RACING IN AUSTRALIA

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 331, 17 April 1928, Page 6

RACING IN AUSTRALIA

FIRST 100 MILES ROAD EVENT

Full details are to hand of the 100 j miles’ road race held on Fhilip Island, j near Melbourne, last Saturday week. I The event was the first of its kind j held in Australia.

Although 26 cars were entered, mis- | haps resulted in the scratching of nine, ; and only 17 started. The A class was ; for cars having a cylinder capacity of 750 c.c., B class for cars between j 750 c.c. and 1,100 c.c., C class 1,100 ; c.c. to 1,500 c.c., and B class 1,500 c.c. j to 2,000 c.c. The race was run in two ; divisions, the B class and I) class \ racing in the morning, and the A class j and C class in the afternoon. The course was rectangular and approxi- ! mately 6.6 miles round, the distance of the race being 15 circuits of the course. Class B.—G. Dentry (Senechal), 1. time lhr 55min 40sec; J. W. Williamson (Riley), 2,2 hr 17min 35sec; L. Pounds (8.F.P.), 3,2 hr 24min 29sec. ; Class B: J. O. McCutcheon (.Morris- i Cowley), 1. lhr 50min lOsec; C. Bickason (Austin), 2, lhr 54min 2sec:_ W. H. Lowe (Metallurgique), 3,2 hr sm.in lsec. The “A” section provided the most thrilling driving of the day, the cars being grouped with the ‘'C’ , class entrants. The turning of the small cars on the corners provided many thrills for the spectators and there were some spectacular skids, but the cars were always handled with such skill that the drivers recovered control before any damage was done. In all sec- ! tions it was apparent that the accidents which had occurred in practice runs had taught the drivers caution. Only bad luck in the race lost Terdich the prize as absolute winner. Por the first seven laps Waite’s Aus- j tin led the field, but in the eighth j round the Bugatti passed it and steadily increased its lead until the ' 13th lap. Terdich drove remarkably j well, some of his laps being covered ! at a speed of almost 70 m.p.h. With a lead of about If laps and. only 2£ laps to go, Terdich’s chance j of success was lost when a fault j developed in the pressure feed pump. Fifteen minutes were lost before this trouble was rectified. In the meantime Waite made up ; his lost ground ?.nd finished an easy j winner, beating the made by McCutcheon in the morning by nearly four minutes and winning the C. B. Kellow Cup. The results of the afternoon’s races are as follows: Class A.—L. A. W'aite (Austin), 1, lhr 46min 40sec; C. May (Austin), -hr 3min 24see; T. IT. Davey (Austin), 2hr 6min 14sec; S. V. King (Austin), 2hr Bmin 35sec. Class C: A. J. Terdicli (Bugatti), 1, lhr 54min 45sec* J. A. Bay (Bugatti), lhr 56min 26sec; J. C. Hutton (Alvis), 2hr 4min 21sec. Although Waite secured fastest time, the fastest laps went to Terdich and Bay in Bugattis. Terdich did one lap at 69 m.p.h. and averaged 64 m.p.h. until he had trouble; while Bay’s last is estimated to have been at 69 or 70 m.p.h., which meant about 90 m.p.h. in the straights. The attendance was highly satisfactory and the racing attracted such keen interest that an attempt will be made to make the race an annual event.