LUIS FONTES HAS ANOTHER VICTORY
LUIS FONTES HAS ANOTHER VICTORY
The _Irish Motor Racing Club goes from strength to strength. The Limerick Race held on August 5 attracted a really fine entry, including nine cars from England. Naturally the field was composed of a mixture of sports and racing cars, but this did riot prevent the handicap system from working out quite well. Copying the procedure adopted by certain organisers of road races on the continent, four chicanes were placed in the main street of the town, which slowed the cir cuit considerably. The little front-drive Adlers were a joy to watch here, screaming through the bends at a fantastic speed. So fast were they that their speed was the undoing of one competitor. C. H. W. Manders found a slow Riley in his path just as he was executing his usual rapid • manceuvre. He was forced to brake heavily while in the middle of the double corner, which resulted In him skidding into a house and damaging his chassis. The interest af the race was largely centred in watching the progress of the
fast cars as they gradually picked up places. P. N. Whitehead, who is known for his clever handling of a supercharged Alta in this country, looked a likely winner for some time, but P. G. Fairfield (E.R.A.) and Luis Fontes (Alfa-Romeo) were making splendid headway.
One by one the small cars were overhauled, F. H. !french Davies (Ballila Fiat), J. Toohey (Ford 8 h.p.), R. Marsh (M.G.) and David Yule (Austin). On the 35th of the 55 laps of the race Fairfield took the lead, and his white E.R.A., already a victor at Douglas, Donington and Dieppe, appeared to be a certain winner. The scratch men had been decimated by the retirement of Charles Brackenbury (Alfa-Romeo) with a burst petrol tank, and the long pit stop of A. Dobson (AlfaRomeo) with ignition trouble. But Luis Fontes, that smooth, polished driver, was coming up splendidly, and on the 45th lap was a trifle more than a minute be hind Fairfield. The latter’s pit-control took no notice of the impending challenge,
and allowed their man to be passed without giving him a signal to put on speed.
Two laps from the end Fontes caught the E.R.A., and try as he might Fairfield could not get back into the lead. The last laps were fought out at a great pace, and provided a fitting finish to a memorable race. Stanley Woods made a brief ddbut as a car-racer at Limerick, handling a works
single-seater Austin. On the very first lap, however, the gasket blew.
RESULT.
1. Luis Fontes (Alfa-Romeo) (scratch), time 2h. 21rn. 17s., speed 64.91 m.p.h.
2. P. 0. Fairfield (E.R.A.) (handicap 2 laps 308.), time 2h. 21m. 24s., speed 62.29 m.p.h.
8. P. N. Whitehead (Alta) (handicap 3 laps lm.), time 2h. 23m. 24s., speed 60.06 m.p.h. 4. F. H. ffrench Davies (Fiat).
6. J. Toohey (Ford). C. D. Yule (Austin).
7. M. J. Hynes (Ford).
8. P. Dwyer (Bugatti).
9. W. F. Tyrton (M.G. Magnette).
10. D. 0. MacLachlan (Riley).