THE PERFECT TRACK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20520, 22 March 1930, Page 12 (Supplement)

THE PERFECT TRACK.

DAYTONA, MOTORISTS' MECCA i

Kave Don stated at the beginning of this week that, owing to the poor condition of the Daytona Beach, he did. not think any serious attempt could be made for a little while on the flying mile. This well-known beach has had more thaji its share of racing cars tearing hp and down its broad expanse, since it provides an ideal straight track approximately., 12 miles long and at low tide some 500 feet wide. •, • ... ! The first record thero fell in'l9os to Arthur Mac Donald, the famous British driver, who went to Daytona with a Napier and easily lowered the preceding .record, covering the mile in 34.4 sees. Immediately after, however, a .Boston driver, H. L. Bowden, took the record from Mac-J Donald with a Mercedes, his. time '• being 32.8 sees. This was again lowered in 1906 when Frank Marriott, with a Stan- | ley Steamer, averaged .126.76 m.p.h. It was not- until four years later that Marriott lost his record to Barney Oldfield, who piloted a Benz over the mile in 27.33 ,secS., only to have the record taken from him 111 the following year with the same car driven by Bob Burman, who reduced the figure to 25.4 sees., which is equivalent to 131.38 m.p.h. It is also interesting to record that in 1914 L'. G. Hornsted drove a car of the same type an equal distance at Brodklands and covered the mile in 29.01 sees. And so Burman's record held good for five years, for it was not until 1919 that Ralph de Palm a, with a, Packard, clocked 24.02 sees, and made all straight ( records from one to 40 miles. In 1920, however,Tommy Milton, on a Duesenberg, still further lowered the time to 23.07 sees. After that date the Americans were entirely eclipsed, while there followed a series of British successes by K. Lee Guinness (Sunbeam), the late J. G. Parry Thomas (Leyland-Thomas), E. A. D. Eldridge (Fiat) and Captain Malcolm Campbell (Sunbeam), the fastest of Which was that of Captain Malcolm Campbell, who covered a mile in 20.63 sees., or close on three miles a minute.

By this time, however, English competitors for the title had realised that there was only one place, namely, Davtona Beach, on which to achieve speeds of over three miles a minute. Sir Henry Segrave was the first to go to Daytona to attempt to raise the record to 200 m.p.h. On his first venture, driving a 1000 h.p. twin-engined Sunbeam, he attained a mean speed of 203.78 m.p.h. This was in 1927 and in the following year Captain Malcolm Campbell crossed the Atlantic with his -Napier-Campbell " Blue Bird" and bettered Segravc's figures by nearly 3 m.p.h., his average speed being 206.95 m.p.h. Two months later, however, the late Ray Keech got back the record for the United States by driving J. M. White's Triplex a milo in 17.34 sees., or 207.55 m.p.h. America, however, only held tho record for one year, for Sir Henry Segrave made a return visit, this time with the IrvingNapier Special, better known as the " Golden Arrow." He placed tho mark at tho hitherto undreamed-of speed of 231-36 m.p.h., or 15.5 sees, for the mile, a figure which Ivaye Don will attempt to beat. Although the foregoing details deal only with the mile record, scores of other sprint, middle and long-distance records have been obtained on the famous beach, and European manufacturers and drivers held by far the greater number. .It was a French driver, Victor Demogoet, who, driving a Darracq in 1906," \vas the first man to cover two miles in less than 1 min., his time being 58 4-5 secs. ; THE BURNING QUESTION. Recently in England a garage hand was charging the accumulator of a car from a charging board. While the charging was in progress it was decided to supplement the five gallons of petrol in the tank at the rear of the same car from a petrol tank installed in tho garage. There was no naked light in the garage, but immediately tho metal nozzle of tho tank connecting the pipe came into contact with the petrol tank of the ,car the rear light was illuminated and tho petrol tank of the car burst into flames. Fortunately, the garage tank was still locked, and the fire was quickly extinguished. Tho questions are: (1) How and why did the petrol in tho car tank become 'ignited ? (2) Why was the rear light .illuminated ? (3) Why was there no explosion when tho petrol caught fire? A possible solution is given on tho next page. THE ROADHOQ'S RELATION. By such a simple thing as a compositor's error, almost a daily happening in the realm of journalism, the Times has presented posterity with a brand new word. In a sul> leader, not long ago, their writer was discussing tho position held by the Greeks before rapid wheeled transport or " hogging" wero ever thought of, and referred to tho ancient Athenians looking down on a world filled with barbarians. On the proof, by that accidental slip, which sometimes adds a touch of genius to the commonplace, the last word read "carbarians.'V "It seemed a shame," the writer in the Times explained, "to alter the accidental slip. But tho gift was only delayed. We offer it now—carbarian—as the perfect nam§ for those who drive to the public danger, those who lack the manners of the road and defy the tradition of the road, the young carbarians, all at play in their motor coaches, the innumerable divisions of the class inadequately named roadhog. Such a misprint is hard to parallel, for few of these mistakes are % creative. Thus appears the new word with which Printinn' House Square enriches the language.