SPEED RECORD..

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20551, 20 May 1932, Page 6

SPEED RECORD..

EXPERIENCES AT.DATFONA. J j SIR MALCOLM CAMPBELL'S J ACHIEVEMENT. j Writing in the "Field" recently '! Captain Sir Malcolm Campbell said that - ie had not had the best of luck -with ( the weather and the beach when he , ;stablished a new record this year at Daytona. ' Campbell pointed out that it was essential, when driving at'such'atreinen-; '■, dons speed, that conditions should be , absolutely perfect, if the best performance from the car. was to be obtained. "I should like to explain why perfect conditions are so necessary,' and how the wind affects the state-of the beach from day to day, "he said. "First of all, it will be obvious to e Very one that* the surface of the track must be dead smooth, hard, and perfectly dry. Unevenness of any -kind will tend to make the car leave the ground, and it may jump as much as 40ft or 50ft before touching the ground again. If ..the beach is covered with ripples! left by the outgoing tide, this will set up wheel spin, because the back tyres will not be able to obtain proper adhesion. If the sand is wet, this, also, may set up wheel spin, not to mention the absorption of much power, since the tractive effort required-to .overcome the extra resistance as compared with a dry surface is much greater. Effect of Wind. "Wind is another very serious, factor,'*' Sir ; Malcolm Catopbell continued, "for if it is blowing obliquely or at right angles it may force the car right off its course when travelling at really high speed, the danger obviously increasing with the velocity of the wind. If, however, wind happens to be blowing straight down the course, and the car is travelling with it, the driver will gain in speed not more than one third of the wind's velocity—but when he turns and heads into the wind he will lose about three-quarters of the speed of-the wind. In other words, if the wind,is blowing at 40 m.p.h. the car will probably have an increase in speed over its maximum of about 13 m.p.h, , when travel- 1 ling with it, but will lose a good 30 j m.p.h. when going in the opposite direction. . It will be seen, therefore, that wind of any description is most undesirable, and that a perfectly still day is necessary to enable the best performance to be obtained from the car. "A clear day with good visibility is, of course," the best, but not absolutely necessary. I have found that in nine days out of ten there is a thick haze hanging over the beach at Daytona : which often limits one's x visibility to 1000 yds, and sometimes to much less than that, and when one is travelling at the rate of over 130 yds per second this does, sometimes, present* certain difficulties. Forward Vision. "Last year, I so well remember, my forward vision was restricted to approximately 250yds—in other-words, I could only see about 2sec ahead of the car. This, I admit, was decidedly unpleasant; and it required a certain amount of determination to carry on under such conditions. The course at Daytona, however, is marked out by flags over its entire length, and ofie 1 drives entirely by these. J usually ateer

the car about eigM 'J ax ssHߣfr'i "Bad atmosphere co my mind, far more Mrio, *|fflHH| >r, putting it another waxHHK|! if the engine may, be ™3nHHB test results from ft'«r *f|HHH| hould be co<}l teen asked-vwhy >ven, and what are the - I ffiHHffi|' nake it safe for hi S l >-^HK "The beach at lifferent v £rom. any: °^flH| •onditaoM only about o *fjH||^H| about the foil moon 'period, ?s*ll|H|^H|| Lid this d wavesls the tide e^l|9HH which »aV ai *^£i33SHi^H Sir Malcolm "If it is not one thing SCHEME MooT^'^^^M dismantled j^j^^bMßll ffit and longer irSff «j^HH ru^i&^^^^^Bsi