MOTOR RACES AT NICE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XL, Issue 12272, 16 May 1903, Page 5 (Supplement)

MOTOR RACES AT NICE.

WHOLESALE RECORD -BREAKING. Nice, April 7.—Half-past four, the hour officially fixed for the mile and kilometre rages this morning, had not yet struck and the dawn was yet grey when enthusiasts, including a dozen ladies, began to gather on the Jetee Promenade. Before sunrise the crowd had swelled inside and outside the barriers, guarded by a redundancy of police and military, and heavy-eyed youths in evening dress, claiming sympathy for being torn from the baccarat tables, patronised the gathering. A chill wind blew across the track, but was too light to affect the pace. Photographers swarmed, the stewards argued with the police vehemently and interminably, and much time was wasted; in fact, it was past five o'clock before a start was made. The whole course was visible as the san rose with a clear sky over Mont Boron, wanning the air with welcome heat. The sea was calm and of the loveliest blue.

It was ten hours after the close of the racing ere the results were obtainable from the official headquarters, when it was found that no fewer than eight competitors had beaten the record in the standing mile, namely, lm. 9.?., standing to the credit of M. Augieres on a Mors. The record for Nice was the lm. 9 3-ss. of M. Degrais on a 40-h.p. Mercedes. Curiously enough M. Leon Serpollet was only able to eclipse his own record of 29 4-ss. for the flying kilometre ii« the Coupe de Rothschild competition by a minute fraction. A new system of timing was adopted, and was extraordinarily accurate, the results being chronicled to the hundredth part of a second. The following are the results: — STANDING MILE. Min. 'Sec. I. A. Harmsworth (60-h.p. Mercedes) 1 3 72-100* 2. Werner (60-h.p. Mercedes) ... 1 4 3-100* 3. Risral (60-U.p. Mors) 1 5 32-100* 4. Le Blon (20-h.p. Serpollet) ... 1 6 26-100* 5. Pegrais (60-h.p. Mercedes) ... 1 7 26-100* 6. Augieres (60-h.p. Mors) ... ■ ... 1 '7 95-100* 7. Baraa (45-li.p. Darraccj) 1 8 2-100* 8. Gabriel (60-h.p. Mors) 1 8 56-100* 9. Hieronymus (60-h.p. Mors) ... 1 9 62-100 10. Marquis tic la Ferte-Meun (40-h.p. Mors) 1 9 79-100 11. Gentil (4-h.p. Griffon motorcycle) 1 16 95-100 12. Demester (do., do.) 1 36 4.1-100 * Broke record. The mile records iu other branches of land locomotion are as follows: — Bicycling lm. 20 4-53. Pacini; lm. 59Js. Trotting 2m. 2is. Skating 2m. 41}s. Running " 4m. 12j's. Walking ." 6m. 235.