GENERAL.

Thames Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 10380, 6 December 1912, Page 6

GENERAL.

MOTOR CAR RAGE.

From Indianapolis, U.S.A., are to hand details of a notable motor car race decided on a one mile track, when the world record for speed over long distances—the race was of 500 mile®—was Ijroketn. J. Dawson, in a. National car, scurried over that distance at the rat© of 78.72 miles pea* hour, his time being 6hrs 21 mine 6secs. The second oar, a Fiat, driven by T. Tetzlaff, crossed the line in chrs 27isecs, or at a speed of 76.62 miles per hour, while a Mercer oar, having the smallest piston displacement! of those paHioipaiting, averaged 76.27 miles an hour, the driver being B. Hughes. The tremendous paoe—we can't realise it here, unless one in fancy doubles the fastest speed he has yet seen in this country—played havoc with the competing cars, as out of the 2& that started, 14 sue'oumbed fromi various causleis —filred. bearings, broken pistons and cylinder, a capsize or two, while one caught fire, and another cast both rear wheels!! Ai most unfortunate incident occurred three miles from tho finish. R. De sPalma, a noted driver, who was piloting a Mercedes car, was five laps ahead, and had only three more to go when trouble overtook him. Olnej of the pistons broke, and he was forced to stand and watch D'awson win the big race, and 1 incidentally to pick up prizes to the value of £50w. The previous fastest sustained pace was tut ai fraction of a mild slower, when! Tetzlaff (who was second) averaged at Santa Monica recently 78.5 miles an hour for 300 miles: The motor papers from America do not compare the two performance, as probably the conditions were different, as, for instance, being wholly, or in part, decided on the highway as against a gfcraightout track race, which: the last tag race was.