CRASH AT 96 M.P.H.

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12355, 27 January 1926, Page 8

CRASH AT 96 M.P.H.

RACING CAR SOMERSAULTS SPECTATORS HORRIFIED AS MEN FLY THROUGH AIR BOTH ESCAPE ALIVE Another sensational accident occurred at Maroubra Speedway, Sydney, but fortunately nobody was killed. Luck almost incredible stayed with Allan E. Cooper, and his mechanic, William McCormack, when they crashed against the fence in a Ballot car while travelling at- 96 miles an hour and escaped—Cooper witli a torn shirt, and McCormack with two fractured legs. Following on the fatality when Mr Leo J. Salmon and Mr Albert Vaughan were killed on the Speedway, while having a trial run, the accident came with a suddenness that startled thousands of horrified spectators to silence for five memorable seconds, and then tliTew them into a burst or hysterical cheering when Cooper emerged from a tangled mass of debris unhurt. It was the most sensational moment in the short history of the Speedway. The accident occurred in the final cf the Five Mile Motor-car Handicap, for cars 2000 c.c. and over, and capable of doing at least 80 miles an hour. At the end of the fifth lap, with one more lap to go, H. R. Clarke, driving a 30/98 Wenson Vauxhall, was leading, not far from the winning post, with Harold Cooper, in a Ballot, half a length behind him on the side near the fence. The speed—the cars were doing 96 miles an hour—had forced them well above the red line, and fairly close to the safety fence, "which separates the public from the track by about four yards. Allan Cooper in his 38 h.p. 8-cylln-der Ballot, had attempted several times at the hack of the track to get past his brother and Clarke, but there was not room. Then he made another effort. With his machine flat out, he tried to get between his brother’s car and the safety fence. With terrific force one of his wheels hTfc the fence, and the dumbfounded spectators saw the big car —weighing 100 cwt—hurtle against the wire netting, shoot 20 yards in the air, as if thrown by a giant in play, turn several somersaults, and fall smashed and battered on the track. Simultaneously there was a fleeting picture of two forms being propelled from the car and landing m the soft sand that fills the space between the two fences. A difference of opinion exists as to the cause of the accident—whether Allan Cooper was justified in attempting to get through the space on the outer track, or whether his brother swerved 'outward at the critical fraction of a second. The Ballot itself was an , absolute wreck. Said” to have cooo well*' over £2OOO, it lay on the track minus one wheel and the differential, another wheel almost off, the remaining two twisted, the radiator battered, and the rest of it more or less damaged. Allan Cooper considers that only the motor will he of any further use. Cooper was more concerned about the damage, to his car than about his personal injuries; and, puffing a cigarette half an hour after the smash, and gazing ruefully at his almost unrecognisable machine, he told what he knew of the accident. “I thought I had room to get through,” he mid, “but by the look of things I hadn’t! Coming into the straight I made a dash to get through, but the hub "of my hack wheel got caught in the fence, and the tail of the car swinging round sent me into the fence. I really thought there was room for me to pass, otherwise I woulin’t have attempted it. “I don’t remember much more, only that my feet almost were wrenched off by catching in the steering wheel as I shot up into the air. I had no shoes on when I landed—not that I took that much notice of what I wore —bat I remember my feet being prickled as I walked across the Speedwav after. “Stop racing?” Allan Cooper replied to a question. “Not me. You’ll see me here at the next meeting.” Mr Boy 1 Edkins, a member of the Olympia Speedway committee, and a Well-known racing driver, who was a few yards away when .Cooper smashed. was amazed at the miraculous escape from death of the two men. Is was his opinion that Allan Cooper had little chance of passing his brother safely on the outer edge of the track. “I certainly wouldn’t have attempted it,” he added. "Goodness only knows what would have happened if the crash-proof fence had not been there.” The manager (Mr Hunting) said the accident had proved the wisdom of introducing the-safety fence. There were hoarse cries from the crowd, and for a time confusion reigned. Spectators rushed the. ground, and.J. R; McKellar, the fourth competitor, who was some distance back fourth, had difficulty in steering his way through the tangled mass of debris and the excited, moving pedestrians. Then it was that Allan Cooper emerged. He had been thrown on the back of his neck in the sand. He got up, and, supported by the manager of the Speedway (Mr Hunting) and a constable, walked across the track crying halfnhysterically, “Leave me alone—let m© walk.” Cooper’s shirt was all torn. His fnco was half covered with sand. And he had no shoes on. Strangely enough, when he whizzed through the air both his feet touched the steering wheel—-just touched —and in a twinkling his shoes were ripped off. McCormack’s plight was worse. He lay on the sand while he Was examined by Dr Henry Lav and bandaged by men from the Eastern Suburbs Ambulance, who afterwards conveyed him to the Coast Hospital. He was admitted with both thighs fractured. When Cooper appeared on the track and the crowd saw that he was not seriously injured, it gave vent to its feelings in wild cheering. Several women in the crowd fainted, while others could not bear to look on the scene. Undoubtedly the safety fence prevented an appalling tragedv. Had people been standing against the fence close to the track several would certainly have been killed. The safety fence was torn and Tinned for 50 yards. When the accident, happened one of the wheels of the Ballot came down the track for 30 yards. A fragment of it was smivenired hv a hoy, who was promptly chased by a mail in the crowd.