilla Barth Benjafield Benoist Bernhard Bianchi Bloch Blundell Bouchut D. Brabham G. Brabham Brundle Chaboud Clement Cobb Davis de Courcelles Dickens Duff Dumas Dumfries Étancelin Fontés Foyt Frère Gachot Gené González Gregory Guichet Gurney Hamilton Hawthorn Hélary Herbert Herrmann G. Hill Hindmarsh Howe Johansson Jones Kidston Krages Lagache Lammers Lang Léonard Marko Martini Mass McLaren Mitchell-Thomson Nielsen Nuvolari Oliver Ortelli Pironi Riess Rindt Rockenfeller Rodríguez Rolt Rondeau J. Rosier L. Rosier Rubin Salvadori Sanderson Scarfiotti Schuppan Sekiya Shelby Smith Trémoulet Trintignant Vaccarella Veyron Walker Wallace Warwick Weidler Whitehead B. Whittington D. Whittington Winkelhock

Persondata
Name	Benjafield, Dudley
Alternative names
Short description	British racing driver
Date of birth	1887
Place of birth
Date of death	1957
Place of death