CONFUSION AT PHCENIX PARK

LAP-SCORING INACCURACIES IN BOTH JUNIOR AND SENIOR RACES SPOIL AN OTHERWLSEkENJOYABLE DAY’S SPORT-FINE DRIVING BY G. F. A. MANBY,COLEGRAVE (M.G. MAGNETTE).

AREALLY bad mistake in lap scoring seldom occurs in motor-races, and at most it is generally confined to the position of one or two cars. But at Plicenix Park last month every car in both races of the programme was involved, and at one juncture the Junior race was in danger of being declared void. The Irish Motor Racing Club, who organised the event, came in for a good deal of criticism both from the drivers and the spectators, particularly as neither race had a large field and the number of laps was only small. In the Junior event there were 19 starters, with W. F. Earney’s Amilcar as limit man and G. F. A. Manby Colegrave’s M.G. Magnette on scratch. The latter had to cover 18 laps, and the handicap was arranged by means of credit laps. At the half-distance Earney was still in the lead, followed by C. W. Taylor (Singer), F. O’Connor (Singer), D. Yule (Austin) and J. Wasson (Singer) in a close group. Manby Coleg,rave was extremely fast, however, and his Magnette quickly began to overhaul the stragglers. Taylor fell out with brake trouble, allowing A. P. Huet (M. G. Midget) to take 4th place. It soon became evident that ManbyColegrave would win through from scratch, and on the 16th lap he had passed the entire field with the exception of Earney’s old Amilcar. He made a new lap record at a speed of 88.7 m.p.h. Then came sensation 1 The chequered flag was produced and waved at all the passing cars. Now this made Earney first, Manby-Colegrave second, Wasson third, Yule fourth, Huet fifth, and Fit. Lieut. Briggs sixth. The trouble was that Manby-Colegrave would obviously

have caught Earney if the full distance had been covered, and the other placings might easily have been modified. The utmost confusion in the minds of everyone followed, and the Stewards hastily declared the race void. But this wouldn’t do, and the result of the race was deferred for further consideration. For the spectators this was exceedingly disappointing, because the result was not announced until late that night. ManbyColegrave was declared the winner after all, with Earney a good seaond. The race was marred by a bad accident when the cars driven by ” A. Corry ” and A. R. Finlay collided, the latter’s

machine charging the crowd and injuring six spectators. This initial error seemed to upset the timekeepers completely, and only led them to falter again in the Senior Race. There were 29 starters, and for over half the race the lead was held by two stripped Chryslers . piloted by J. M. Smith and

J. G. Bailey. The two fastest cars were Manby Colegrave’s Magnette and A. Dobson’s • Alfa-Romeo, but both had to call at the pits. On one occasion, however, Dobson did a lap at 94.7 m.p.h., which is the fastest ever recorded on this circuit. The race was devoid of accidents, which was extremely fortunate in view of the disaster earlier in the day, but Manders’s Delage was very effectively burnt out. Bailey’s Chrysler led until near the end, when a big end went. He then gave the lead to Delap’s Riley. The race was over a distance of 24 laps, and the first man to be flagged in was M. J. Hynes on the rapid Statham-Ford. According to the timekeepers, however, Delap was the winner, and so once again all results and previous communications were cancelled to allow a thorough investigation to be held. After a heated discussion the revised results were announced, showing

Hynes to be the winner at a speed of 80.2 m.p.h.

RESULTS.

Wakefield Trophy (for the best performance of the day on handicap) : 1, G. F. A. Manby-Colegrave (M.G. Magnette) ; 2 (on handicap), F. W. Barney (Amilcar); 3 (on handicap), M. J. Hynes (StathamFord). FINISHING TIMES SENIOR RACE (100 MILM. I. M. J. Hynes (Statham-Ford), handicap 3 laps I min., gross time 68m. ’30s. (80.2 m.p.h.)

2. Alan Corry (M.G. Magna), handicap 4 laps 30 secs., time 68m. 49s. (76.5 m.p.h.).

3. R. E. Tongue (Aston-Martin), handicap 3 laps mins., time 70m. 55s. (76.85 m.p.h.).

4. J. Wasson (Singer), handicap 6 laps, time 71m. Vs. (66.9 m.p.h.).

5. A. Dobson (Alfa-Romeo), time 71m, 40s. (88.7 m.p.h.).

JUNIOR RACE (75 MILES).

1. G. F. A. Manby-Colegrave (M.G. Magnette), scratch, time 50 m. 57s. (87.5 m.p.h.).

2. F. W. Earney (Amilcar), handicap 6 laps, time 51m. 40s. (56.2 m.p.h.).

3. J. Wasson (Singer), handicap 3 laps, time 54m. 3s. (67.0 m.p.h.).

4. D. Yule (Austin), handicap 3 laps, time 54m. 4s. (66.99 m.p.h.).

5. Flight Lt. L. R. Briggs (M.G.), handicap 2 laps 11 mins., time 54m. 22s. (69.1 m.p.h.).

Scratch Classes-850 c.c. : Flight Lt. L. R. Briggs (M.G.), 69,1 m.p.h. 1,100 c.c. : G. F. A. ManbyColegrave (M.G. Magnette), 87.5 m.p.h. 2,000 c.c.: R. E. Tongue (Alfa-Romeo), 76.8 m.p.h. Over 2,000 c.c. : Austin Dobson (Alfa-Romeo), 88.7 m.p.h. Record laps.–3,000 c.c. : Dobson (Alfa-Romeo),

94.7 m.p.h. 2,000 c.c. McCalla (Sunbeam), 84.7 m.p.h. 1,100 c.c. : Manby-Colegrave (M.G. Magnette), 88.7 m.p.h.