"LA STUDERIA WHITNEY STRAIGHT"

“LA STUDERIA WHITNEY STRAIGHT.”

DETAILS OF TEE PLANS AND ARRANGEMENTS OF AN AMBITIOUS “STABLE.”

WITH the thoroughness which has characterised all his motor racing act, vities since he first took up the sport three years ago, Whitney Straight is making careful preparations. for his most ambitious season to date.

To begin with he has formed a private 1 mited company with the title of Whitney Straight Limited, his co-directors being the Earl of Breclaiock, Mr. Reid Railton and Mr. C. E. Elinh.rst. The Secretary is Mr. E. W. Lambert, who for many years acted in that capacity to the late Sir Henry Birkin.

The registered offices of the Company are situated at Bush House, Aldwych, London, and on the invitation of Mr. Lambert I went along one day last month to hear the latest news of their plans and progress. The furn’shing and colouring of the offices, by the way, cannot fail to rouse the admiration of all those who appreciate the subtle art of interior decoration. will be remembered It will be that Whitney Straight has placed an order with the Maserati factory for four single seater 3,000 c.c. racing cars, all of which are to be fitted with

Wilson pre-selective gearboxes. I asked Mr. Lambert when delivery was expected of these machines.

Delivery of the first Maserati.

“One of our travelling garages is now completed,” he said, “and will be going over to Bologna at the end of January to collect the first of the monoposto Ma.seratis. It ought to be back in England by about the 10th of February.” Mr. Lambert told me sonic interesting facts about the Maserati

factory. “It is a good deal bigger than it used to be. At one time it was roughly the same size as the works occupied at Welwyn Garden City by Sir Henry Birkin, but now they have added a good sized machine shop.” With regard to the actual composition of the team of drivers, Mr. Lambert explained to me that a lot of details and formalities had to be attended to before any definite arrangements could be concluded. It was practically certain that Cyril Paul would be a member of the team, but no other driving contracts had been definitely fixed. Unfortunately it was very doubtful whether H. C. Hamilton would be available, as he was now in. India convalescing after his serious accident in the Czecho-slovakian Grand Prix. It is possible that there will only be two permanent dr vers, Whitney Straight and Cyril Paul. If a third driver is required a femporary arrange

ment can always be arrived at.

A limiting factor in the engagement of drivers is the possib lity of the Maserati factory being unable to deliver the complete team of cars before the season commence. With the ban on foreign purchasers of Alfa-Romeos, a large influx of orders had been received at Bologna, and although the factory could be depended upon to assist and co-operate in every way, there was a definite limit to the number of cars they could turn out with the facilities at their disposal.

Continental Headquarters.

Negotiations have been in progress with Ramponi with a view to his being in charge of the tuning and preparation of the cars, but at the time of writing no contract has yet been arranged. In the same way the Continental headquarters of the team have not yet been settled. They are almost certain to be at Milan. The reason for this choice is that a large

part of the scheduled programme of races is composed of Italian events, and, of course, Milan is w’thin fairly easy reach of the factory. Mr. Lambert himself is going over to Italy shortly to fix things up.

It is hoped that two cars may be kept in constant use, i.e., every week-end. The other two will be at Milan being overhauled. When occasion arises, as has already been said, a temporary driver will be engaged to pilot a third car. A small permanent staff will be kept at headquarters, while each of the travelling units will have a full complement of mechanics. All these arrangements, of course, are subject to revision in the light of actual experience.

[Continued on page 188. An extraordinarily complete programme of races has been planned for the six months of the racing season. Whitney Straight himself will probably be in action every weekend. The first race will be the Monaco

G.P. Germany,

France, and Italy will naturally form the chief theatre of activity, and an M.G. Magnette is to be included in the ” stable ” for c.c. participation in Italian 1,100

events.

“And England ? “I queried.

“We hope to run in both the International Trophy and British Empire Trophy races at Brooklands, and Mr. Straight is anxious to run in at any rate one of the Shelsley Walsh hill-climbs.”

H. N.