THE PRESCOTT RECORD WELL BEATEN

THE PRESCOTT RECORD WELL BEATEN

NEW FIGURE OF 47.83 SECS. ESTABLISHED BY G. E. ABECASSIS (ALTA). SEVERAL CARS LEAVE THE ROAD. AN EXCELLENT ATTENDANCE.

THE First Open Event at Prescott Hill on July 3rd benefited from an excellent entry and equally ex

cellent organisation. The Bugatti Owners’ Club has established Prescott as one of our premier speed venues with a vengeance.

Patchy weather prevailed, with some very heavy showers, but the enclosures were well filled. The cars came up quickly with few delays and there was a very good commentary. Times were also displayed, Shelsley fashion, on a board on the inside of the course. The facilities for members are particularly good, but it was a pity that certain of the fifty members of the German motor-cycle team who were admitted to the members’ enclosure indulged in continual horseplay, which was both detrimental to their own interests and to those of the club, and a pretty poor return for the privileges bestowed on them. The catering was first class, the method of taking from the counter in the tent whatever one wanted and paying as one went out working very well. National Car Parks looked after the car stowage.

In the Veteran Class, a so much appreciated feature of B.O.C. & V.S.C.C. speed meetings, Sam Clutton did 58.33 secs. with Heal’s Fiat, only to motor off the road without damage on another ascent. Mills, driving a most excellent 90 Mere6des, won on Formula, though actually clocking 65.16 secs. In the 1,500 c.c. sports-car class, K. V. Baillie-Hill, perhaps stimulated by having his portrait on the cover of a prominent weekly motor journal, won the class with his Beechohne-doctored H.R.G., clocking 54.26 sees., and beating Claridge’s FrazerNash by 1.12 secs. Curtis was third in his H.R.G. in 55.4 secs. In the 1+ to 3-litre sports class no one had anything on Pane’s Type 828 Frazer-Nash-B.M.W., which did a silently impressive 52.78 secs. Shakespeare’s Bugatti asked 55.24 secs. and Mather’s B.M.W. 55.45 secs. Ken Hutchison won the big sports class with the V12 Allard Special in 53.32 sees.— faster than Allard’s time at the previous meeting—but the plugs went fluffy before his second run. Symondson’s Type 57 Bugatti was second in 50.41 secs., and Ronnie Hughes’s 30/98 Vauxhall third, while Heal and. Alan May also very admirably upheld 80/98 prestige with ascents both rapid and lusty. The small racing class event went to Buckley, whose works Austin Seven sounded to be in truly fine fettle, beating Denis Evans’s

famous M.G. by .77 of a sec. Willis (Austin) was third. Abecassis naturally won the 1 i-litre racing class, as his Alta took the hill record in 47.85 secs., beating Baron’s old figure with the Bugatti by 2.85 secs. He established this time on his second run and Baron actually did 48.14 secs., and Pane 48.56 secs., so the Prescott record should drop appreciably before the season is over. Pane ran in the rain and we have never seen the ” Shelsley ” single-seater Frazer-Nash handled with greater abandon. Ansell did a very fine ascent with the E.R.A. to take third place in the 1+-litre racing class. Lord Avebury’s Alta took the 2-litre racing class in 50.92 secs., with Hampshire’s Bugatti

second and Grimshaw’s Bugatti third. The big racing class went to Arthur Baron (2.3-litre Bugatti) in 48.52 secs., with

Craig’s beautiful black and white 8.3litre Grand Prix Bugatti second and Lemon-Burton’s Bugatti a close third. There was some excitement during the second half of the programme, Allard miss ing his gear-change with the V8 productionmodel Allard Special, the resultant gyrations ending in a smashed near-side rear wing and slightly buckled wheel. Lones did some excellent front-wheel sliding into corners with the Tiger Cat, but overdid things at the Esses and left the road, damaging the off-side front wheel. On his first run Morrish overturned his M.G. Magnette through striking the right hand bank at the Esses, but fortunately he was flung out before the

car rolled and was unhurt. Prescott retains its reputation as a tricky climb. Abecassis looked under full control during the record ascent. H. A. Richards (Riley) was steady, but Mrs. Palethorpe’s blown Frazer-Nash ceased to motor. Hampshire drove very nicely indeed. Clark’s Bugatti carried French registration numbers, Grinishaw handled his Bugatti very expertly, and Lord Avebury’s Alta snaked under tremendous acceleration and displayed excellent braking power. Craig, hands ungloved, was fully master of the exLindsay Eccles, 8.3-litre Grand Prix Bugatti and Baron used twin rear covers to assist immense acceleration with his 2.3-litre Bugatti. Burton drove splendidly and Hunter’s Alta looked and sounded most impressive. Vaughan (Bede Powerplus), also a double rear-boot ex

ponent, showed admirable judgment and Ansell clipped the inside bank astonishingly close at Orehard Corner. His was a truly great dice. Woodall, in chequered crash hat, indulged in immense tail-slides, but his Chatterbox shed a chain. Hampton was very neat with the 1922 Mere., loudly shouted to by the white-capped Contin ental onlookers, who apparently wanted to hear the blower—Hampton duly obliged. Lloyd-Jones had his Triangle Special well under control and Fry’s run in the Freikaiserwagen was just immense. Sumner’s blown Sumner-J .A.P. romped about under extreme pick-up and crackled lustily on the over-run, Lind Walker’s Bugatti appeared to lose much water from beneath the bonnet on a fast climb and Lones’s slides into corners were ex cellent. Griffiths, with the old AnzaniNash, smote the outside bank at Valley Bend and got into a quite nasty slide, which he held. Symondson’s Bugatti was nicely handled, and Hughes did great things with his 80/98 Vauxhall. May’s 80/98 Vauxhall had all the punch in the world and the gear-changes were well judged. Donald Monro’s low chassis 41-litre Invicta was beautifully driven and fast on the straight and Gardner, with Malcolm Campbell’s old Type 57S Bugatti, was extremely creditable. Denis Evans got the M.G. off well but experienced immense wheel spin from Pardon Hairpin. Willis missed his change at Orchard Corner with the little Austin and Heal’s 30/98 Vauxhall sounded rather more pinky than in the pink, though very rapid indeed. Palethorpe, with a monoposto ” Shelsley ” Frazer-Nash, twin shod at the rear, did a climb bettered as a great dice only by Pane himself. Mortyn got rather an overslide with his Frazer-Nash, but Walker’s blown Austin

Seven revved merrily. Benn’s Austin Seven favoured big rear wheels, Hunter’s B.M.W. seemed to misfire slightly and Fitt’s big Hudson was carefully driven but burned its tyres nevertheless. Twice it was rumoured that the vehicles of the brothers Fry were so low (or fast ?) as to miss the timing tape and certainly they had. double runs, ‘P. Dunlop” on the Kaiserwagen sliding the front most stirringly.

Grirnshaw’s Bugatti sounded beautiful, and Bolster, after replacing a broken chain, almost turned. round at Pardon Hairpin and was obviously chiding the mechanism for not hauling from all pots at once— the eight-cylinder very-vee Bolster Special is still not quite weaned. Sir J. Bowen’s blown M.G. Midget had. plenty of revs. in possession.

So concluded a very excellent Prescott. Unquestionably this is a venue never to be missed in future. On August the Vintage S.C.C. will camp there, and the next Open Meeting is on September 25th. The MOTOR SPORT representative was conveyed home in state, very fast and impressively, in the production fourseater Allard-Special, having arrived in someone else’s Singer, his own motor having died on him at Oxford, a thing hardly surprising as it happened to be a 1922 o.h.c. Rhode which had been coaxed from Birmingham to London and onwards through the night, after standing idle for some six years. PROVISIONAL RESULTS

Class 1 (Veteran Cars): C. Clutton (1910 Fiat), 58.33s.; A. A. F. Mills (1913 Mercedes), 65.16s. Mills was first on formula.

Class 2 (sports-oars up to 1,500 o.o.) : K. V. BaffleHill (H.R.0.), 54.20s.; G. D. Claridge (Frazer-Nash), 55.38s.; A. E. S. Curtis (H.R.G.), 55.40s.

Class 3 (sports-cars 1,501 to 3,000 c.o. ) : A. P. F. Fane (Frazer-Nash-B.M.W.), 52.75s. ; R,. W. Shakespeare (Bugatti), 55.24s. ; D. G. Flather (FrazerNash-B.M.W.), 55.458.

Class 4 (sports-oars over 3,000 c.o.) : K. Hutchison, (Allard Special), 53.32s.; R. C. Symondson (Bugatti), 50.41s.; R. Hughes (Vauxhall), 56.60s.

Class 5 (racing-ears up to 760 c.o.) : C. D. Buckley, (Austin). 50.86a.; D. G. Evans (M.G.), 51.638. ; R. R. Willis (Austin), 59.528.

Class 6 (racing-cars 751 0.0. to 1,64)0 0.0.) : G. E. Abecassis (Alta), 47.85s. ; A. P. F. Face (FrazerNash), 48.69s. ; R. E. Angell (E.R.A.), 48.778.

Class 7 (racing-cars 1,501 to 2,000 o.o.) : Lord Avebury (Alta), 50.92s.; D. A. Hampshire (Bugatti), 51,27s.; T. S. Grimshaw (Bugatti), 51.94s.

Class 8 (racing-oars over 2,000 0.0.) : A. Baron (Bugatti), 48.62s.; C. Y. Craig (Bugatti), 50.25s.: J. Lemon Burton (Bugatti). 50.32$.

Course Record :0, E. Abecassis (lir-litre Alta sic), 47.858.

Record : A. F. P. Face (2-litre FraserNash-B.M.W.), 52.75a.

52.75a.

Previous record for the course held by A. Baron’s 2.3-litre Bugatti, 50.70s.