...... AND AT GOPSALL PARK

AND AT GOPSALL PARK

As if to demonstrate just how speed trials should be run, the event organised by the Cambridge Automobile Club at Gopsall Park was well up to schedule throughout the day.

The course was half a mile in length, with a poor surface of sandy gravel, slightly uphill, with two gradual curves. After a rainy dawn the weather steadily improved, and later the sun came out to help make matters more cheerful. Of the sports cars S. W. Jackson’s Riley went very well and made best time (37.3 secs.) of all until Whitney Straight came along with a magnificent eight-litre Bentley and streaked up the course in 30.6 seconds. R. R. Marker’s Bentley clocked 36.3 secs., and a very good performance was that of H. H. Villard’s Chrysler in 37.0 seconds. The racing cars classes opened with a duel between Kenneth Evans’ very fast M.G. Midget and R. R. Jackson’s car of a similar type, resulting in a clear win for Evans by 2i seconds-a good effort against such a redoubtable opponent. Bolster’s G.N., after a spot of magneto bother, made a very good run in 33.4 seconds to win the 1,100 c.c. class. In the 1,500 c.c. division R.. G. J. Nash’s new machine, “The Spook” (the remains of ” R,ikki-Tikki ” and “the Sing” thoroughly intermingled) was making

its first canter, but could not do better than 32.2 seconds in spite of an impressive get-away. R. J. W. Appleton’s Bugatti, driven by R. Bickford, put up a very good time for an ” tmblown ” 1 litre, being only .3 seconds slower than the much lighter “Spook.”

The 3 litre class was a fairly easy thing for R. R. Pelham-Burn’s 2 litre Bugatti, the next man, M. F. L. Faulkner, being 3 seconds slower with his ” blown ” Lagonda. The over 3,000 c.c. class produced the awe-inspiring sight of Oliver Bertram with the 10 litre Delage (or ” elarge ” as the C.1.7.A.C. spell it in their list of results). As was expected, the car made easily the fastest time of the day, 26.8 seconds, 4 seconds faster than Straight’s Bentley. Bertram handled the car with restraint and skill on the narrow drive. The Duke of Grafton, having remedied the clutch slip on his old 5 litre G.P. Sunbeam, made a very good run in 31.6 seconds. Finally, an “any capacity” class was held, and produced some interesting results. Fastest time, of course, went to Bertram’s Delage, second being Whitney Straight’s massive 8 litre Bentley, a car which was deceptively fast. By comparison with these giants, the M.G. Midget driven by Kenneth Evans seemed diminu

tive, but nevertheless it made third fastest time in 31.1 seconds.