TWO MILES A MINUTE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 259, 25 July 1908, Page 10

TWO MILES A MINUTE.

WONDERFUL SPEED IN A MOTOR CAR RAGE. AN EXCITING CONTEST. Brooklands inotor-racing track was, on Juno 8, the sccno of a great struggle between two cars for £500, in which tho tremsndous speed of 120 miles per. hour was attained over a distanco of 2J miles by tho victor, Nazarro, in a Fiat. . The race camo about •. through Mr. S. P. Edge's challenge to race' with a 90-h.p. Napior car for £500.' accoj)tc_d by Mr. D'Arcy Baker with a 90-h.p. Fiat. The meeting was cortainly-tho most .successful that tho Brooklands Automobile Racing Club has yet held. . The enclosures wero crowded with cars, and at least 15,000 spectators wero present,' giving tho) track a gay and prosperous appearance. It was obvious that the public had been drawn by tho gjreat international match between tho Napier and the: Fiat, driven by the two greatest drivers of tho day in their own particular' line—Nazarro of tho road, and Newton of the track. The. two-giant cars wero a complete contrast—the .Napier long, low, and slim, and tho Fiat big, powerful, and assertive, tho former green and the latter vermilion. .

Newton was on Samson and Nazarro on Mephistopheles. -Everybody collected to-cheer- the big racers out of the paddock and on tho'parade, and the coolest people in the, crowd were tho two drivers, who were literally taking their lives in their hands, both smiling ana determined. The cars were- started at the end of tho finishing straight in full, view of the spectators, and Samson jumped off very, fast, and soon established a lead of , a hundred yards, which Newton ■ increased, to'a quarter of a mile-on the far banking. : But Mephistopheles was hot on his .heels, and began to pick up fast a lap later, and m tho,third lap was obviously gaining. In the fourth, to everybody's disappointment, Samson suddenly stopped, leaving Nazarro in sole, command of the track. However, it took him two or three laps to realise that he had won, and tho great red car tore round and round to victory. .. . As soon as Nazarro realised his achievement, however, ho slowed down considerably. His not time was returned at 94$ m.p.h. for the wholo distance, but his time- for tho third lap is unparalleled at. Brooldaiids oi elsowhere, being 120 miles per hour for. two and, three-quarter miles, or two miles' per minute, these figures being officially, certified by the Brooklands Racing Club and -tlio secretary of the Royal Automobile Club'.". ' General regret was expressed . that" the great raco could not. have seen a. close finish; but the victory was undoubtedly a popular one, owing to' tho great impression made by. .Mephistopheles. ■ , In Samson a hot bearing seized and drove tho connecting-rod right through the crankchamber, making it impossible for it ,to go on. The Mephistopheles' tyres, cooled by a new patent, wore wonderfully. -■ ;