Kaye Don

Kaye Ernest Donsky was born in Dublin on 10 April 1891. He was of Polish ancestry and shortened his name to Don. He was brought up in Kingston-upon-Thames and was an RFC pilot during the First World War.

Kaye Don began his career as a motorcycle racer but soon switched to cars and won the inaugural 1928 Ards-Belfast circuit, Northern Ireland, Tourist Trophy with a Lea-Francis. Between 1926 and 1928 Kaye raced a 1921 Grand Prix Sunbeam at Brooklands which was an ex-Malcolm Campbell 'Blue Bird' and extensively contributed to what W Boddy described as "the best run of success by any Brooklands car in such a period".

In 1928 he had three ex-works Sunbeam cars which he named "Cub", "Tiger" and "Tigress". Don regularly raced at Brooklands and driving a Sunbeam on 22 September 1928 he set an outer circuit lap flying start record of 131.76 miles per hour (212.05 km/h) and increased this to 134.24 miles per hour (216.04 km/h) on 5 August 1929. Driving a Wolseley Viper at Brooklands Don achieved many class records between 1928 and 1930. Driving the V-12 Sunbeam Tigress at Brooklands on 9 June 1930, Kaye set a new Outer Circuit lap record of 137.58 miles per hour (221.41 km/h).

In 1929 he wagered sister motorcyclists Betty and Nancy Debenham that they couldn't complete a 2,000 mile tour without spending any of their own money. They succeeded in very snowy conditions and with lots of press coverage.

In a victory speech to the Empire Club of Canada in 1931, when he was the holder of land and water world speed records, Kaye Don made a classic understatement: "One or two experiences that I have had have been somewhat thrilling".

He was married twice. His first marriage was in 1932, when aged 41 he married Eileen the daughter of Leonard F. Martin of New York. They lived in Weybridge, Surrey and had two sons and one daughter. This marriage was later dissolved. In 1954, aged 64, he married Valerie Evelyn and they lived near Chobham, Surrey.