RECORD BROKEN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 15, 18 January 1930, Page 12

RECORD BROKEN.

ANZAC'S TEN-MILE DASH.

SPEED OVER 148 M.P.H.

AUSTRALIANS BEAT FRENCH

achievement.

A WONDERFUL SIGHT.

' In his Rolls-Royce-Cadillac car Anzac, ( Mr. "Wizard" Smith broke the world's . ten-mile record on Ninety-mile Beach j yesterday afternoon. He covered the ] ten-mile course in 4m 2 1 ss, equivalent ] to an average speed of 148.637 m.p.h. This was two m.p.h. faster than his speed wlien 'he broke the Australasian one mile record last Saturday, but falls slightly 'below his expectations of 150 m.p.h. After so many delays and postponements, the opportunity came unexpectedly Tor the past two days the wind had been blowing hard from the west, sending a heavy surf on to the beach. This, while it prevented the proposed attack on the record on Wednesday and again on Thursday, served a useful purpose in sweeping the beach clear o rubbish and. shell, and packing the sand hard and smooth. . While the wind was blowing stron, across the course, "Wizard" Smith would not make the attempt. Travel; line at full speed, the Anzac has so .little hold of the ground that a beam wind would throw her sideways. On Thursday it looked as, if the attempt would have to be postponed for at least two or three days, as the local weather prophets affirmed that' the prevailing westerly , wind might continue indefinitely, -with increasing force. When yesterday's dawn brought only a light sea breeze, Mr. Smith decided to take the chance, and the timekeepers were asked to be on the beach early m the afternoon. Mr. Smith and his helpers were there shortly after midday to flag the sixteen mile course. By 4 p.m. everything was ready, arid though the wind was* strengthened, Mr. Smith decided to "give it a go." Meanwhile, Mr. "Don". Harkness had been oiling and overhauling the Anzac, which had been parked among the sandlulls since Wednesday.. -He reported everything in order, and the big machine was towed down on to the beach and away northward to the starting point. Visibility was obviously better than it had been during the week, for the Anzac dwindled to a speck before she disappeared, instead of being hidden by the drifting sea mist. .For a long time the spectators stood motionless, expectant, with their eyes towards the north, before the Anzac reappeared, She was taking a course well down the beach, dangerously close it seemed, to the white edge of the surf. To the little group of spectators at the finishing line, she seemed to be running quite silently. ' As a matter fact she was racing ahead of the sound, and it was not "until she shot past them that the timekeepers heard the roar, of her 12 open exhausts and the hiss of the wet • sand under her tyres. They caught a glimpse, too, of the white-clad figures in the cockpit, "Wizard' Smith at the wheel, and "Don" Harkness pumping oil. ' ' The four timekeepers ran to their cars, and dashed off down the beach to meet the timers from the . starting point. When their watches were, compared and the speed computed, Wizard Smith was hailed as ' the ; new holder of the world's record. No one seemed at all sorry for Marchand, the French driver, who had previously held the record with 133 miles per hour. Mr. Smith has not yet decided on his future movements. He is considering a request to appear on Oreti Beach, Southland. This 'is another famous stretch of ocean' beach, which may make ' a first-class natural speedway. There Mr. C. W. F. Hamilton made the former Australasian record, with a speed of 109 miles per hour.