In the case of Sir Charles Cheers Wakefield, later Baron Wakefield of Hythe, the sweet smell of success was more than a metaphor. You still catch the scent of the substance that made his company a household name in the early 1900s wherever older racing engines are exercised: that distinctive, heady perfume of Castrol R. Although castor oil, the origin of the smell, was still the purgative bane of many a childhood when C C Wakefield & Co introduced its Castrol range in 1909 (the name being a contraction of castor oil), to high performance engines on the road and in the air it was to become a more welcome part of the diet.

Castrol R is a vegetable based oil that only really dissolves in what are called 'polar solvents' like ethanol, acetone, or a good one for washing it off is cellulose thinners. It is very reluctant to dissolve in petrol, which used to be a non-polar solvent, but is now a more vicious a solvent when it contains ethanol. It is equally reluctant to dissolve or mix with non-polar, hydrocarbon oils.

Murphy's Abu Dhabi Date Clash Quandary". Speedcafe. 21 December 2009. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Don't bring up fatigue issue: Anil Kumble". Mid-Day. 29 May 2009. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011.

The oil was developed to have a great affinity for hot internal engine surfaces and provides excellent load capabilities,” its suppliers said –“something of high importance for racing engines running at sustained peak revolutions”. Hope the pic ain't too small to see but this is the extent of carbon build up after running the engine for years on a mixture of Castrol R40, plain modern mineral, part-synth, fully-synth, and sometimes a mixture of one, or more than one other of the aforementioned. Despite what they say about Castrol R not mixing with other oils I believe this to be a misunderstanding. On four-strokes where people use Castrol R in their crankcases I can see why they wouldn't mix, and this is where the warnings come in; but on the total-loss, burn the whole damn lot in the combustion chamber two-stroke, it seems not to matter. I cannot see that there is any obvious flushing oil that will dissolve vegetable oil, do a job of lubrication for twenty minutes before draining, and then happily mix with mineral oil when that is added.The story begins in 1899 when, having spent 15 years working for the London office of Vacuum Oil Company of Rochester, NY, later to metamorphose into Mobil, Charles Wakefield resigned his position as general manager and determined to strike out on his own. It was an auspicious time to be doing so. Within four years the Wright Brothers would take tentatively to the air, followed albeit somewhat belatedly by compatriot Samuel Franklin Cody at Famborough in 1908. A year later Louis Bleriot flew the English Channel and, five years after that, storm clouds over Europe would spur a period of unprecedented aircraft development effort. On the ground, progress was scarcely less momentous as the horseless carriage progressed from being a curiosity and plaything into an increasingly practical mechanism, as well as another vehicle of human endeavour and national rivalry. Williams added: “I recently went to watch two-stroke motorcycle racing at Silverstone in England. They were using the product and I knew the smell from years of being in the business. The technical guys said Castrol R is now branded as Castrol 4T Racing Oil SAE 40.” The brand has been involved in Formula One for many years, supplying to a number of teams, including McLaren (1979–1980 and 2017), Williams (1997–2005), Team Lotus (1992–1993), Brabham (1983–1984), Jaguar (2000–2004), Renault/ Alpine (2017–present) and Walter Wolf Racing. [8]

It’s easy to buy our products online! Find the product you want via the departments which can be found on the top banner, or the search facility if you know our part number/ Lucas number, or keyword. Please remember to add the forward-slash and not to put in any spaces in between the letters and numbers. e.g CG/085.002. If the product still can't be found try removing the code in front of the forward slash. e.g. 085.002.Captain Pugwash, I’ve heard about these problems quite a lot. I use Castrol R40 all the time and with regard to settling in the petrol tank I think there may be something in it. I rode my scooter (S2 TV175 engine) around this morning and there was frost on the grass and on windscreens. The old girl did seem to smoke a bit more than usual at first so perhaps the oil was starting to settle at the bottom of the tank. Time will tell on this score because I shall be riding her around whatever the weather. Success was almost immediate. In October 1909, Britain’s first aviation prize, the Inauguration Cup, was won by Frenchman Leon Delagrange using Castrol oil. Following which, on land and in the air, the litany of Castrol successes encompasses many of the most significant events in aviation and motoring history, including Britain’s winning of the Schneider Trophy three times in a row with the R J Mitchell designed, Rolls-Royce powered Supermarine S5, and most of the World Land Speed Records established during the highly competitive inter-war years. In the Great War, Castrol R even came to the attention of Kaiser Wilhelm II, achieving almost ‘secret weapon’ status when it was discovered that a captured British aircraft could operate at considerably higher altitudes than German equivalents due to its engine oil’s superior low temperature performance. Archived copy". Archived from the original on 22 October 2012 . Retrieved 4 February 2013. {{ cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title ( link)