MANAWATU GORGE,

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 133, 7 June 1932, Page 15

MANAWATU GORGE,

KEEP TO THE LEFT. MOTORISTS PROSECUTED. A number of cases of interest to motorists, in <?o far as the "keep to the left" rule is concerned In the Manawatu Gorge, were heard' in Feilding recently. On mo?t corners in the gorge are painted white centre lines, and some time ago the controlling authorities decided to enforce the regulations requiring , motorists to keep to the left, the result being that a number of summonses were issued.

The regulations say that where the width of road formation permits, a vehicle must be kept to the left of the centre ■ lino.

One motorist, whoso case, was dismissed, claimed that the white line was not in the centre of the bitumen. According to his evidence, he went to the gorge and measured the distance and found at the beginning of the white lino the measurements wore: From the outside of the bitumen to the centre of the line, Oft lOin; from the centre of the line to the inside edge of the bitumen, Bft Uin. Halfway along the white line he measured the distance and he found that from the outside of the bitumen to the centre of the white line was Bft 2in, and from the centre of the white lino to the inner edge of the bitumen was flft 4in. At the far end of the white line the measurements were: From the outer edge of the bitumen to the centre of the line. Oft lOinj from the centre of the line to the inner edge of the bitumen, Bft 6in.

the track at three m.p.h., and then had to give up, leaving L. Perry in the lead with eoven laps to go. When L. Terry, wlio was riding a Royal Enh'eld, completed his ninety-sixth round, M. Aicken, on a Douglas, and W. Lockett, on an A.J.S., were two laps behind him, with L. Clapham, on a Norton, four laps behind them. Up to this time no one seemed to have noticed L. Williams, plugging steadily along on a 8.5.A., miles astern of the reet of the field. But his machine had not been shaken to pieces by desperate riding, and when the leaders failed he was there to take a place. In fact, he was gaining on Perry, who took SO*; for hie last lap. Aicken came in second, two minutes behind Perry, whose time was lh 55m, and Williams, arriving 3m after Aicken, gained third place. Judging by his lap times, which were remarkably consistent, Perry rode to schedule, maintaining a steady speed that saved his machine and brought him in winner after faetcr men had retired with damaged mounts. The fastest laps wore done by Ben Bray (Douglas), F. Lindesay (Rudge) and L. Vinall (Norton), all of whom covered the mile and a quarter circuit in 575, but the only one of the three to gain a place was Vinall, who was able to complete after stopping for repairs at the end of his ninety-ninth lap. While ho was out, Williams went past and robbed him of third place, but he was able later to complete. Vinall cut out 90 laps in Hi 52m, of which 10m was lost in repairing a puncture early in the race. Between breakdowns, Lindeeay rode furiously, but he had a lot of trouble with his mount. Early in the race a puncture lost him several minutes, and trying to make up lost time he rode bin machine all out. In the iifty-sccond lap he gained 4s on White and Aicken, but in the following lap lie came round with one of the exhausts trailing on the ground. It dropped off in the straight, and he still went on lapping in 57«, but a little later the other exhaust broke adrift, and he was flagged off. He started again after repairs, but eventually broke down for good.

Bon Bray did 1-1 fast and furioue laps, and it looked as if hirs Douglas would bo well in the load in the hundredth. But then the oiling system of ]iis machine went on etrike, and Bray had to mako his exit —one of the disappointments of the day.

For a while E. Bull, riding a New Hudson, looked as if he load the iield home. When Snow, who was then in the lead, completed his seventieth lap, Bull was in second plaoe, two laps behind him. In the ensuing quarter of an hour Bull steadily gained on the leader, but was forced to retire with engine trouble in hie eighty-second lap.

The riders seem to have been a lot fitter than their machines. Although only four finished, it wae the engine*, not the men, that failed, the only rider incapacitated in the race being W. White, who ran off the course after being a truck in the right eye by a stone (lung up by the machine ahead of him. He was then in his eightieth lap, and, despite several previous breakdowns, was holding fourth place.

The ehortest-lived of any starter was S. C'ae-ey, who broke down in the first 100 yds, 'and did not gut going again. J. Mu'lcaliy (A.J.S.) and M. Silich. (Norton) also dropped out early, while C. Gat-lan-d, on a Panther, lasted only 10 laps. Another prematurely deceased was B. Cuthbertson, whose Velocette broke its driving chain in its nineteenth round. After (starting off well, W. Forder'e Gold Special overheated, forcing Mm to retire. The Velocette ridden by L. Sowerby baulked right from the start, and he was forced to give up after 25 laps. The forks of C. Goldberg's Sunbeam broke during his thirty-first lap, and another rider whom the crowd expected, to cheer in a close finish was definitely out.

Engine trouble forced L. Clapham to pull up at the pits after 59 laps, and lie lost a lot of -time getting started again, but he was one of the few that lasted over 90 laps, being forced to stop again in the final stages of the race, after putting up an excellent performance.

One of the best of the visiting riders wan W. Lockett, of Waihi, on an A.J.S. Although he had not previously ridden on the Mangere track, he showed the local men a trick or two. After holding second place for several laps, during which time he consistently did the mile and a quarter in 02s, he was forced to retire in the ninety-sixth with, a eeized engine. His motor had given him troubkj earlier in the race, and only hard riding had brought him up among the possible winners.

About middle distance, White and Aicken found themselves close together, and for several laps thero was an interesting race between the two, with no more than a couple of lengths' difference between them. Actually Aicken was, witli Snow, five laps ahead of White, with Perry between them, three laps behind the leaders. Aicken's Douglas had given him a lot of trouble, and toward* the finish it was screaming like an enraged cockatoo. No one thought it could last the distance, but it got him there, 111 57m after lie started.