CONTINENTAL RACING NEWS

CONTINENTAL RACING NEWS THE GRANDS PRIX OF ORAN A Double Bugatti Victory

Results of the racing car event :

1. De Maleplane (2-litre Bugatti), 2h. 48m. 32s. Average speed, 70.87 m.p.h.

2. Dupont (1100 c.c. Amilcar), 2h. 49m. 8s.

3. Michel Dore (1500 c.c. Bugatti), 2h. 54m. 51s.

4. Pelegri (1100 c.c. Amilcar), 3h. 19m. 48s.

5. Hiercourt (1500 c.c. Bugatti), 3h. 20m. 30s.

6. Madame flier (1100 c.c. Rally), 311. 43m. 32s.

7. Bychanski (1500 c.c. Bugatti), 3h. 48m. 53s.

The year 1930 marks the centenary of Oran as a French province, and naturally enough it was decided that the fact must be duly celebrated., Whet more fitting, therefore, than that the • colony should organise some motor races ? A circuit was chosen near the town of Arcole measuring about 51 miles round, of which one leg was a excellent road, two other sides of the quadrangle were passable, while the fourth was frankly bad and provided an excellent test of suspension and steering systems. This circuit had to be covered 35 times by the racing cars, making a total of 196.88 miles.

The event attracted a total of twenty cars, not a bad number for these days. In the 1100 c.c. class Madame Rose flier, who distinguished herself recently in the grand Prix of Morocco, matched her Rally 4gainst five Amilcars. All the bigger cars, with the exception of one of the famous beetle-backed C.henard Walckers, were Bugattis, among the best known drivers taking part being Michel Dore with a 1500 c.c., Lehoux with a 2-litre, and Dreyfus with a 2300 c.c. machine.

As soon as the signal to start was given on the morning of Sunday, 27th April, Lehoux shot ahead on his Bugatti and took the lead, hotly pursued by Etan.celin, de Maleplane and Zehender, while hot on their heels of the Bugattis came Dupont on the little single-seater Amilcar which has become famous in the hands of Morel. For the first nine laps there was no change in the order, and then Etancelin burst a tyre, ran off the road and had to withdraw. In the meantime Dupont, going like fury on his little Amilcar passed Zehender and de Maleplane and got into second place.

Lehoux however had a very comfortable lead and it looked as if he had the race well in hand, when suddenly his Bugatti came to a standstill with a broken propeller shaft. This let the Amilcar gain the lead, and shortly afterwards one of the fastest Bugattis was eliminated when Zehender had to retire with the same trouble which had proved Lehoux’s undoing. De Maleplane, however, was still running second with Michel Dore on the 1500 c.c. Bugatti third.

While Dupont was thus showing a clean pair of heels to all the bigger cars, the other Amilcars were not so fortunate. Scaron’s car was going very slowly, obviously suffering from trouble with the petrol supply, and after a number of stops to rectify the matter, the driver decided to retire, while his team-mate Cloitre was put out with a broken connecting rod at about the same time. Dreyfus, the winner of the Grand Prix of Monaco, was not fortunate in this race, for his Bugatti, which belonged to Lehoux, suffered from continuous misfiring and was finally withdrawn, presumably with magneto trouble, a like fate also overtaking Joly’s car of the same make.

While these various troubles were overtaking the field, Dupont continued to hold the lead, followed by de Maleplane and Michel Dore. Close behind them came Longueville, the Belgian driver of a 2-litre Bugatti, who was running very well until a flying stone pierced his radiator and he was forced to retire. Madame Itier was also causing much favourable comment by her skilful handling of her little Rally, which is becoming wellknown in North Africa. The tale of withdrawals was not yet fully told, however, for Count Czaikowski, the winner of the sports car race on the previous day had to retire with a broken piston, and the same trouble overtook de l’Espee and Gaupillat. Shortly before the end, Dupont found himself running short of fuel and had to stop and fill up, thus losing much of his lead on de Maleplane. When he set off on his penultimate lap, however, he was still well ahead, and seemed to have the race well in hand. And then suddenly to the consternation of his supporters he reappeared with a flat tyre. The wheel was rapidly changed, but during the operation de Maleplane flashed by to win the race by less than two minutes. Poor Dupont was terribly unlucky, and his little car having led for most of the race,

his victory would have been very popular. De Maleplane, however, drove a fine race, and thoroughly deserved his victory, while Michel Dore gained third place after a very regular run. Result of the sports car event :

1. Count Czaikowski (2300 c.c. Bugatti), 2h. 41m. 13s. Average speed, 63.12 mpth.

2. Vincenti (2998 c.c. Bugatti), 2h. 45m. 2s.

3. Moller (2998 c c. Bugatti), 2h. 47m. 4s.

4. Moll (3003 c.c. Lorraine-Dietrich), 2h. 57m.

5. Mazzorcoati (3740 c.c. Fiat), 3h. 6m. 44s.

6. Lancry (1496 c.c. Chenard-Walker), 3h. 15m. 52s. Winner of 1500 c.c. class. Average speed, 51.96 m.p.h.

7. Veyron (1497 c.c. B.H. P.), 311. 21m 32s.

The sports car race, which was run on the day preceeding the racing car event, united fifteen starters. As usual, Bugattis were in force, Count Czaikowski having a 2300 c.c. machine, while the other six were 2 and 3-litre cars. Two le Mans type cars were the LorraineDietrich and the beetle-back ChenardWalcker, while Mazzocorati drove a sports type 20-70 h.p. Fiat, and Bilela a 6-cylinder Citroen. In the 1500 c.c. class were a B.N.C. and an E.H.P., while Madame Itier’s Rally was matched against an Amilcar in the 1100 c.c. division.

The race was over 30 circuits of the Circuit of Arcole, making a total distance of 168/ miles. When the signal to start was given at 2.30 p.m. all the engines had to be started with their starters, and this proved Rob’s undoing, for his 2-litre Bugatti’s starter jammed and he was unable to take part in the race. Count Czaikowski, however, shot off on his supercharged car, and immediately took the lead. joly, a local driver of considerable repute, was not so fortunate for he had to stop twice in the first three laps to change plugs, and although he afterwards broke the lap record at 68.14 m.p.h., he was never able to catch up with the leaders. Some of the other Bugattis were little more fortunate, for Galley’s 3-litre car broke its oil pump and Rizzo was held back by plug trouble.

Czaikowski, however, was never headed and finally finished an easy winner with Vincenti and Mollar’s Bugattis second and third. Madame Itier looked a certain winner of the 1100 c.c. class when Pad’s Amilcar had to retire with a burntout magneto, but 25 miles from the finish, she too was forced out with ignition. trouble. The famous C.henard-Walcker driven by Lancry, added yet another to its many laurels by winning the 1500 c.c. class.

THE GRAND PRIX OF CZECHO-SLOVAKIA.

THE Automobile Club of CzechoSlovakia has decided to organise a Grand Prix for cars this year on 28th Septentber. The race will be over the Masaryk circuit, near Brno, which is an extremely difficult course, having 119 corners in its length of 13f miles. This circuit will have to be covered seventeen times, giving the race a total distance of just over 310 miles.

Those interested should apply to the Automobile Club Tzechoslovaque, Brno, Czecho-Slovakia.

THE GRAND PRIX OF MOROCCO.

RACING CAR RESULTS.

SPORTS CARS RESULTS.

The Grand Prix of Morocco, which was originally fixed for the 13th April, and was put off on account of the bad weather, was finally run off on Easter Monday, 21st April. In spite of this delay of a week, however, quite a good field presented itself at the start in Casablanca, the drivers having spent the intervening time in touring around Morocco.

The event, which should have taken place at the same time as the Italian 1000 Miles Race, was also a town-to-town race. Starting from Casablanca, the competitors had to go by Azenmour, Mazagan, El Ileta, El Had, Marakech, Settat, Med.iouna and so back to Casablanca. the total distance being 443.5 miles. The five finishers in the racing class represented the only survivors out of fifteen starters. The fastest cars in the race were the four big Bugattis, Lehoux and de Maleplane having 2-litre machines and Etan.celin and lehender 2,300 c.c. models, all of which were supercharged, while Carboune drove a 2-litre unsupercharged car. After these came three 1500 c.c. Bugattis driven by Foe, Hiercourt and Bonelly, of which Foe’s car only was supercharged. The small cars were represented by Namount, Mario and Toroiz on Salmsons, Benitah and Kotchine on Amilcars, and Madame Itier and Dourel on Rallys. The race was run on a handicap basis, the competitors being divided into four classes, each of which was started off some minutes after the previous class. The big supercharged Bugattis thus had to cede no less than

hour 50 minutes to the 1100 c.c. machines, and. the efficiency with which the handicappers did their work may be judged from the fact that the first three cars to finish all belonged to different classes.

At 9.45 a.m. on the Monday the 1100 c.c. cars were started off, and the other classes went off at their stated intervals. Meyer, last year’s winner, and a general favourite, was among the absentees, having a bad cold, which caused considerable disappointment among the Moroccan connoisseurs. Etancelin, however, had set his heart on winning this race, and went off at a great speed. He soon outdistanced the other big Bugattis and covered the first 60 miles at very nearly 110 m.p.h., but this effort proved too much for his car, and he was thereupon forced to retire. In the meantime Benitah was travelling with clockwork regularity, and it soon became apparent that any of the bigger cars would have to put up a very high

average if they were to catch him. News of withdrawals came to hand continually, although it was hard to discover the cause in most cases. De Maleplane on one of the 2-litre supercharged Bugattis ran into a wall and crumpled up both his front wheels, and although he fortunately escaped personal injury, another of the fastest cars was eliminated. Zehender, too, was held back as his foot-brake gave out almost at the start and he was forced to rely entirely on his hand-brake thereafter. This left only Lehoux’s Bugatti as a possible winner among the big cars.

Benitah continued serenely although hard pressed by Namont’s Salmson until it had to retire, while Foe’s 1500 c.c. supercharged Bugatti was also eliminated when its time suggested that it had a chance of victory. Madame Rose Itier in the meantime was driving a most courageous race alone in her little Rally, and had to contend with tyre trouble and an exhaust pipe which had to be removed after half falling off.

Soon after four o’clock in the afternoon Benitah arrived back in Casablanca, the winner of the race. Lehoux was less than a quarter* of an hour behind him, having driven a very fine race and averaged over 93 m.p.h. on his 2-litre Bugatti, which must be a record for a road race of nearly 450 miles. The other three finishers arrived at short intervals, and were all given a great ovation.

In contrast to the racing class, nearly all the cars which started in the sports car division, which was run at the same time, finished the course. The race proved a triumph for the Renault ” Nevastella ” cars, all three of which took the lead at the outset and. finished in the first three places, the winner Liocourt putting up the truly remarkable average of 76 m.p.h. This a new Renault model, having a straight-eight engine of 4270 c.c.

Almost equally meritorious was the performance of the team of 6-cylinder Citroens which were fitted with saloon bodies, while the little Chanard-Walckers added yet another win to their many laurels. Altogether the Automobile Club of Morocco is to be congratulated. on providing an excellent day’s sport.

THE CIRCUIT OF SICILY.

AFEW years ago the Targa Florio used to include classes for touring cars, but of late years Cav. Vincenzo Florio has organised a separate event for cars in this category. This is known as the Circuit of Sicily, the cars racing round the island, the total distance of the circuit being about 609 miles.

This year the event attracted nearly forty entries, divided into cars with engines of less than ,1100 c.c., and cars with engines of greater capacity. The small class was composed entirely of Model 509 Fiats, ten of these cars being entered. In the larger class there were entered seven 0.M. ‘s, eleven Alfa-Romeos, four Lancias, two Bugattis, a Diatto, a Hupmobile, two Maseratis and a Bianchi. The race, which was run a week before the Targa, on the 27th April, was unfortunately marred by an accident in which Silitti was killed. The race was won by Rosa and Morandi on an 0.M., the final order being as follows :

h.