Denis Jenkinson

Who was Denis Jenkinson?

Denis Sargent Jenkinson, Jenks or DSJ as he was known in the pages of Motor Sport, was a journalist deeply involved in motorsports. As Continental Correspondent of the UK-based Motor Sport magazine, he covered Formula One and other races all over Europe.

Jenkinson became a motor sport enthusiast in the mid-1930s:

"In 1936 I saw a racing car "in the flesh" or should I say "in the metal," for the first time, that was an E.R.A. at the schoolboys' Exhibition. Later in the year, whilst staying at Brighton, I found that the Lewes Speed Trials were quite near, so off I went to find the venue. It was there that I first saw racing-cars

Jenkinson was studying engineering at the Regent Street Polytechnic when the Second World War broke out. As a conscientious objector, he served in a civilian capacity at the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough. This brought him into contact with Bill Boddy, editor of Motor Sport, and other enthusiasts. In 1943 Motor Sport reported: "D.S. Jenkinson has constructed himself a very nice motor-bicycle of Norton parts, with taper forks, much of the work being accomplished by torch-light in a small shed."