Jersey Summing-Up

The stop-press which Motor Sport published last month of the Jersey Race covered the outstanding features of that rather dismal event and not much remains to be said. The fatal accident to K. W. Bear was most unfortunate. A policeman and a race official also died and two other persons were badly injured. Such accidents are liable to happen in many sports, and it will be a thousand pities if, in consequence, the ambitious Jersey M.C. and L.C.C. is deprived of its race, which the B.A.R.C. organises for it, next year. The verdict of accidental death was passed on Bear at the inquest and there has been some suggestion of brake failure, due to cable breakage or loss of a compensating chain, causing the calamity. It seems that the officials were against a wall with no means of escape when the car skidded into them — where possible, “funk-holes” should be available to everyone out on the course. They were actually provided adjacent to the timing-huts at Brooklands. We remember being disturbed as soon as we arrived at the I.O.M. circuit last year because pressmen were allowed to walk to Parkfield corner from the pits along a narrow pavement beside the course, flanked by a stone wall. There was no need for the Daily Telegraph to emphasise that the Bugatti was 22 years old, as though it had never been overhauled since it was built. In any case it was only 15 years old.

To Bob Gerard goes the very warmest praise for driving a faultless race and disposing of five two-stage 4CTL Maseratis (one with large blowers) and a single-stage (not two-stage) Ferrari in his old R14B E.R.A. It ran Jamieson-supercharged and went through without a refuelling stop, due to its large C-type tank. One wonders why other E.R.A. exponents do not use large tanks? Baron de Graffenried couldn’t make any impression on Gerard in spite of having a two-stage Maserati. Mays drove splendidly to get third place, his Zoller-blown E.R.A. passing Bolster’s two-stage E.R.A. before the latter stretched a valve. “Bira” finished fourth at 75.49 m.p.h., not 75.59 m.p.h. as we stated last month. Villoresi showed his tremendous ability in practice with a lap at 96 m.p.h., but was clearly caught by the foul weather on race-day, changing jets in an attempt to correct the upset carburation, as well as blanking off his radiator and dealing with sick plugs. Gerard’s E.R.A. had its Shell fuel ignited by Lodge plugs via a Lucas magneto and ran on Dunlop tyres held to the road by de Ram and Luvax shock-absorbers, braking being by Ferodo-lined Girlings.

Retirements were as stated, with the addition of Hampshire’s E.R.A. which ran a bearing on the warming-up parade, Le Gallais’ Talbot with gearbox trouble, Hamilton’s Maserati with a holed radiator and Nixon’s E.R.A., which crashed. A telephone call from the Island after our report was written misled us into saying the E-type E.R.A. broke a piston after rapid practice lappery; actually the oil-pressure fell and a bearing started to break up. Bolster’s E.R.A. had two Jamieson blowers in series, the primary larger than the secondary, Ansell’s E.R.A, had a Wade supercharger, Hampshire drove the ex-“Bira” E.R.A. “Hanuman” with Zoller compressor but non-i.f.s. Harrison’s B/C E.R.A. used E-type front brakes, and Nixon had the A-type E.R.A. with Tecnauto i.f.s. The B.B.C. commentary was not up to the standard that we hope it will attain in the future.