THE EASTER B.A.R.C. MEETING

THE EASTER B.A.R.C. MEETING

GREAT DUEL BETWEEN DOBSON AND “BIRA.” OLIVER BERTRAM WINS AN OUTER-CIRCUIT RACE AT 117.26 M.P.H. BABY FIATS EN MASSE. H. T. H. CLAYTON HAS A CLOSE CALL. BROOKLANDS, Easter Monday, 1938, will be remembered by Tucker Clayton and A. P. Hamilton as long as they live. Clayton, driving Plerning’s narrow single-seater M.G. Midget, was struck in the tail by Hamilton’s 2-seater 2,8litre Monza Alfa-Romeo On the Members’ Banking during the Second Easter Short Handicap. In a moment the M.O. had struck the sleeper safety-fence at an angle of about 450 and, tearing it down, somersaulted over into the trees. Clayton was very fortunately thrown clear, for the was a mass of wreckage. A few parts were left on the Track but most of the remains stayed wedged against and around a tree. With difficulty Clayton was carried to the foot Of the earth bank, to be lifted onto a stretcher over the spiked iron railings when the ambulance arrived, which it did after some delay, having been sent out onto the course. At the time of writing Clayton is recovering and hopes to return to racing when he is fit—a prospect which we heartily endorse. Hamilton shot to the foot of the banking but straightened out and con

tinued uninjured. The whole accident was over so quickly that even now there is some doubt whether the cars actually touched, and, for our part, we had the impression that the Alfa had passed the M.G. before it swerved downwards, possibly because the Alfa ran beneath the M.G. for a moment before the latter somersaulted, for photographs prove that the Alfa was certainly behind at the moment of impact or apparent impact. The Easter Meeting attracted a really excellent crowd, officially given as better than 20,000, and the hill was black with holiday spectators. The weather was fine, but cold. In thePaddock one saw many

people who had returned hastily from Land’s End, including Peter Clark and Mrs. Clark, Tony Curtis and Robins and most of the better-known motoring writers. John Cobb’s new Railton recordcontender was on view outside T. & T.’s premises in the Paddock, and was later pushed out to an enclosure in the finishing straight for the benefit of the public, while Railton was himself spectating. In the first event of the afternoon— commencing nowadays at 2 p.m.—Oats on the Alvis once raced by Charles Follett led away from Barker’s Cozette-blown four-seater 3-litre Sunbeam and Marston’s Type 43 Bugatti, Follett’s new LeaFrancis being a non-starter. Other nonstarters were Halse’s blown 4i-litre Bentley and R. S. Wilkins’s mysterious supercharged eight-cylinder 4,075 c.c B.H.W. Wooding’s Talbot was seen to use a lot of banking, in contrast with Marston’s Bugatti. After a lap the Sunbeam was in trouble and at the end Oliver Bertram came up in the compact grey 41-litre Bentley-engined BowlerHottnan-Special, to win by sec. from Charles Brackenbury on Watson’s blown 2-litre G.P. Bugatti. Bertram averaged 117.26 m.p.h.—an outer-circuit race won

in real style by a proper outer-circuit car. The finish was immense, for Baker-Carr, On the 644itre Bentley-Jackson, which is now up for sale, came up fast from scratch, dropping off the banking to pass slower cars on the very inside of the Railway Straight to get third place, I see. from Bertram. Elgood’s 44-litre Bentley was another car to use lots of banking. ‘We then had another Easter Short Handicap Over 2 laps of the outer-circuit, in which Fred Thatcher’s M.G. got going to some purpose with a useful start. Elgood again rode. high, Oats retired with the Alvis, and Courtney’s Amilear Six dropped to last place, mis-firing. BakerCarr was going really, fast on the BentleyJackson, passing below Couper’s Talbot

Although he seemed to do a bit of hectic hustling of other competitors at one bend, the Alta certainly had commanding acceleration, and at the end Abecassis had only to catch Miss Stanley-Turner’s M.G., which he just did on acceleration up the final straight, to win by Sec. at 70.72 m.p.h. Hyde drove an admirable race with the ex-Cholmondeley-Tapper 3-litre Maserati to finish third, having left on scratch with the winning Alta. Another 3 laps road handicap followed, those not running being posted as Stocks’s blown Lea-Francis, which was in the Paddock, M. S. Soames with Harmer’s Type 37 Bugatti, Brettell’s Austin and Evans with the unblown M.G. Miss Turner led away from Money and MOnkhouse,

off the Home Banking. As the back

markers bunched to come off the banking to the finish, the unfortunate -accident, already described, took place. St. John Horsfall’s 2-litre Aston-Martin ran on to win at 100.64 m.p.h. from Thatcher’s M.G. Magnette and Elgood’s Bentley. Soon we came to the First Road Handicap, over 3 laps of the Campbell road circuit. Miss Dorothy StanleyTurner led away in her M.G. Midget, followed by Money’s M.G. and Nickols’s M.G. Both Parnell’s M.G. and the Hon. Peter Aitken’s ” Shelsley ” Frazer-Nash went sick approaching the line and the Frazer-Nash was a non-starter as a result. Other non-runners were Gordon Brettell’s Austin Seven, Courtney’s Amilcar Beadle’s Alta, Charlie Martin’s Martin

J.A.P., and Hunter’s Alta. On initial acceleration, Parnell’s M.G., driven by Cudden-Pletcher of rotary-valve memory, beat Pane’s sports B.M.W., making up 8 secs. before the first corner.

The race was dominated by Abecassis with the independently-sprung 2-litre blown Alta, going really well at last. all on M.G.s, and the Q-Midget was never passed, Miss Turner scoring the only ladies’ victory that day, at 61.27 m.p.h. She built up such a strong lead that she was _able to turn and look back for signs of a rival, and the M.G. won by 6 sect:, from Esplen’s R-type M.G. Midget and Monkhouse with the T.T. Magnette. Cowell’s Austin Seven retired, likewise the Ketr-Bate-Special. Peter Clark’s H,R.G. ran with its long tail and new tank-mounting in place, as arranged by Marcus Chambers for its coming appearance at be Mans, in consequence Of which

Clark drove a works in the Land’s End. He had no luck at Brooklands, crawling in with puzzled demeanour. The big race of the day was then run off—the scratch Campbell Trophy Race over ten laps of the Campbell circuit. A. C. Lace, with the 4-litre Darracq, and the B.H.W. were non-starters, likewise the 3.8-litre Alfa-Romeo of John Snow. As the flag fell, Hyde’s Maserati got a small advantage from Arthur DobsOn’s white E.R.A., Baron de Graffenried’s Maserati and Villoresi’s Maserati, all the field in a close-packed bunch. After one lap Dobson was out in front, followed by Hyde, ” Bira,” and Villoresi. After another lap ” Bira” had second place. Then started a simply immense duel, Dobson doing all he knew, seemingly faster on the corners than ” Bira,” much more hectic out of the banking turn, where the Old E.R.A. slid within inches of the edge, but losing on speed and acceler ation. ” A.C. ” held his lead until lap five, when ” Bira’s ” blue E.R.A cornered beside the white one turning from the Railway Straight, and they screamed neck

m.p.h. The old record stood to the credit of P. D. Walker (E.R.A.) at 73.26 m.p.h., and is thus bettered by 2.45 m.p.h. This magnificent race was followed by the 2 lap race for standard Type 500 570 c.c. Fiat ‘coupes. Only W. E. Tubb failed to face the starter, leaving a most variegated field of seventeen. Sumner, Peter Aitken, Peter Clark, Arthur Barton, Andrew Leitch, Dr. Beaver, J. C. Elves, Hunter and Seyd were amongst the intrepid ” dicers.” S. Mond just won from C. B. Phillips by *sec. at 42.45 m.p.h. with Baron third. The speed is notable, no one blew up

and neck up the road straight. Then ” Bira” got away, to lead to the end, beating Dobson by I secs. at 73.7 m.p.h., after one of the finest short races ever seen over this circuit. The Maserati handled by Baton de Graffenried sounded sick and Villoresi’s Maserati, with different colour wheels front and rear, was very wild, but no match for the E.R.A.s. Positions remained fairly constant, though on lap 4 Billy Cotton (E.R.A.) passed Villoresi. Hyde’s Maserati took third place. ” Bira’s ” average actually beats the old Campbell circuit lap recOrd, and he set up a new lap record at 75.71 m.p.h. Dobson did one lap at 75.43

MUFFLED PINKING By SIR MALC( )1-,INI CAMPBELL

Recently I was given the opportunity of observing a series of petrol tests with a new knock-detecting instrument, which electrically indicates and measures the tendency of motor fuels to knock. The muffled pinking of motor spirits which performed quite silently in an average motor engine was quickly exposed by this ingenious instrument. The fact that this pinking is rendered inaudible to the human car is attributable to features of modern engine design, particularly sound insulation and the use of less resonant metals, which subdue

and the cars finished fairly compactly. Curious that speed-kings stayed in the background ! We wonder whether McConnell took Mond’s car to bits afterwards for scrutineering purposes—and whether he has any nuts left over ! The Third Easter Road Handicap resulted in victory for G. A. Wooding with his sports-type 3-litre Talbot, which he drove steadily and well, winning by 8* secs. at 64.46 m.p.h. Andrew Leitch did great things with an old blown 2.3 G.P. Bugatti, taking second place from j. H. T. Smith’s M.G. Magnette. A cable trailed astern of Cudden-Pletcher’s M.G., Cowell ‘s Austin again fell out, and Villoresi

the knocking sound. The motorist using such petrol realises that his car is running sluggishly, inclined to labour on hills, and failing in acceleration, but he does not suspect silenced knocking as the cause.

Nevertheless, this muffled pinking is a menace, because it goes on unnoticed, reducing engine efficiency, and developing engine trouble if it is not discovered and rectified in time. The introduction of Ethyl fluid some years ago enabled great strides to be made in the development of both fuels and engines, and many leading car manufacturers, rc: cognising the important ad again had great fireworks, and back axle judder under the elected not to run. ” Bira

brakes. In the last race Arthur Dobson with his white E.R.A. treated us to some more excellent and rapid cornering, and he came right through from scratch to second place, failing to catch Monkhouse on the limit M.G. Magnette by 2* secs. Dobson averaged 64.26 m.p,h. Leitch, rehandicapped, gained third place with the Bugatti, beating Lemon-Burton who was trying out his blown 1i-litre Bugatti. So concluded a varied and consistently good meeting very well attended by a crowd which will undoubtedly look forward to the next B.A.R.C. fixture on WhitMonday. Some of the reasons for cars failing to race are worth noting. Oliver Bertram had a rod go in practice with the Barnato-Hassan-Special, though he was a winner for all that. Hunter’s Alta, with unfamiliar radiator cowl and singleseater body, seized its blower, and the air-cooled Martin-Special suffered trans

mission maladies in practice. Mrs. Petre’s Riley misfired and she was last in her race, nevertheless making a welcome reappearance after last year’s crash.

RESULTS

The First Easter Short Handicap (atont fli miles) 1, 0. Bertram (4,487 c.c. Bowler-Hoftnan-Special) 2, C. Brackenbury (1,990 c.c. Buvatti,

10s 3 C. T. Baker-Carr (6,597 c.e.1(entIcy-Jackson), scratch.

Won at, 117.26 m.p.h. by is.; –18. between first and third. The Second Easter Short Handicap (about (if miles)

1, St.. .T. Horstall (1,956 c.c. Aston-Martin), 54s. 2, r. A. Tliatcht•i(1.287 e.e. M.G.), lin. 238. ; 3, F. E. I?1good (4,487 1%c. Bentley), 398.

Won at I o0.64m.p.h. by 318.; 418. between first and third. The First Easter Road Handicap (about 7 miles) 1, 0. E. Abecassis (1,060 e.c. Alta, S.), scratch :

2, I. H. Nickols (747 c.c. M.t:.. S.). 32s.; 3, A. 11. Hyde (2,992 c.c. Mascrati, s.), scratch.

Won at 70.72 m.p.h. byS. ; 4/s. between first and third. The Second Easter Road Handicap (about 7 miles) 1, miss f). Stanley-Turner (747 c.c. M.G., S.), 2:58.; 2, W. Esp1en (747 c.c. M.G., S.). scratch ; 3, P. R. Monkhouse (1,032 c.c. MAE), 68,

Won at 6E27 m.p.h. by 6s.; 61s. between first and third. The Campbell 1, ” B. Bira ” (I. Dobson (1,486 c.c. (2,1)92 c.c. Maserati,

Won at 73.70 in first and third.

The Third Easter Road Handicap (about 7 miles) 1, 11. A. Wooding (3,008 c.c. Talbot), 49a.; 2, A. Lett 411 (2,303 e.e. Bugatti, S.), 338.; 3, 3. B. T. Smith (1.087 e.e. M.G., S.), 28s.

Won at 64.46 m.p.h. by 8is.; Sts. between first and third. Trophy (about 22i miles) .186 c.c. E.R.A., S.); 2, A. (‘. I’. ILA., S.); 3, A. B. Hyde S.), .p.h. by 11s.; :3318. between

vantages to be gained by the use of Ethyl, are therefore recommending it in their instruction books, a view I can. fully endorse from years of experience.

BOOKLANDS AT WHITSUN

The usual highly popular B.A.R.C. meeting will be held at Brooklands on Whit-Monday, commencing at 2 p.m. The programnie will comprise the usual outer-circuit handicaps and the three-lap races Over the Campbell road-circuit. A big entry and excellent racing is a foregone conclusion. Full details from : The Clerk of the Course, Brooklands Motor Course, Weybridge, Surrey.