THE MOTOR SECTION

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 77, 1 April 1931, Page 21

THE MOTOR SECTION

SPEEDWAY SEASON ENDS

GRASS TRACK RACING

The racing and standard of performance at the final meeting of'the local speedway season proyided a fitting climax to tho season's activities, and an ideal night made the occasion even more enjoyable for, the spectators. The sport has gone ahead by leaps and bounds in spite, of the fact that there has been a good deal of unseasonable weather. A high standard has been set, and this will have to be maintained if speedway racing is to keep its strong following. For various reasons the attendances showed a falling off this season, but if tho authorities set out to provide really good faro next season and meet the .wishes of the public' in other directions there is no reason why tho sport should not attract much greater attention when next season comes along. The fact that a number of New Zealand competitors will bo shifting the cinders in England and elsewhere this year should give added interest to next season fs operations, but it would be well for the authorities in New Zealand to consider the advisability of sending a representative abroad to secure tho services of noted overseas riders and at the same time study ways and means of making tho meetings even more attractive in New Zealand. At Takapuna. There, was a big. entry of riders, for ovents on the grass'track at the Takapuna liacecourse last Saturday. Competition was keen,, and,: although the fields were large, there were no crashes. A:-Lemon won ;the big event of the day at approximately 73 miles an hour. Lemon-was not once challenged throughout, and by; means of clever cornering with the throttle wide, had a good win.-It was extremely unfortunate that tho frame. of. his machine broke in a later event, preventing him from taking part in the last,two races. ' The ex-lnavyweight champion, Percy Coleman, who had entered a smaller machine than usual, provided a welcome surprise by bringing his famous machine on to the track. In his first race ho did not appear to be fully extended, and his performance lacked his iisiial. dash, but in the next event he rode with all the skill that has enabled 'lain'to break record after record during the past ten years. . Tho fastest time of tho day was made by E. Ranby. Starting from scratch in the last event, he just beat the limit men across the line, finishing' in 4min. 4sec for ;the. five miles, which is equal to about ,75 miles an hour.' C. Goodwin was also prominent -with his four-year-old machine, which careful tuning has made one of the fastest iii the Dominion. Gondivin won tho Auckland championship" for 360 c.c. machines from W. White, and also beat A. Cuthbertson in the Auckland handicap. In addition, Goodwin^ on' the same motor, finislied second1 in tie 500 c.c. championship, a very creditable performance. Alarge number of cinder-track riders, using thoir special D.T. machines, suitably geared and tuned fo the occasion, appeared on the grass on Saturday. C. Morgan, well known as a promising B grade man on the. cinders, won the first fevent" in good style and

was also placed in a later race. M. Aickcn was just beaten for a firs); by P. Coloman, while C. Goldberg had a good win. At Auckland. A report from Auckland states that tho broadsiding at the Western Springs Speedway on Saturday evening was of a particularly high order, and it was unfortunate that there were so few spectators to witness a series of exciting finishes. Practically every race was keenly fought from start to finish, and as the riders were very evenly matched it happened quito frequently that there was less than 10 yards separating the winner from the last man across the line. There was an unusually large number of crashes, but in no instance was a rider seriously injured. Some of the novices threw discretion to tho winds, and rode fast machines at full speed for a lap or two, but in each case the pace was too great to last, and tho riders went sprawling across the track after tho skidding mounts. ■ One or two men who crashed wore noticed to-be limping when they had been helped from the track, but they were all able to take part in later events, and, in some cases, repeated the performance several times during the evening. In spito of tho absence of A. Mattson, B. Bray, W. Allen, and J. Garmson, who have left for England, tho, local men made a good showing against the four Australians, H. Stevens, ~C Anderson, C. Mitchell, and N. Mitchell.'. W. Herbert won the final of tho Big Twelve against Anderson, who was also beaten by A. Way in one of tho heats. W. Coyle rode well to win another heat, while D. Mattson, on a Budge, proved himself well ablo to handle a fastermachine. Novelty Events. In.view of the fact that the Wellington speedway authorities were forced this season to cancel a noveltyevent, in which draught horses wereto be employed, the following information regarding" a meeting at tho Christchurch speedway on Saturday night is of interest: "Fun and frolic marked the end of the broadsiding season at-Mon-ica Park'.orr Saturday night. A medley of sport's/ events went to mako lip the programme which concluded in a mad-whirl of sky-rockets. The carnival night was a fitting end to.the series of. successful broadsiding meetings that have been held at the park. Every conceivable avenue was explored by 'the promoters to find 'a type of race that could be included in the programme. There were trotting events, light-car races, a high-bicycle championship, field events and a draught horse Derby. 'It; was indeed a variety show' at its .best." On a Skating Rinlc! ■'. A dirt, track rider has invented a wheel1 to perniit' a, machine to ""broadside "round corners ,on'the dirt track. Ordinary broadsiding demands' a circuit at least: 250 yards in diameter and a surface of loose cinders. With this new back wheel it is possible to broadside in a small, dry, hard-surfaced square." The inventor, Le3 Blakebrough, a member of the _ Stnmford Bridge team, says that it will be possible to hold speedway races on any skating rink or to give spectacular demonstrations on the variety stage. In place of the back tiro 32 hard rubber balls, each about the size of a tennis ball, are loosely mounted on spindles* set at an jangle of 45 degrees to the wheel hub spindle, between two steel flanges bolted to the ordinary wheel rim. , When the engine is pulling at a moderate pace i tho machine travels in. a straight line; whei. tho engine speed is increased the machine heels over to the left; and slides in an anti-clockwise direction. Shutting the throttle causcß it to slide in the opposite direction. On tracks up to 50 yards diameter these wheels can be used on the back axle of a,fast, small car.