The Gossport Speed Trials

On September 26th the Gosport A.C. held another of their delightfully informal sprint meetings over a standing ¼-mile on the Flight Test Road at Brockhurst. With the paddock arranged in a corner of the aerodrome, literally on the other side of the hedge, the Gosport enthusiasts gave the competitors two runs over the measured distance, timed electrically. In spite of numerous cars being driven by more than one driver, entailing extra runs after each class had been completed, the meeting was completed in good time for everyone to be home long before dark.

The ex-Walker E.R.A.-Delage was driven by A. V. Burnard and was interesting to compare with Wilkinson’s E.R.A.-Cooper, both cars using similar power units but with chassis with 26 years between them. F.T.D. went to Rupert Instone’s “special” called Djinn, its blown J.A.P. and de Dion rear end combining to make two most impressive standing starts, both his runs being comfortably faster than the next man. Among the sports cars Wick’s Allard Cadillac and Parker’s Jaguara had a split-second battle and were way ahead of all other competitors in the sports classes, while a fleet of TR2 Triumphs were easily beaten by a lone A.C. Ace driven by K. N. Rudd. Among the many lady competitors in this ideal “beginners meeting,” victory went to Mrs. Park, driving her husband’s Le Mans’ Replica Frazer-Nash, but Mrs. Fisher deserves a mention for clocking 19 sec. dead on both her runs; remarkable consistency!

The record set up by A. J. Butterworth with his four-wheel-drive “special” in 1951 with a time of 12.69 sec. for the standing-start still stands. — D. S. J.