TOURIST TROPHY RACE, 1911

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10662, 18 June 1912, Page 6

TOURIST TROPHY RACE, 1911

Undoubtedly the 'neatest test that any motor cycle has ever undergone, and one -that included the most varied conditions, was the Tourist Trophy Contest, held on- the Isle of Man, England, in July, 19.11. _ The course was a circuit of 37£ miles, covered five times, ia total of 187 miles. It was over .the ordinary roads of the island, full of turns and kinks, with a surface touch below the English standard. Besides numerous ordinary grades, Snaefell Mountain,, a climb of four miles, with a corresponding descent, was .surmounted on each circuit. For tihis great contest fif.ty-n.ine .machines entered, .tihe !best .that Europe could produce, and, in whose construction, many (months were consumed; and' of these only .twenty-eight .survived, eloquent evidence of the immense severity of t'he task. Among the./starters were five,"lndians," and not only did every one of the five finislh, 'but .the "Indian" captured the first .three places. Such ia performance is unprecedented, and the most wonderful Showing ever miade by any motor cycle. To cover this long course without a falter 'at the tremendous speed necessary for success; to .survive the continuous strain of rough roads and hard dlriving/without a single mechanical failure; to clinrub_t.lie miles of steep mountain roads witlhout a, sign of burning out, are demonstrations of efficiency, endurance and .mechanical, perfection that have never ibeen equalled, and will never be .surpassed. Mr J. G. Ewington, of Masterton, has secured the Wairarap;., agency of the "Indian," . -