Editorial Notes.

Our Name.

As is unavoidable, perhaps, when as now, a change of editorship occurs, certain matters, already presumed to be finally settled, come up again for discussion. Our selection of a name for this journal has evidently been exercising the minds of a good many of our friends, and the question is frequently put, ” Why The BROOKLANDS GAZETTE ? ” ” Surely you are not going to confine yourselves to sporting events which take place at Brooklands, on the Track, to the exclusion of road races and hill climbs, and other similar matters, and if you are not, surely the present title is misleading, and is likely to give outsiders and possible readers the erroneous impression that the scope of the journal is limited, too much so, perhaps to interest them, with the result that many pass it by who would otherwise take it.” N ow while we appreciate that there may be a certain amount of sound argument behind this theory, and while ve tender our best thanks to those of our friends who have evinced so much interest in us as to trouble to bring this matter before us, we nevertheless continue to hold the opinion that, in choosing the name The BROOKLANDS GAZETTE, which we did only after long and careful consideration, we have done the right thing. Brooklands is the head and front of all motoring sport which takes place in this country. Brooklands sets the lead, and it is on Brooklands that track records are made which are recognised in this country as official. Brooklands is to the sporting fraternity what Westminster, and the Houses of Parliament, is to the country at large. The title The BROOKLANDS GAZETTE no more limits our sphere of interest to the Brooklands track itself than does the name Westminster Gazette signify

that the whole interest of that paper, its editorial staff, and its readers is confined to what goes on in Parliament. The scope of the Westminster Gazette in that regard, is world-wide, and the scope of The BROOKLANDS GAZETTE is equally world-wide, in its own field, that of motoring sport, and in motoring wherever it is allied to sporting events in any shape or form.

Our Aim.

Having thus defined our sphere of action, or, as is nearer the truth, having explained that we recognise no artificial limits, our objective, an indication of the niche which we are to fill in motoring journalism, is of complementary interest. We may best introduce it by stating our views and beliefs in the matter of motor sports and its place in the general scheme of progressive motoring. We are firm believers in the value of racing for improving the breed of cars. Every branch of motoring sport has its proper station in this field, nor is pride of place to be given to any one branch. Neither Hill Climbs, Road Races, Reliability Trials, nor Races at Brooklands may claim to be exclusive in their usefulness in eliminating the unfit, except in so far as extraneous circumstances, the adventitious limitations which the law of the land puts upon road races, compel us to rely on Brooklands for the performance of real strength and power-testing speed events. On that account, that is, for a reason which is beyond our control, we look upon Brooklands as the primary testing ground of all motor vehicles. It is on Brooklands that their weak

points of construction, their springing, braking, and their durability can properly be disclosed, and only on Brooklands can they be properly tested in all those departments at once. We therefore pin our faith to Brooklands. We opine that no car which has not, in some form or other, been put through the mill on that track, has acquired the Hall Mark by which a good car is known.

Believing, as we do, that no manufacturer goes to the trouble and expense of periodically submitting his productions to the ordeal of speed on that track without immediately, or at any rate as soon as may be, incorporating the results of the lessons learnt on the track into his regular models, believing that, we are justified in our faith that, in the long run, the car which persistently shows to advantage on the track is the best car for the road, the car which the man in the street should be recommended to buy. We shall, in this journal, therefore, serve a double purpose, we shall foster and encourage to the best of our power the sport of motoring. We shall also, incidentally, but as a matter of course, be continually indicating in our columns, those cars which are the best on the market, and in course of time it will be a recognised thing for car and motor-cycle purchasers to look to The BROOKLANDS GAZETTE as the paper in which can be found, unbiassed, because determined by matters of actual fact, untinged by any matters of opinion, in any sort of faith, information concerning the relative values of motor vehicles of all types, cars, motor cycles, or cyclecars. That, therefore, is our aim, to become the car users and motor cyclists’ guide to all that is best in the market, the proof being afforded by actual test, and by no other criterion.

The Clubs.

In performing our functions, as set out here above, we shall inevitably work hand in glove with those who organise sporting and racing events, the proper reporting of which shall be our especial charge. We shall become the recognised medium in which the programmes of the clubs can be published, and in which each club member may read of the doings of his own club, and those of others of a like nature. By fostering the spirit of competition and encouraging the natural tendency, on the part of smaller and less well-placed clubs, to emulate the larger and more influential bodies, we shall help to raise the standard of the Motoring Clubs throughout the kingdom, as well as that of the performances of the club members at the sporting events in which they take part. In order that we may successfully achieve this portion of our programme, which is an essential and inseparable part of the whole, we must have the whole-hearted co-operation of the Secretaries of all the clubs. We already have the encouragement which accrues from the assistance and sympathy of very many of them. We must have it from all. We presume we need not point out that our columns, open as they are for discussion of all matters relating to motoring, and particularly the sporting side of it, are particularly free to Club Secretaries, or to any who may be able faithfully to write as representing the clubman and his point of view.