FIVE MILES A MINUTE

Evening Star, Issue 21622, 18 January 1934, Page 7

FIVE MILES A MINUTE

AMBITION OF BRITAIN’S KING OF SPEED Sir Malcolm Campbell, who holds the world’s land speed record of 272.108 miles an lipur, hopes to improve on this. His present idea is to make the attempt next August in America. At the Authors’ Club, London, recently, he said that his great ambition was to achieve a speed of five miles a. minute, or 300 miles an hour; To do this he must reduce his present time for the mile by I.23sec, says an English paper. He recalled that oh the occasion when he set up his record at Daytona the beach was in so bad a condition that he had serious wheel spin. According to his engine revolutions he ought to have been going at 325 miles an hour, and was bitterly disappointed when He learned that his speed;.had worked out’ at 272 miles. At one time tyres were the great difficulty, but on this score he remarked he had now no fears. Tyres have been tested to stand well ovCr 300 miles an hour. : , Sir Malcolm-attempted to. give some idea of what the-feelings of the driver are when attempting to” break one of these records. ■ “ It is like being catapulted through the air like a projectile.” Then after a moment’s reflection he added; cause, ‘you know, we are beginning to shift these days. “There is .not’ much time for the visualisation of. your feelings—you are so engrossed on your engine revolutions, on keeping the car straight, and on heaps of other matters. Thousands of tilings are crammed into a brief space of time, so that it is only after a period that you realise your sensations. •“ On the last occasion it felt dangerous, because the car would not go straight, owing to the nature of the beach. “ There is.no vibration, but a tremendous feeling of power. The utmost concentration is required; otherwise you would be off the . course. AT Daytona the course is 60ft wide. .You take tlie centre, with 30ft on’ either side. If you lost control for one-fifth of a second you would be off the course. “ Some people think that the driver is doped or half-tight. Personally, I never touch anything cither before or after an attempt. I haye j also heard it said that the steering is locked. If it were you would not get far. “ For months before .the attempt one’s last thoughts on turning out the light at nights are abouj the ear. One’s first thoughts in the morning are about the car. Fortunately I never dream about it. For two months before one’s subconscious mind is on it. “ Imagine the feelings the night before the attempt, If you let yourself dwell on it you would never get there/ You just push it right from your mind. As you get into your car you realise, that the work of months rests on the next minute or two.” , Sir Malcolm spoke of motor ra'cing as a “ hobby very dear to me.” His first license goes back to 1903, and as he was not then old enough or rich enough to own new cars he had those of the 1899 and 1900 vintage. .His first competition was in 1906. . : • He recalled in succession his various' attempts on the land speed record from his first effort in a car with an engine of 350 horse-power right down to his last successful attempt in his Blue Bird with its engine developing 2,650 horsepower. ; He related his experiences in trying to find a" suitable spot for racing in an African desert. He heard of one which was reported to bp quite close to civilisation, flat as a billiard table, and with natives available at a nearby farm. “ We had at one time 600 fellows working to-clear the site.” be said. “ The nearest farm was sixty-five miles away.” When the course was nearly finished ♦he aeroplane in which ho was travelling one day hit the only tree there was for miles, and as a result his nose was badlv cut.- While he was lying ill in Cape Town he received news that all the work on the course that had taken so long had been undone in a night. The ironv was that in that particular region there had been no rain for twenty years, just as the course was nearly finished there were torrential downpours which, destroyed the course.