THE M.C.C. AT BROOKLANDS

THE M.C.C. AT BROOKLANDS

GOOD DAY’S SPORT DESPITE APPALLING WEATHER CONDITIONS. FRAZER-NASHES CARRY ALL BEFORE THEM. IF any man has any doubt as to the enthusiasm of sports car owners, let him consider the Meeting held at Brooklands track by the Motor Cycling Club on September 3rd. In spite of atrocious weather conditions of drenching

rain for most of the day, a gigantic programme involving no fewer than 250 entries, of which 172 were cars and threewheelers, was carried out with great goodwill. The Meeting opened at 11 o’clock, when 19 cars were sent off on the first One Hour Trial. Now those who haven’t witnessed one of these” Hour High Speed Reliability Trials ” cannot imagine the excitement attending these events. The honour of making fastest time is a feat much sought after, and this fact, coupled with the

opportunity of administering a thorough ” dusting-up ” to rival machines, has the effect of turning the Trial into a glorious blind for one solid hour. It soon became apparent that as far as speed was concerned there was only one car in it, namely, the red Frazer-Xash

driven by D. A. .Aldington, who settled down to a steady lap speed of 78 m.p.h. or so, and quickly shook off all opposition. The drenching rain made driving an uncomfortable business, but everyone, never theless, felt quite heroic in continuing to lap at high speed. No incidents occurred beyond the retirement after 6 laps of F. F. Patrick (Wolseley Hornet) until the few dripping officials and spectators at the Fork were galvanised into a state of complete terror by the sight of J. Harrison revolving hopelessly out of control on his 14 h.p. Ford saloon. After four complete turns the bewildered driver found him self proceeding in the normal direction, by a miracle

neither having come into violent contact with the Tickers shed nor with one of the many other cars on the track at the time.

Frazer-Nashes, which were destined to have a veritable “field day,” started well by making the three fastest times in the Trial, D. A. Aldington averaging 76.73 m.p.h., J. D. Windle 66.53 m.p.h., and T. Twentyman 65.5 m.p.h.

The next car events were six 2-lap Handicap races, all of which drew good entries. In the first, an Austin-M.G. duel was waged, victory going to T. B. Raban on a fast ” blown ” Austin, at a speed of 62.48 m.p.h. So many Frazer-Nash entries had been received that the organisers decided to give them a race all to themselves, and a very good race it was. The field provided a convincing testimony of the long life of these famous sports cars ranging from H. H. Cundey’s beautifully kept 1925 model, through the roomy ” touring ” models of D. Duncan Smith and J. D. Windle, to the latest thing in Nashes, H. J. .Aldington’s car on which he has competed in the Alpine Trial and the T.T. After a very good scrap the winner was Duncan-Smith, at the excellent speed of 72.28 m.p.h.

The next 1500 c.c. race resulted in first and second places going to two Fiat Nines, driven by S. Watt and V. H. Tuson, followed by G. H. Robins on a Magna. Watts’ speed was 60.73 m.p.h.

The third 1500 c.c. race was predominated by Wolseley Hornets, but four Rileys and Driskell’s B.N.C. provided stern opposition. W. A. V. Davies (Hornet) came home first from the 22 secs. mark, at 65.10 m.p.h., after a great fight with Appleton’s Riley. E. N. Ward (Brooklands Riley) was third. The unlimited race proved a runaway win for Alan May, on his old but very well tuned 30/98 Vauxhall. The gallant old warrior showed a clean pair of heels to many younger cars, and romped home an easy winner at the rousing speed of 80.33 m.p.h. Finally, the 3-wheeler and combination race was easily won by H. J. Hooper (Morgan). The start of the 2nd One Hour Trial was a stirring spectacle. There was considerable speculation as to who would finish the opening lap first, and eventually R. R. K. Marker on a racing Le Mans 4 i-litre Bentley came past the Fork first, followed by H. J. Aldington on his rapid Frazer-Nash, Alan May (Vauxhall 30./98), R. J. Munday, driving Mr. S. G. Cummings’ beautiful speed model Rover, Dr. E. J. H. Roth (Talbot), A. B. Gilbert (Talbot), A. L. Baker (Minerva), and S. R. Mitchell (Vauxhall). Retirements came quickly, A.1Powys-Lybbe (Alvis) dropping

out on his 3rd lap, R. J.

Munday on his 4th, HarveyNoble (Salmson) on his 1st, while Alec Baker came in after the 2nd lap and reported the almost complete disintegration of the reciprocating parts of the Minerva’s engine. The battle between Marker, Aldington and May grew fierce, the little FrazerNash pushing ahead with a wonderful lap at 89 m.p.h., while May also passed the Bentley. Dr. Roth came in for more water, the steam release valve of his Talbot having become stuck, while his passenger took the opportunity to gulp down a hurried cup of tea ! Later the doctor was reported to be filling the radiator of his car from the sewage farm. by means of an old straw-hat. Eason Gibson (Riley) was another who was in difficulties on the Railway Straight, his car having been hurriedly reassembled just before the event, with a consequent lack of adequate tuning The Frazer-Nash-Bentley duel was interrupted by Marker having to stop for tyre trouble on the Railway Straight, and from then on the Nash was never headed. Coming off the Byfleet, F. E. Elgood (3-litre Bentley) lost his rear number plate, which was promptly run over several times before being picked up. With the exception of a brief stop by P. K. Sartory (Austin), and a puncture on J. A. Bastock’s

Midget the rest of the run was uneventful, Aldington’s Frazer-Nash finishing first at the amazing average of 85.43 m.p.h. In were were view of the fact that several cars boiling at the end of the Trial, we interested to observe that the temperature of the Frazer

Nash, after one hour at 4,000 r.p.m., was below 70 degrees centigrade. No wonder the car never boiled once throughout the whole Alpine Thai!

The’ meeting was concluded with a very amusing Two-lap Team Relay Handicap, which resulted in a perfect finale to the day for the Frazer-Nash marque, when a team composed of N. A. Berry, H. H. Cundey, D. Duncan-Smith and S. H. H. Cundey scored an easy win by 25 seconds.

Quite the best M.C.C. Brooklands Meeting we have ever attended.