THE U.S.A. PROMOTES A ROAD-RACE

July 7th 2014

THE VANDERBILT CUP RACE IS REVIVED ON A FOUR-MILE ARTIFICIAL CIRCUIT ON LONG ISLAND

For twenty-five years the famous American classic, the Vanderbilt Cup race has been in abeyance. This autumn it is to be revived with honour and will be held on a specially prepared circuit at Roosevelt Field, Mineola, not far from the course of the famous races of the pre-war era. As will be seen from the plan, it is extremely twisty, with only one straight of any length.

The brakes fitted to the Millers and Duesenbergs, which compete at Indianapolis and other tracks, are almost -devoid of brakes, and any American driver who wishes to compete will havt-, to fall back on converted touring cars or secure a suitable racer from Europe. As it is, the principal racing teams have been asked to compete. Auto-Union and Mercedes-Benz have signified their intention of sending representatives and Ferrari will be entering four cars headed by the -redoubtable Tazio.

Wimille expects to take his Bugatti and ” Bira ” has already entered an E.R.A., and probably two other E.R.A.s will be sent over from the factory. The regulations are free from complications and cars up to 6-litres are

-eligible to compete. Cars must have a track of between 4 ft. 2 in. and 5 ft. .5 in., superchargers are allowed, and th.e -cars must be 31 in. wide at the seat.

This last regulation alone might be troublesome to the” bolides ” but no doubt there is some way out of it. The race is held over a distance of 400 miles, which will probably imply two pt-stops. The prize money is substantial. 1,000 to be given to the winner and 10,000 divided amongst the first ten. The winner also gets the Cup and L40 per month

for a year, which sounds almost like a sick benefit scheme.

With New York only twenty miles away, and knowing the enthusiasm of the American public for a sporting event of this character, one can prophesy a terrific success for this new venture and a new and big demand for more road-races in the 1937 season.