ELIMINATING RACES

Evening Post, Issue 113, 10 November 1930, Page 14

ELIMINATING RACES

SOME PROMISING FORM

The cinders at. the Kilbirnie Stadium were given a preliminary stirring on Saturday afternoon when about thirty B grade riders, many of whom are new lo competition on the track, were given a try-out in view of the opening of the season tins week. Despite the rain which threatened before the meeting,, and fell frequently whiJe the races were in progress, there was au exceptionally good attendance of the public. The meeting was arranged more with the idea of sorting out the riders for future engagements than of providing entertainment, but, nevertheless, the spectators appeared to derive considerable enjoyment from the various events, which were run through smoothly and with few mishaps. As was to be expected the times registered in many of the races did not compare very favourably with the general standard of last season, but in the semifinals some really good performances were seen, with several keenly-contested finishes. The only event for A grade riders was a match race in which W. Harvie, C. Tonks, T. Wilkinson, and E. Nay lor competed. Tonks and Wilkinson won their heats with little difficulty, and in the final Wilkinson rode a splendid race to beat Tonks by a big margin and register a time which was better than anything he has previously done on the track. DETAILED RESULTS. B Grade Speed Tests; £15; four laps. First heat: A. Pratt, 1; A. W. Hunger, 2. Alscr started: S. Townshend, G. Shivnan. The times were not taken, as through a misunderstanding the riders were allowed to go rive laps. Second heat: C. Usher, 1; H. Lucchessi, 2; L. Kinaldi, 3. Won by half a length. Times, 107 3-sseo, 107 4-Ssec. Third heat: B. P. Appleyard, 1; 0. E. Trilford. 2; C. R. Tilley. 3. Also started: J. K. Watt. Won-by 20 yards. Times, 109 sec, HOsec. Fourth heat: R. D. Duff, 1; H. Santi, 2. Also started: E. Berwick, F. R. Jones. Berwick crashed immediately after the start, and Jones in the third lap. Won by a quarter of a lap. Times, 105 2-ssec, 111 ° Fifth heat: H. R. Anderson, 3; R. Hooper, 2; D. H. Philip, 3. Also started: W. Smith. Won by 15 yards. Times, 101 2-ssec, lOGsec. Sixth heat: D. Higgins, 1; A. Wailing, 2. Also started: A. G. Rait, C. S. Shivnau. Won easily. Times, 101 2-ssec, 117 2-sseu. Seventh heat: D.. Roberts, 1; T. J. Firth, 2; G. Lowndes, 3; J. Leslie, i. Also started: R. J. Cooper. Won by a wheel. Times, 99 2-ssee, 99 3-ssec. Eighth heat: D. Higgins, 1; A. Walling, 2 -Use. started: A. G. Rait, G. Shivnan. Won easily. Times, 101 2-ssec, 117 3-ssoc . First Semi-final: Pratt, 1; Hunger, •>; Higgins, 3. Also started: Walling, who crashed in the third lap. The racing was keen, Pratt finishing well to win by about 15 yards. Times, 96 l-sßec, 98sec, Higgius 99sec Second Semi-final: Lucchessi aml.Applnyard, dead heat, 1; Usher, 3. Also started: Trilford. This race was also splendidly contested, the winners finishing only a few yards ahead of Usher. Tiroes, 103 see, 104 sec. Third Semi-final: Santi, 1; Hooper, 2; Duff, 3. Anderson also started, but crashed just after entering on the final lap. Santi rode with promising skill to win by nearly a hundred yards. Times, 101 2-sscc, lOSsec, lOSsec. Fourth Semi-final: Rait., 1; Firth, 2. .Also started: M'Kennan, Roberts. Firth, who was riding W. Kilmister's favourite machine, led until the last lap, when Rait, who was swinging wide out on the bends, took the lead and went on to wiu by about 15 yards. The other two did not finish. Tfmes, 04see, 05 l-ssec. First Demi-semi-final: Pratt, 1; Hunger, 2; Lucchessi, 8; Appleyard, 4. This was one of the best races of the day, Pratt taking the lead at the end of the third quarfer. Won by about five yards. Times, 95 4-ssec, 96 2-ssec, .08 l-ssec. Second Demi-semi-final: .Firth, 1; Rait, 2; Santi, 3; Hooper, i. The improved form which marked the concluding events on the programme was again evident in this race, which Firth won by about 10 yards, with two lengths between second and third. Times, 95 2-ssec, 96 2-ssec, 90 4-ssec. Final: T. J. Firth (Douglas) 1 A. W. Hunger (Norton) 2 A. Pratt (Wallis-Norton) 3 Also started: A. G. Rait (Rudge). All the finalists were away without loss of time, Fi- th taking the dead from Pratt and Rait. At the end o£ the first lap Rait had overhauled Pratt, who later dropped back to last place. In the meantime Hunger had come within striking distance of Firth, and his final challenge failed by about 10 yards to rob Firth of the lead. About fifteen yards separated Hunger aud Pratt. Times, 92sec, 93sec, 91 2-ssec. Special Invitation Race; £11; four lapfc; from a rolling start. First heat: C. Touks, 1; W. Harvie, 2. The pair were away to a perfect start, Tonks taking the lead going down the western straight for the first time. He improved his advantage over each quarter, and won by about 20 yards. Times, S5 3-5 sec, 87 S-Ssec. Winner's lap times, 21sec, 22sc3t:, 21 S-Ssee, 21 sec. Second heat: T. Wilkiuson, 1; E. Naylor, 2. ■ The riders again got away together at the first attempt, AVilkinson taking the lead lialf-way round the first lap. He continued to gain on his opponent until he had a lead of about 100 yards on his opponent at the finish. Times, 84 1-osec, S7 3-ssec. Winner's Jap times, 20 3-ssec, 20 4-oscc, 21s.ee, 21 4-ssec. Final. T. Wilkinson (Harley) 1 C. Tonks (Rudge) 2 Wilkinson immediately took the lead, aud Tonks was plentifully sprayed with cinders when rounding the southern bend for the first time. Wilkinson was in groat form and finished nearly a quarter of a I«p in front in time which was 2-nsec better than his fastest ride last year. Times, 81 1-5 see, S3 2-ssec. Winner's lap times, 19 2-5 sec, 20 2-ssec, 20 l-ssec, 21 l-ssec.