DESERT MOTOR TRACK

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 13 November 1928, Page 2

DESERT MOTOR TRACK

SAHARA THOUGHT SUITABLE QUEST BY CAPTAIN CAMPBELL LONDON, Ist November. Desolate sandy wastes in the heart of the Sahara may provide the background for the next attempt, on the motor speed record for a straight mile. Captain Malcolm Campbell says the. young Irish traveller, Mr Leonard Scott, one of the lew white men who ever trekked across the desert from (Iran to the Niger, has located an ideal area.

It is vital to liave :i hard, perfectly flat surface in order to attain 220 miles an hour. It would be impossible to attempt sueli a sliced on thfc-best beaches, for the slightest ripple in Hie sand might be disastrous. According to Mr Scott will be necessary to remove a few pebbles only, in order to get an ideal ten-mile stretch. Captain Campbell intends to employ natives to get a billiard-table surface. lie expects to reach the scene on 10!h November. Mying from Croydon. via Paris and Bordeaux. When lie reaches Oran, he will travel 1000 miles inland, and will spend two days surveying the site. !f he is satisfied he v. ill fly back to Knglaud to arrange fur the transport of the ".Bluebird"' rarer, which, with the mechanics, will travel across the desert by means of camels and motor-lorries. French official observers to take the times will also he engaged. The chief difficulty at present is to arrange for supplies of petrol and water. Captain Campbell holds the view that if the surface is as Mr Scott describes it ho ought to attain a speed of anything up to 230 miles an hour.