THE OUTER CIRCUIT

THE OUTER CIRCUIT “200s”

TTIE second Junior Car Club 200-Mile Race at Brooklands commenced with

. the 1,100-c.c. event, which started at 8.30 a.m. on August 19th, 1922, and attracted 15 small cars, comprised of Nash, Godfrey and Pickett (G.N.$) ; Benoist, Devaux and Bueno (Salinsons) ; Ware, Martin and Hawkes (Morgans) ; Taylor (A.V.) ; Eric Longden (Eric Longden) ; Peaty (Bleriot-Whippet) ; Tollady and Pressland (Crouch): and Marchant (K.R.C.).

The start was straggly, some of the drivers not even having their engines running when the flag fell, which the grimness of the hour only partially excused. Indeed, Hawkes was a quarter of an hour stationary, eventually changing a plug before he got the Morgan going. Benoist led the initial lap, Ware’s Morgan and Nash’s G.N. behind the little Salmson. Stop-watches were applied, and the Salmson team, running easily, was seen to have the legs of everyone, Benoist lapping at 82 m.p.h. Against this, the V-twin G.N.s were doing 80. Trouble came early. Poor Hawkes came in after a lap with disconnected steering, and Ware stopped to caulk a leak in his near-side cylinder. After ten laps Martin was grappling with a mis-fire and Hawkes continued to run erratically between some very fast laps, needing several y lug changes and rumoured to have an overheating propeller-shaft, of all things. Nevertheless, Hawkes was soon battling with the Salmsons of Benoist and Bueno and Hawkins on Pickett’s G.N., for the lead. Excitement ran high when Benoist had his off-side rear tyre disintegrate, but he and Spikins effected a rapid change, after which he pushed his lap speed up to close on 90 m.p.h. The K.R.C. went out, enveloped in clouds of steam, after limping along on one cylinder, the AN. broke a petrol E ipe and Taylor demanded, and got, rubber tubing, and Frazer-Nash changed plugs without his usual smile. The other G.N.s were reaching almost 90 over the Fork, while the Crouches, the Eric-Longden and the Bleriot-Whippet lapped non-stop at 65-67. Hawkes, alas, suffered more bothers. At 21 laps Bueno led from Godfrey’s G.N., with Devaux 3rd, Benoist -4th and Hawkins 5th. The leading Salmson apparently had the engine out of the record-breaking single-seater which had covered a kilo, just before the race, at over 91 m.p.h. Then came a serious blow to G.N. hopes. Nash came in, tried the compression, and announced that a piston had gone. He and Cushman then calmly commenced to remove the near-side cylinder—in 35 mins. They were off again. Such was racing 22 years ago ! Hawkes, unfortunate mortal, lost Much time changing a front tyre, set off to lap at over 88 m.p.h., and, doing so, blew his engine up. Later, Ware retired with severe engine trouble, the water leak having spread. Pressland refuelled his Crouch and then—Bueno came in with water streaming from the undershield. In vain was more water added to the radiator; the water jacket had broken away and the car was out for good. This misfortune merely resulted in the other , THE 1922 RACE (Continued from the April issue.) two Salmsons being called in for a top to their cooling systems ! Salrnson work, incidentally, was excellent. 50 laps only the Bleriot-Whippet; frey’s G.N., Tollady’s old Crouch and Eric-Longden had run non-stop, and Longden refuelled, later to retire when magneto platform collapsed. The Whippet then’ sheared its flywheel the Crouch boiled, burned through H.T. leads, and was pushed off, and AN. had blown off its rear Godfrey, too, stopped after 67 laps, refuel, and he also put oil on the plunger, as he was having pothers fuel pressure, while Finch, his tied cord round the clutch pedal to to lend his weight to the spring, having soused the clutch surfaces. Hawkins also refuelled. It was now over barring accidents, and at 11.14 During the early nineteen-twenties small cars were doing outstanding things in B.A.R.C. short handicaps and in the field of record-breaking, but perhaps they achieved their greatest allure in the J.C.C. 200-Mile Races, run over the Outer Circuit in 1921-4 ; the original race of this famous series being the first long-distance race in England. Previous articles in this series appeared in the February, March and April issues, when the races of 1921 and 1922 were dealt with

—Ed.

Marcel Benoist was flagged in the winner. His Salmson had run for 2 h. 29 in. 39 s., an average of 81.88 m.p.h. Two mins. later came Devaux, at 80.16 m.p.h., and then Godfrey, to fill 3rd place at 74.41 m.p.h. Hawkins and Nash followed, the Only intact team–and they hadn’t had to change a single Dunlop cover. When the course was closed at 12 o’clock the only car running was Pressland’s Crouch, and he had covered only 69 of the 73 laps. Benoist took the 100 and 200 mile and 1 hr. and 2 hr. class records in the course of the race and Fra’ser-Nash the 50-mile record.

The 11-litre race commenced at 2 p.m., and the starters comprised K. Lee Guinness, Segrave and Chassagne (TalbotDarrac,i) ; Stead, Zborowski and Moir (Aston-Martin), Smith (Eric-Campbell) ; Englani (A.B.C.) ; Don and Joyce (A.C.) ; Cuihm an and Marshall (Bugatti) ; Miller (Wolseley); Barnato, Bertelli and Chance (Enield-Alldays) : and Oates (Lagonda). The A.C.S were far from ready, and the Press of the day was not slow to notice it, some play being made of the slogan ” the Amazing A.C. ” ! When the flag fell practically the entire field got away in a tightly-packed bunch, but actually Stead’s famous Aston-Martin ” Bunny ” and Oates’s Lagonda, in that order, showed the others the way. However, Moir soon went out in front of everyone, to gain nearly half a lap, but after a lap two Talbot-Darracqs and Zborowski’s Aston-Martin were only a quarter of a lap behind him. Much early excitement was occasioned by the retirement of the two A.C.s, and Moir’s (with magneto trouble) and Zborowski’s Astons, and by Guinness stopping to effect, with Perkins, a rapid change of wheel, a tyre having left the rim completely. All this happened ere eight laps were run ! Then Chassagne had also stopped soon after starting and came in again, very soon, to change plugs. A critical Coatalen told him the worrying mis-fire would clear itself, and sure enough it did. Segrave now led, at well over 90, with Guinness a lap away, and the quite incredible s.v. Aston-Martin lapping at 88-90 m.p.h. Some laps, at 88, were completed by Stead, Bertelli and Marshall in close company, until the Enfield-Allday stopped for water. The Lagonda, after running well, suddenly blew up, and after 15 laps Cushman literally lost a carburetter, a flange having fractured. Major Lefrere thereupon ordered a single carburetter and manifold to be stripped from a I3ugatti which happened to be standing in the public enclosure and, new joints. being made with Petro-flex, Cushman continued. Barnato called at his pits. once or twice, to retire eventually with a seized engine, and Miller cured preignition by a rapid plug-change. The

A.B.C. ran beautifully, lapping at well over 80 and asking only a plug-change in the entire race. Even the Talbot team wasn’t so happy as in 1921. Segrave’s car lost its crisp note and came in for a plug-change, allowing Guinness to take the lead ; when it restarted it was noticeably slower. Then came Chassagne’s crash. It is now a matter of history that his TalbotDarracq lept over the Byfleet banking, following deflation of a rear tyre at some 98 m.p.h. Chassagne and Dutoit were thrown out, but both were virtually unhurt, and Chassagne rode in on the carrier of a marshal’s motor-cycle, scorning the ambulance. The Wolseley was again missing somewhat, and it snaked about to some extent, rather as the 2-litre Fiats had done in the G.P. Nevertheless, it was lapping at about 70. Both Stead and Marshall were going magnificently, while Guinness was getting round the concrete at 944 m.p.h., to consolidate his lead. The Talbot actually stopped once, for 4 mins., on the far side of the Track, to change over from magneto to coil ignition, but still it held its lead, for Segrave could now lap only at 83. Stead was 3rd and getting faster, Marshall 4th, Chanee (Enfield-Allday) 5th, and the A.B.C. 6th. So they finished. Guinness had taken 2 h. 17 m. 37 s., and he averaged 88.06 m.p.h.—actually only .82 ni.p.h. slower than the 1921 winning average, in spite of his stops. Stead, a great surprise

and a Splendid achievement, brought his s.v. Aston-Martin in 2nd at 86.33 m.p.h., and Segrave was 3rd, at 85.55 m.p.h. Chance was 4th at 76.88, Cushman 5th at 76.53, and Marshall, England and Miller (at 60.2) followed them home. Guinness had put in the fastest lap, at 95.78 m.p.h. The Talbots used Solex carburetters, Delco-Renty ignition, Hartford shock-absorbers, Speedwell oil, Rudge wheels, Dunlop tyres S.R.O. bearings, Shell petrol and K.f.4.G. plugs. Stead used a Scintilla magneto, ordinary Goodyear artillery wheels and K.L.G. plugs. Incidentally, the reason why Marshall finished behind Cushman, was because he had to stop to tighten his exhaust pipe and change four plugs, one magneto having failed after 60 laps. Thus ended another successful and instructive “200.”

The next event of the series actually produced a win by a British car, in a race of still spidery, if less eyele-earish, small ears. That, however, is a story for another issue. (To be continued.)