On 28 February 1932, Whitney took part in in his first overseas race, the Swedish Winter Grand Prix, over an extraordinary course comprising a twisty 1.2 miles on the frozen Lake Rämen, followed by 27 miles of narrow forest roads. He was still just 19, and had only previously competed at the Shelsley Walsh hill climb – one car at time – and raced on the sands at Southport and the ‘vast concrete prairies’ of Brooklands, where there was plenty of space for overtaking. This was his first outing in a potent Grand Prix car, the 26M Maserati he had recently purchased from Sir Henry ‘Tim’ Birkin.
From 10th on the grid, he was up to 3rd at the end of lap 1, having lost that little windshield to the stones thrown up by the cars he was overtaking. He was blocked as he pressed the previous year’s winner, Karl Ebb, for 2nd place. The cars touched and Whitney’s steering was damaged. He slid off into an orchard and had to trudge back to the pits in his racing plimsolls through snow and mud.
When he next encountered Ebb, in the following year’s Swedish Summer Grand Prix, he overtook him swiftly and neatly on the first lap.
Photo: Adam Ferrington