SPEED CAR'S TRIAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21116, 25 February 1932, Page 12

SPEED CAR'S TRIAL.

TEST RUN ON BEACH. EARLY ATTACK EXPECTED. SURFACE CONDITIONS HOPEFUL. [BY TELEGRAPH.—SPECIAL TIE PORTER. ] K AIT AIA, We d n esrl ay. A trial run in the Fred ft. .Stewart Enterprise was made by Mr. Norman Smith at low tide this afteynoon. The car functioned perfectly in every respect. The bench was again fairly patchy, although it had greatly improved from the condition it was in at low tide yesterday. One or two bumps on the 16-mile course and a very wet patch" near the two-mile peg made it impossible for Mr. Smith to use the course proper. Ho raced from the one-mile peg to a point about miles south of the garage. The run was not made with any intention'of testing the speed capabilities of the car, but principally to see how the smaller radiator and windscreen wiper would behave. The Napier engine of the racer was started before the car left the garage and was stopped after being run for a short while to enable Mr. L. Nudl, the ignition expert, to make certain that everything was perfect. On the beach the car quickly gathered speed. Engine Given Small Throttle. As the road tyres and wheels were in use, Mr. Smith was unable to give the engine anything but the slightest throttleopening, although he estimates that the fastest speed he reached was about 125 miles an hour, the speed ho attained in the first trial of the car in January. The spectators could hear the engine coughing at times when Mr. Smith closed tho throttle altogether, but in one short burst there was no mistaking the perfection of tune which tho engine has retained. At the conclusion of the run Mr. Smith expressed himself as entirely satisfied with the new radiator. When the Enterprise came to. rest the calorimeter indicated a normal water temperature, tho water in the system being just nicely warm. A wet patch on the course, which resuited in the windscreen becoming smeared with sand and spray when the car passed over it, gave Mr. Smith an opportunity to test the screen-wiper. The instrument, worked well, clearing the screen quickly in spite of the speed of the car. Mr. Smith stated that the car appeared to him to be running better than ever and he hoped to be ablo to attack the world's 10-kilometre and five-mile record simultaneously to-morrow afternoon. State of the Beach. The wind was westerly this afternoon and it is possible that if the present breeze holds over-night and at high tide to-morrow the beach will probably be in a fit condition for racing at low tide in the afternoon. The sand bars have been reduced in size to-day, and hopes are high for an attack to-niorrow. While Mr. Smith was driving his car near llip southern end of the beach, Mr. Kelvin Cuff and his staff were busy tryI ing out the timing apparatus over disi tances of 10 kilometres and five miles on j the course itself. A motor-cycle was j substituted for the Stewart Enterprise, I thp rider taking the machine through each track-switch. The new switch proved all that could be desired, and as a result of the test the. officials are confident that they have the apparatus in perfect working order. Although Mr. Smith cannot make a de- | cision whether or not lie. will race tomorrow until he sees the beach at low | tide, lie has made all the necessary arrangements to have tho flagmen and j other residents who give assistance present at the beach to-morrow afternoon.