MONACO GRAND PRIX

Taranaki Daily News, 4 June 1935, Page 5

MONACO GRAND PRIX

RACE THROUGH STREETS. VICTORY FOR MERCEDES CAR. Earl Howe, the only British competitor in the Monaco Grand Prix—the race round the street corners—had to withdraw after a collision with the palisading just before half-way. Lord Howe was not hurt. The race , was won in record tjme by the Italian, Luigi Fagioli, who drove the German Mercedes car the 193 miles of sand-bagged streets in 3hrs 23min 49 8lOsec, at an average speed of 93,807 kilometres (about 58$ miles) an hour.

Rene Dreyfus (Alfa Romeo) ' finished second in 3hr 24min 21 sec, and Brivio (Alfa Romeo) third in 3hr 24min 56 2lOse'c. r Lord Howe had excellent chances of .finishing among the leaders in his Bugatti when the accident occurredDriving with his customary precision, he had occupied ninth place from the start until just before the fortieth of the hundred laps when, in taking a sharp bend at a high speed, he collided with the palisading, and was forced to retire. The collision occurred at the quayside, where sandbags had been placed at the bend to prevent competitors from running into the sea. FAMOUS, DRIVERS COMPETE. Some of the world’s most famous drivers competed. Rudolph Carraciola. the. German “crack," had to give UP owing to a broken valve after driving his Mercedes round 65 /laps. He had had a thrilling' duel fo'r second place with the Frenchman, Etancelin, who drove a Maserati. Another German "ace,” von Brauchitsch (Mercedes), withdrew after only two minutes. The race on the* whole was not exciting. The chief interest Was the phenomenal acceleration of the Mercedes cars, which, left the others standin»» on the gradients. Fagioli, the winner, took the -lead from the start, and maintained it throughout. He was never seriously threatened. At the finish the German national anthem was played. Monte Carlo had the appeamce of a besieged town. The streets looked like trenches with the great walls of sandbags and battlements of wood and steel towering high above the pavements. Lamp-posts and comers had to be fortified, and even the marble steps of the. Casino were protected. Gambling, however, went on inside of the Casino despite the screeching of the exhausts. /. great RECORD. The victory of the Mercedes car in the Monte Carlo Grand Prix sets the seal upon the achievements of this German make. Last year it proved almost invincible in the ordinary type of Grand Frix race; but it was doubted if it could be equally effective in the “round-the-houses” type of race such'as the Monaco event. - This race put a premium upon brakes, road holding, and acceleration, and it asks for a gear-box that will stand up to incessant changing and vigorous use of the lower ratios. The Alfa-Romeos have had long experience of the Monte Carlo Grand Prix, and it was thought before the start of the event that they might prove superior to the German cars in strmina. > A point of importance aoout the Mercedes victory, and one that will eventually make itself felt not only in other racing machines, but also _in touring machines, is that they have independent mounting of all four wheels. This independent mounting has been claimed to give them superiority over other cars in acceleration and brakes and the result of the race bears out this view, _ _ With many modem racing cars it is impossible for the drivers to use more than a part of the power of an engine when accelerating because ot wheel spin. The independent mounting of the German car’s wheels greatly reduces this spin and enables the drivers to use more engine power. _ Precisely what power is developed by the Mecedes engines has been kept secret, but it is clearly more than 300 b°rse power. The cars weigh less than 15cwt each, and their coachwork is very carefuly stream-lined.