DESERT MOTOR TRACK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20098, 8 November 1928, Page 12

DESERT MOTOR TRACK.

SAHARA THOUGHT SUITABLE. QUEST BY CAPTAIN CAMPBELL. LONDON. Nov. 1. Desolate sandy wastes in the heart of the Sahara may provide the background for the next attempt on tho motor speed record for a straight mile Captain Malcolm Campbell says the joung Irish traveller. Mr. Leonard Scott, nuc-nt the few white men who ever trekked across the desert from Oran to the Niger, lias located an ideal area.

It is vital to have a hard, perfectly flat surface in order to attain 220 miles an hour. It would be impossible to attempt such a speed on the best beaches, for the slightest ripple in the sand might be disastrous.

According to Mr. Scott it 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-fable surface. He /-xpects to reach the scene un November 10, flying from Croydon, via Paris and Bordeaux. When he reaches Oran, he will travel 1000 miles inland, and will spend two days surveying the site. If he is satisfied he will fly back to England to arrange for the transport of the "Bluebird" racer, which, with tho mechanics, will travel across the deserl by means of camels and motor-lorries. French official observers to take the times will also 'be engaged. Tho chief difficulty at present is lo arrange for supplies of petrol and water. Captain Campbell holds the view that ii the surface is as Mr. Scott describes it he ought to attain a speed of anything up to miles an hour.