Bernard Rubin

Bernard Rubin

Nationality	British ( Australian)
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Participating years	1928-1929
Teams	Bentley Motors
Best finish	1st (1928)
Class wins	1 (1928)

Bernard Rubin (6 December 1896 – 27 June 1936) was a British racing driver and pilot who was a member of the "Bentley Boys" team at the Bentley Motor Company and winner of the 1928 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Personal life

The son of Australian pearl salesman Mark Rubin (1867 – 1919), Bernard was born in Carlton, Victoria, before he eventually moved to London with his family in 1908. His mother was the former Rebecca de Vahl Davis, who came from a notable Jewish Melbourne family. He had a brother, well-known grazier, art collector and philanthropist Harold de Vahl Rubin (1899–1964). His uncle, wealthy entrepreneur Abraham de Vahl Davis (1864 – 1912), went down with the steamship SS Koombana after having purchased the legendary – and presumably cursed – Roseate Pearl. On 29 March 1935, in Paris, Rubin married Audrey Mary Simpson, daughter of Charles Ringham Simpson.

Rubin served in the Royal Garrison Artillery in World War I where he was badly injured and required three years of treatment before he could walk again. Following his father's death in 1919, Rubin began purchasing properties in the Northern Territory, before his interest in auto racing developed in 1928.

Motorsports

Rubin became close friends with Woolf Barnato, the director of Bentley Motors, and even lived together for some time. Rubin made his driving debut at Brooklands in 1928 where he finished in sixth place before he made his first appearance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Driving alongside Barnato, the two won the event in a Bentley 4½ Litre, even though the car had been damaged before the end of the race. He remained at Bentley for Le Mans in 1929, but his car failed after only seven laps.

In July 1929 he came eighth in the Irish Grand Prix. In August 1929 Rubin was injured when his Bentley overturned during the Tourist Trophy on the first lap. With his injuries, Rubin turned to team ownership, and helped fund fellow "Bentley Boy" Henry Birkin's racing efforts. In 1933 they shared the wheel of an MG K3 in the famed Mille Miglia race and won their class before Birkin raced Rubin's Alfa Romeo with George Eyston and Whitney Straight. Birkin later drove Rubin's Maserati 3000 in the Tripoli Grand Prix in May 1933 during which, while reaching over for a cigarette during a pit stop, he burnt his forearm on the exhaust and died five weeks later.^{[citation needed]}

In April 1934 Rubin flew to Australia in a Leopard Moth with K.F.H. Waller to make arrangements for the Centenary Air Race from London to Melbourne in October. Their return flight of 8 days, 12 hours was not officially timed but was ten hours faster than Jim Mollison's World Record.^{[citation needed]} He entered his de Havilland Comet in the race but was unable to compete due to illness. Waller and O. Cathcart-Jones finished fourth in the Comet and, returning to England, set a round-trip record.^{[citation needed]}

Bernard Rubin died of pulmonary tuberculosis in 1936.

References

• "Rubin, Mark (1867? - 1919) Biographical Entry". Australian Dictionary of Biography Online. 1988. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A110483b.htm. Retrieved 2008-04-13. 
• "Bernard Rubin". Benjafield Racing Club. http://www.historic.benjafieldsracingclub.co.uk/html/bernard_rubin.html. Retrieved 2008-04-13. 

Sporting positions
Preceded by Dudley Benjafield Sammy Davis	Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1928 with: Woolf Barnato	Succeeded by Woolf Barnato Henry Birkin