THE OUTER CIRCUIT "200s"

THE OUTER CIRCUIT “200s”

AT 9.45 a.m. on Saturday, October 13th, 1923, in an animated atmo. sphere, 13 cars in the 1,100-e.c. ‘class of the J.C.C. 200-Mile Race went down to the Fork. Bueno, 0. Wilson -Jones and RoLeft Benoist had the three Salmsons, which were the favourites, W. D. Ifasykes, Norris and Ware the Morgans, ToIlady, his aneient 2-cylinder

,Crouch, Basset t England’s A.B.C., heaton a Dorl,y, England the little Austin Seven, Frazer-Nash his C.N.. Hawkins a D.F.P., and Pcaty Lis ErieLongden. Beart experienced ill-luck„ as his Morgan died coming to the line. ‘I he P.N. gees out in front as EbLiewhite’s flag falls, followed I.y the Morgans, but after a lap the Salmsons are 1,2,3–Bum), Benoist, Jones. Norris and hawkes ran. close behind, however. Fifty miles went by with only one customer for the pits— Ware’s Morgan for a wheel change. Then, after 20 laps, the Erie-Longden came in with broken petrol pipe and took on water as it was mended, and the D.F.P. broke a rocker pedestal and, in repairing it the mechanic broke a file in a hole : after 30-min. attempt to drill it out tlw car was retired, after a good run. Vare found his had forgotten to put back the lorgan’s tie-rod on his previous stop and, not surprisingly, came in to do so (!) and Ilawkes went out with a broken valve collar. Norris, too, was dropping back, after a fierce duel with the Salmsons. Bueno took the 50-mile record at 87.8:3 ‘m.p.h., or -nearly as fast as the winning 1i-litre average of 1922. Norris finally retired with stripped timing gears, and is he went out Bueno was two laps ahead and a lap in front of his team mates. At 50 laps Lombard called the leading Salmson in for water, but Bueno was away in 45 sees. Excitement ! Smoke was seen to be issuing from Benoist’s cockpit, and he came skidding to a standstill with his engine on fire. The sheetsteel water jacket had sprung a leak and emptied the radiator and, after the leak had been caulked, poor Benoist had still to come in for water every two laps. Tollady brings his Crouch in and the niechanie wrenches the top (di . the radiator in trying to get the tiller cap undone. A marshal demands safer packing of the car, but Tollady has got all three gears in at once—his oil tank also appears to be falling out. I ‘iulaunt,:s1, he stuffs a handkerchief in the radiator, it bolt through the oil tank support, juggles with the gear lever, and goes on. Meanwhile, the Austin, A.B.(‘. and Derby are running well,the last-named at over 70 m.p.h., but still not really warm ; the astounding little Austin has actually speeded up, to lap at 75, doing over 80 down the Railway Straight. Salmsons are not having it all their own way, for Jones’s car loses a nut from a clutch spider, which punctures the fuel tank, necessitating a long halt by the Members’ Bridge. The G.N., dogged by elusive trouble, is eventually forced to retire. And so it ends. Bueno comes home the winner at 82.83 m.p.h., running for 2 h. 25 m. 2.24 s. The Austin Seven comes in 2nd at 76:84 m.p.h., having lapped at 78 at the end, and Benoist, in spite of his repeated stops for water, is

THE 1923 RACE

(Continued from the July issue.) at 73.4 m.p.h. Bassett, Tollady and

Heaton (66.47 follow the victors in. The credit for fastest lap goes to Benoist, at 92.57 m.p.h. Bueno finished with his air-cushion flat and Benoist, of course, was soaked to the wNist. Attention was now focused on the 1.1litre race, to which the two sti are barged Fiats, in the absence of the ‘I allots, lent so much allure. Salarnano started at evens, Campbell at 3 to 1. As the flag released the field, the latter hesitated a moment, and it was Cushniiin’s slim, yellow Bugatti that found a way t hrough, followed by the Aston-Martin ‘• Bunny ” and Harvey’s brilliant green Alvis 3rd. Lap 1 saw Cushman lead, with Salamano 2nd and Campbell 3rd. However, by lap • 2 the Fiats were in the lead and George Duller had got 3rd place in the Marlborough-Thomas. Some there were who thought the Fiats were being opened up rather soon, considering the large

Previous articles in this interesting series appeared in the February, March, April, May and July issues, when the races of 1921 and 1922 were

dealt with.—Ed.

quantity of oil in circulation-t hey were soon lapping at 101.6 t m.p.h., against the 91 or so of most of the others. Meeson’s A.C. went out early, diving deeply into the ditch by the aeroplane sheds, when the near-side front wheel chine off at 80 m.p.h. ; no one was hurt. Drama ! After only 11 laps smoke-haze is seen to come from Salamano’s cockpit.. The car pulls up with a slither opposite the pits on the far side of the Track, and flames flicker from the bonnet louvres. Even before lire-extinguishers can be found and rushed across, the brown-clad figures spring out and cope with the situation. Then the driver walks over to the pits, a hush falls on the crowd, a red disc is hooked up beside No. 32the Fiat is out for good. But stay ! Where is Campbell ? Even as the question is formed, Fiat I, on its 12th lap, coasts into the pits with a dead engine. The race is something apart ; all eyes arc on the stationary car. Canipbell is -out, ” finished ” he mutters, and turns away. But an order snapped from the pit bids him try her again. ” It may smash her up, ” replies Campbell, ” do you mind?’ ” No ! No! Try her again. Who knows ?” The -driver -stays supporting hillistlf on

Where are the Pictures ?

We very much regret that as a result of enemy action all the illustrations intended for this issue were destroyed too late to be replaced.

the bonnet sides, while the mechanic winds. At first there is no response, then the engine fires. Campbell listens for a moment, switches off, and, spreading his hands in a gesture of despair, says ” Retireel.” Both time Fiats are out The trouble was never really disclosed, but probably the bearings failed. to stand up to the speed of the blown engines round Brooklands—it has been rumoured that the bonnets remained locked until the ears got back to Italy.

While this exeiteMent is being dismissed in a thousand ways the race goes on. Dullerchanges plugs and loses his place, and Douglas (Bertelli) tries: hard to trace an elusive misfiring, as ,(did Ma i’s ha II (Bugatti). Eyston ‘s AstonMartin now leads from Joyce’s A.C., in spite of the latter’s two tyre stops, one away from the pits, and Harvey’s Alvis. The Marlborough-Thomases experienced more and more plug trouble, and Capt. Miller’s A.C. retired. Newman’s Wolseley, Hawkes’s Horstman with E. A. D. Eldridge having a sort of busman’s holiday as passenger, and Peacock’s Sports Hillman, were all going well, if at different speeds. Eyston, Joyce, Harvey and Cushman engaged in a four-cornered duel, but the A.C. lost ground, due to its tyre stop, and after a long run in the lead, Eyston ‘s Aston-Martin developed a baffling engine trouble blamed on its silencer—–and its lap speed dropped from 98 to 83 m,p.h. The Alvis was doing 93 to :94 m.p.h., and Joyce was pulling out 981, fastest car in time race. Harvey actually did 15 consecutive laps and did not vary his lap t ime by more than .5 of a second ! Nat wally, the big field thinned out. Moss’s Crouch retired with a blown gasket, Parry-Thomas stopped for good after 45 laps, while Temple took his Horstman round with much spluttering, not electing to investigate. So Joyce led, until he had the searing luck to burst another tyre, after 55 laps his third stop for this malady. Then Eyston decided he really must change plugs and the Aston-lfartin thereafter promptly went back to lapping at its former 98. It was all most interesting. Joyce, virtually dercaled, drove all he knew to Make up his stops, Eyston likewise to wipe out his slow laps. while Cushman, who had been nursing his lingatti for 60 laps on account of low oil pressure, threw caution to the winds and was lapping at 94.86 m.p.h. Harvey, in the Alvis, had long ago seen his chance, and at a steady 4,100 r.p.m., refused to be drawn into unnecessary battles. Round and round went the Alvis, and on and on. In evitably, under the circumstances, the late C. M. Harvey was the winner, at the rousing average of 93.29 m.p.h., after a run lasting 2 h. 8 m. :37.44 s. Cushman’s Bugatti was 2nd. at 91.10 m.p.h., after a non-stop run, and Joyce, untroubled mechanically, but dogged by tyre troubles, brought the A.C.. in 3rd at 88.40 m.p.h. Eyston managed 4th place, Pawkes was 5th and non-stop, likewise Morgan’s Aston-Martin, which was 6th. Lancaster’s Bugatti’ was 7th, Brayshaw’s Alvis (with normal duck’s-lack tail) 8th, after one stop for plugs and to check fuel, Continued an page 160 THE OUTER CIRCUIT “200s” —continued from page 158 and Hall’s Aston-Martin “Bunny” 9th, after tyre trouble far from the pits twothirds of the way through. Newman was next, and. the Hillman got in last, at 72.98 m.p.h., both these competitors going the 200 miles non-stop. So the classic Brooklands long-distance race ended in a British victory. The Alvis went through without a stop also, of airse, and it says much for the efficiency (if the new oh.v. engine that it actually gave 24 m.p.g. Harvey took the 200mile class record at 93.29, and also the 2-I fours class record at 93.51. He used Lodge plugs, magneto, Solex carburetter, Rudge wheels, Hartford shock-absorbers, Alvis radiator, Petroflex piping, Englebert tyres, A.T. rev.-counter and speedometer, Wellworthy pistons, Woodhead springs, lined with Richards

plastic metal, and Castrol oil. In the course of the race Bueno took the 50, 100, 150 and 200 mile and 1 and 2 hour Class 112 records, and :England the 50, 100, 200 1 hour and 2 hour Class J2 records. The Salmson did 88.41 miles in the hour and the Austin 7:3.9 miles. The fastest lap was a tie between .Joyce’s A.C. and Eyston’s Aston-Martin, at 99.61 m.p.h. (To be continued.)