RECORD SPEED

Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 48, 27 January 1932, Page 8

RECORD SPEED

PERFORMANCE OF WIZARD SMITH OFFICIAL CALCULATION OF TIME. Per Press Association. NINETY-MILE BEACH, Jan. 27. Hurtling along Ninety-Mile Beach yesterday afternoon, Mr “Wizard” Smith raised the world’s ten-mile speed by .a substantial margin, beating Marchand’s time by just on 80 miles an hour.

Mr Smith’s average speed was 164.084 miles an hour, his average time for the two runs being Bmin 88,401 sec. He did the" first run in Bmin 59.9455ec and the second in Bmin 18.858 sec.

The conditions were not of the best for the attempt as most of tho bencK was very wet and slow. There was only a slight westerly breeze, but the visibility, especially on the wet sand, was not good. Although Mr Smith did not favour driving on the wet sand he decided to make the ten-mile attempt, but he stated afterwards that he could not undertake a further speed attempt with the beach so wet.

The course was flagged on the shore side for a stretch' of about 18 miles, and the car was towed to the northern end ready for the run south. After a final inspection of the bqach Mr Smith climbed into the small seat, the engine was started and with cries of “Good Luck” ringing in his ears he set out to beat Marchand’s record of 137.2 miles an hour. In an incredibly short time he passed the first track switch and was on the track proper with his foot hard down on the accelerator. The car- screamed past the centre post travelling at nearly 200 miles an hour and hurtled on towards the last switch sending up huge showers of spray. The first run over, Mr Smith travelled easily to the dump well down the beach where an inspection showed that the rear tyres had been cut by toheroa shells. 1110 damage was not severe, but on experts’ advice the wheels were changed. The car was reloaded with petrol and the return, trip was soon commenced, the car flying past the track switches a second time with tho engine spluttering. As the car vanished in a cloud of spray and smoke spluttering could be heard, and long after the Enterprise was out of sight. That was not the fault of the. engine, Mr Smith explained ■after, but was due to the fact that every now and then'he was forced to slow down as he found, it difficult to see through the sand-sprayed windscreen and, he added, he would not attempt further records on the beach. One exSerience was enough he said, and his renched clothes and sand-bespattered face were a silent witness of that fact. .He was more than satisfied with the car’s performance and expressed confidence that he could travel fast enough to annex the record for the flying mile. Everything went perfectly, Mr Smith said and there was not a hitch in the whole race. The efficiency of the gearless tranmission system had pleased him immensely and he predicted that it would be, a rule for all cars-sold shortly. The ignition system, he said, also contributed largely to the efficiency of the car.

Although it was unofficially known that he had broken the record about 8 o’clock, no definite times were worked out until nearly midnight. Mr Smith sat up with the officials engaged in calculating tho time while Mrs Smith spent the time with friends in a tent near the garage. Mr SJhith was a happy man when the- official times were known and the strain of waiting was over. He was more pleased than ever then., knowing that he had broken the record by such a large margin on a beach which must have slowed him up considerably, ah.d he is looking forward to assaulting Sir Malcolm Campbell’s time for the mile.

The Press Association’s earlier messages relating to tho performance appear on page 2.