WONDERFUL SPEED.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 276, 14 August 1908, Page 8

WONDERFUL SPEED.

; 121.64 MILES PER HOUR. AT BROOKLANDS. . An official' statement issued by tho Brooklands Aut-omobilo Racing Club definitely fixes Nazzaro's best lap speed during the great 90 h.p. , match, on Whit-Monday as 121.64 miles per hour, which exceeds the two ■miles per minute pace previously attributed to him.

After having dealt thoroughly- with every imaginable cause of error,, tho B.A.R.C. Committee has definitely established that Nazzaro in covering his fastest lap maintained a speed of 2 miles 48yd. per minute. These-figures can bo better- appreciated by .comparison with the flying kilometre world's record as it. was boforo Whit-Monday. It equalled previously a speed of 121.58 miles ,per- hour,- and stood to t-lie credit -of tho Stanley steam car since January, .1906. Nazzaro ■ beat this during the 90 h.p.'match,: handicapped though lie was by a moro difficult course than the straightaway run of tho Ormond-Daytona beach, where' tho previous record was made. Had tho Fiat been timed over tho fastest portion of the Brooklands track, tho new record would liavo beon even more remark-', able, for as it is at present it is tho mean speed measured over 2 miles 1347 yd., which is equal; to. nearly 4£ kilometres. Nazzaro's record is thus tho more meritorious—that jt -.WAS,,sustainedrispeed. '- , There is-only ono instanco of faster travelling ovor having been accomplished by a motor car, and that is tho performance of tho Stanley steamer leported to have done a milo from a flying start at the rate of 127J miles per hour in January, 1906. But the so-called records created at Ormond have never been recognised by tho Royal A.C. or in Franco, beeauso tho dis-J tances were not.officially 'measured or certified as correct. Although tho official report of the B.A.R.C. on- this remarkable speed has not yet been completed, we have received the following official figures, which throw a curious, light on the positions of tho two match cars during tho first two laps of their race. The start was mado from the top of-tho finishing straight, but tho-cars wore .not timed until. thoy entered the ■ railway straight, about 490 yards distant. From tho recording tape of ;, the olectrical timing instrument it appears that the Fiat was 19sec. later than, the Napier in crossing tho timing strip for the first time. 7 Everybody plainly saw tho lead, but of thoso who watched the race how, many believed that the Fiat then, commenced to gain on the' Napier, and continued to do so When tho cars crossed the tin-ing strip again after their first lap, the Napier, which was still leading, had avoraged 96.15 miles per hour, but by doing 105.24r,i.p.h. Nazzaro had reduced tho gap, and was only about lOsec. later than Newton in passing over the strip. It was on the second lap that tho Italian combination obtained its triumph. There was a difference of about 7jsec. in the times of tho two cars, .the Napier only having increased its average speed for the lap to 113.01 miles per hour, whilst tho Fiat had worked up to the remarkable pace of 121.64m.p.h. In commencing its third turn round the courso tho Fiat was thus only about three seconds behind. This story from the electrical timing instrument is confirmed by the hand time-keeping, and a report of both will bo issued by the .club as soon as possible, 'in order that there may be no question of a doubt about tho record. When the Napier broko down at tho fork on tho third lap Nazzaro must liavo noticed it immediately, for Newton would naturally pull towards tho inner edge. In any case, Nazzaro's next lap was not so fast, and he gradually slowed to a speed which, though still high, would not imposo tremendous strains on the tyres. Though Nazzaro did wisely, this has, in t"he circumstances, proved disappointing, for tho extreme speed of which the Fiat is capable has probably not beenmeasured. At tho end of the first timed lap it is hardly likely that the car would have been travelling at tho average speed of the second lap, because that would mean that in just over 0110 lap it had succeeded in getting fully into its speed. Therefore, it would still be gathering speed on tho second lap. It is truo that tho distanco it had then run was about three miles,- but it was not over a straightaway, level course. If tho car "had been kept, going at very fastest in tho third lap its previous best of 121.64 miles per hour might have been exceeded. It is curious that stop watches used to timo Nazzaro over ono "complete lap, hut with each timekeeper reckoning from a different point of the course, should have disagreed. This is quite in keeping with variations in speed round different parts of the course, and the matter will bo more clearly.understood when the full official report of tho B.A.R.C. has been issued. —"Motor."

' Every Minister who seeks re-olection should be asked to pledge himself to tho abolition, or tho reduction, of tho sugar tax m tho coming Budget. If ho refuses to give such a pledge, ho should not recoivo tho support of those who believe that what the poor want is relief from taxation, and not tho imposition of new burdens—"Spectator." , Sir Frederick Bridgo returned from his lecturing tour through Canada on Saturday. Ho delivered Iccturcs in sixteen largo towns and interviewed ono hundred organists on behalf of tho Collego of Organists. "They havo a high standard of ability over in Canada," he said in an interview, "and I was surprised to find how very good they aro all round. As regards their singing, tho peoplo in the western part of Canada remind mo of thoso in the Nortli of England. They havo a great deal of 'go/ more, I think, than I found in tho Eastern Provinces. Musically as well as commercially there is a great ..future for, Canada"