CLUB NEWS, July 1935

HARROW C.C. The held at the end of

The Tring Trial, held at the end of

May, was designed especially to put large cars and family saloons on a level footing with sports cars. This aim was further assisted by good weather, which reduced the chances of failure on hills to a remote possibility. The first hazard, a stop and start on Tunnel Slide, near little Gadderden, was deceptive owing to a very loose sur face. Several people found themselves in trouble, but they all got away under their own power. Jacob’s Ladder (how many of them are scattered all over the country?) was a straight-forward climb, and this was followed by a slow-climbing test on Mounts Hill, near Chesham. Hastoe Hill was the scene of a reversing competition,

in which the smooth surface caused quite a lot of difficulty. A special test on the same hill was the finishing item of an enjoyable trial, after which competitors foregathered at the Howard Park Hotel, Aston Clinton. A speed judging test was held over a short section of the trial, the required

average being 20 m.p.h. The only indication of the finish of the section was a flag marshal, and the whole idea formed a very useful test. There was a single award for the trial, and this was awarded to W. L. Jackson (Frazer-Nash).

Two changes have been made in the officers of the club. R. C. Rackham replaces D. H. Cottingham as Hon. Secretary, and F. W. Gee replaces W. Jones as Competitions Secretary. Both these gentlemen continue their existing functions as Club Captain and Hon. Press Secretary, in addition to their new duties.

Mr. Rack.ham’s address is Bell Rise, Bel!field Avenue, Harrow Weald, Middlesex.

ROYAL SCOTTISH A.C. The fourth Scottish took on

The fourth Scottish Rally took place on

June ioth-14th, and attracted the very satisfactory total of 166 cars. The organisers very wisely prefer to make the Rally rather more of a sporting tour than merely a motor competition. Thus the route lay through the heart of some truly magnificent scenery, and the time-schedule allowed the run to be enjoyed to the full Night-stops were again used, so that the competitors were fresh enough to appreciate the scenery, while the eliminating tests in Glasgow provided the means of singling out the individual winners in the six classes. The road section started under the most appalling weather conditions, and the 30 m.p.h. test had to be deferred till later. After a long run of 522 miles the braking and acceleration test was encountered, in which G. M. Denton (Ford V-8) and R. A. Vinson (Singer 972) tied for the best performance. This was followed almost immediately by the Triangle Test, which was an exceedingly tricky affair. The small cars were at an advantage here, and fastest time was made by W. K. Elliott (Singer 972), G. L.

Broughton (Triumph 1,232) being the runner up.

At the Pit’ochry night-stop it was found that two people had retired on the road section, A. Ross (Hillman i,x85) and G. M. Frame (Singer 1,493). The number of retirements were added to by several non-starters the next morning.

A feature of the 236 mile run on the second day was the timed 30 m.p.h. test at Kenmore. But this was overshadowed in importance by the restarting test on Haggart’s Brae. This caused quite a lot of trouble, owing to the surprising gradient of the hill, and there were many lost marks. One or two people failed higher up the hill after restarting successfully. Driving counted for a lot, and the Fords. Singers, and M.G.s were all good. Flint’s Alfa-Romeo had clutch trouble, as did H. W. Whyte’s S.S.1. And so the long string of cars came to the night-section at Oban. Easy starting tests were carried out early the next morning, followed by the “Wrong Road Test,” in which G. L. Broughton’s Triumph was extraordinarily well-handled. By this time the weather had improved considerably, and some beautiful country was traversed. The scrutiny for faulty equipment, etc., was held at Arrocliar, and only caught a few people. The finish at Glasgow came all too soon for most

people.

AWARDS.

1,300 c.c. Open Cars.—W, K. Elliott (Singer 972).

1,300 c.c. Closed Cars.—L. A. Welch (Morris 1,292). ‘

2,250 c.c. Open Cars.—Miss J. Astbury (Singer 1,493).

2,260 c.c. Closed Cars.—Miss M. J’ennings (Rover 1,577).

Over 2,260 c.c. Open Cars.—H. Hillcoat (Ford 3,622).

Over 2,250 c.c. Closed Cars.—J. G. R. Watson (Ford 3.622).

Ladies’ Prize, Closed Cars.—Miss R. M. Harker (Alva 2,762).

Team Prize.—Singer M.C. No. 1 team: Messrs. W. T. B. Richardson, M. H. Lawson and A. C. Westwood.

MOTOR-CYCLING CLUB.

Alternative starting controls, at London, Carlisle and Stratford-on-Avon were used in the ” Edinburgh ” trial last month. Easy night-sections were reported by all competitors when they met for breakfast at the converging point, Harrogate, on the morning of Saturday, June 8th.

The weather now took a hand in making the trial a good deal more difficult, for at Windermere torrents of rain nearly swamped the open sports cars. Park Rash was the first hill, and did not give a great deal of trouble, in spite of being very wet. Most of the failures took place right at the end. Some of the cars with a lot of rear overhang scraped their tails on the rocks, but performances on the whole were of a high standard. Over the moors to Summer Lodge, where a pleasant surprise waited for those who had heard bad tales about the severity of the hill. M.G.s, Singers and Ford V-8s all made light of the gradient and loose surface, the hill being no more difficult than many encountered by the adventurous

motorist who is in the habit of exploring by-lanes. Among many fine climbs, we particularly admired those of the Ford team, Whalley, Denton and Chetwynd, the Singer team, Richardson, Lawson and Westwood, the official M.G. team, Welch, Nash and Kindell, and the Bellevue Garage Magnette team, K. D. and D. G. Evans and Nevil Lloyd.

Wrynose Pass is too easy for the modern car, so Mr. Masters diverted the traffic round two loops which were far from easy. Bad driving was the most general cause of failure, especially excessive speed on the corners. Among the best climbs were those of R. J. W. Appleton (Frazer-Nash), D. E. Harris (Singer Nine), and H. C. Hastings (Hillman Aero Minx).

A stop and restart test was held on the last hill, Hard Knott Pass. As usual, the early members had the best of the surface, fastest time of the day being made by the first man, P. K. Potter (P-type M.G.).

The starting line (on a gradient of i in 51) had to be cleared within 4 secs., and the rest of the hill was timed. Twenty drivers were too slow in getting off the mark, while the rest of the test accounted for another 36.

TRIUMPH M.C.

The Heston Aerodrome Rally was a cheerful affair, and after a tour of the ” field ” many of the members took flip to see what the place looked like from the air. Then the 59 cars left the aerodrome

on a Treasure Hunt, winding through Surrey lanes to the ” Berkeley Arms,” Cranbrook. The winner was Mr. Bottelle, and the runner-up Mr. Speedy.

runner-up WEST HANTS L.C.C.

There is much to be said for a system

of awarding points in a trial which resets in a single winner being found. Such was the case in the Banfield Cup Trial last month, when only one driver, L. J. 0. Bartlett (M.G. Magnette) got through with a clean score. The 102-miles route began with a

mystery test which turned out to be a slow hill-climb, in which Bartlett’s Magnette proved to be an easy winner. The brake test on Black Hill was the undoing of seven competitors, and a stiff restarting test on Quarry Lane was only coped with by Bartlett and P. S. Flower (M.G. Magna) out of the entire field. Another mystery test, involving some tricky revving, was won by E. L. Fry (Singer). Three easy tests followed, for acceleration and restarting, and the remaining obstacles were the two observed hills, Meerhay and Tally Ho! Meerhay was responsible for ten failures, but Tally Ho! was very easy.

RESULTS.

RESULTS.

Banfield Cup (for the best performance): L. G. 0. Bartlett (M.G. Magnette). First

Class Awards: None. Second-Class Awards: J. E. S. Jones (M.G.), S. Curry (WolseleY). S. E. Whitelock (Wolsele ), C. B. K. Milnes (M.G.). M. Sheppard ( .G.), F. Fairhurst (Ford), and P. S. Plower (M.G.).