TOURIST TROPHY RACE, 1911

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10665, 21 June 1912, Page 7

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, 1911. The course was a circuit of r 37£ miles, covered five times, ia total of 187 males. It was over the ordinary roads of the island, full of turns and kinks, with a surface imuch below the English standard. Besides numerous ordinary grades, Snaafell Mountain, a climb of four miles, with a corresponding descent, was surmounted on each circuit. For tin's great contest fifty-nine mac'hines entered, the 'best that Europe could produce, and in whose construction many months wd'e consumed; and of these only twenty-eight survived, eloquent evidence of the immense severity of the task. Among the starters were five "Indians," and not only did every one of tl.ie five finish, but the "Indian" captured the first three places. Such a performance is unprecedented, and the most wonderful showing ever miade by any motor cycle. To cover this lons course without a falter at the tremendous speed necessary for success; to survive the continuous strain of rough roads and hard driving without a single mechanical failure; to cMmiibthe milesoif steep mountain roads witlhout a sign of burning out, ■ are demonstrations of efficiency, endurance and mechanical !)erfection that 'have never been equaled, and will never be surpassed. Mr J. C Ewington, of Masterton, hue secured the Wairarap,. l . agency of the "Indian." ' cts. -