ON SOUTHPORT SANDS

ON SOUTHPORT SANDS

Last Month’s Meeting at Birkdale.

THE Southport Motor Club held one of their popular race meetings on the sands at Birkdale on Saturday, the 8th August, and thanks to the favourable weather and substantial entry list, this proved to be one of the most succesful held so far this season.

It was thought at first that the meeting would be a washout as rain fell heavily in the morning, but by twelve o’clock an improvement set in and the clouds dispersed.

During the event a stiff wind was blowing, but this did not seem to affect the speeds to any extent while it helped to keep the course in good condition. The programme included a series of straight mile races and a fifty-mile event, and there was a fairly varied entry for each class.

In the 750 c.c. straight mile event C. D. Parish with all Austin Seven had a walkover wine while the winner in the 1,100 c.c. class was B. L. Byrom (Amilcar).

A Veteran Re-appears.

One car which performed conspicuously was a single-seater A.C. driven by J. S. Aked., which in the hands of J. A. Joyce made history about eight years ago by establishing several records at Brooklands. Amongst these was the 1(X) Miles, which distance was covered in 57 minutes, 35.30 seconds, which is equal to 104.19i m.p.h. The combustion head on this car, if one remembers correctly, was of bronze, and many novel features were incorporated in the general design. The passing of time and years of idleness apparently have had little effect on the car’s ability to travel swiftly, for Aked secured first place in both the 1 litre event and, the 2 litre class, while he finished in very respectable fashion as third man in the three litre race. First and second, places were taken by N. A. Carr and. T. V. G. Selby, who were driving Bugattis. In the unlimited

class the winner was G. J. Jackson on a three-litre Sunbeam.

The big ” do ” of the whole meeting was, of course, the fifty-miles race, and. ten out of a total of seventeen entrants lined up at the start. It was arranged in this event that the” seven-fifties” should receive four laps credit at the start, the 1,100 c.c. cars three laps, and the 2-litre type two laps ; a blown Bugatti of twolitres capacity also got a start of one lap. The simultaneous start provided a fine Spectacle for the crowd, and the field quickly spread out with a medley of varied exhaust notes. On the first lap Carr’s Bugatti got well in the lead„ while Stisted’s Mere. and Selby’s ” Bug” were engaged in a fierce tussle. The race continued with the leading Bugatti g ing strong until the sixteenth round when it passed out with engine failure ; this let

Selby up iuto first place and he came home the winner. Byrom, who had driven his Amilcar very well, came second, the Mercedes was third, and P. Stephenson (Austin Seven) fourth. Six cars finished.. The results were as follows :

RESULTS.

STRAIGHT MILE EVENTS.

750 c.c.—C. D. Parish (Austin Seven). 1,100 c.c.—B. L. Byrom (Amilcar). 1,500 c.c.—J. S. Aked (A.C.). 2,000 c.c.— J. S. Aked (.A.C.). 3,000 c.c.—N. A. Carr (Bugatti). Unlimited c.c.—G. L. Jackson (Sunbeam).

50-MILE EVENTS.

General-1, T. V. G. Selby (Bugatti) ; 2, H. H. Stisted (Mercedes) ; 3, P. Stephenson (Austin Seven). 2,000 c.c.T. V. G. Selby (Bugatti). 3,000 c.c.P. Stephenson (Austin Seven). Unlimited. c.c.—B. L. Byrom (Amilcar).