THE SPORTS CAR “HO UR “

The R.A.C. is not anxious to observe any further hour runs by sports-type cars, on the grounds that there is no official hour record for standard cars, and that it is impossible to ensure that the cars which try the run are absolutely standard. In actual fact, we believe that the FrazerNa.sh-B .W. which ‘first made such a run under R..A .C. observation was absolutely standard, but that it was only submitted under the ordinary conditions appertaining to R.A.C. official observation of any self-imposed feat or stunt. The car’s weight and engine-size and gear

ratios, as published in the usual way in the R.A.C. Certificate, were some proof of the car’s catalogue nature. Further, we believe that the Law:M(11a which subsequently did .a faster run was a T.T. car with higher gear-ratios than standard, a fact which was in no way withheld and which came to light when the Certificate was issued. So it will be interesting to know what is to be the position of an owner or manufacturer who submits a sports-car for an R.A.C. observed hour run on Brooklands, without suggesting that his car is going to exceed any particular speed and without stating whether or not it is standard. We assume that under these circumstances such a run would be observed and it would still be of value, inasmuch as most of us have a fairly shrewd idea of what are, and what are not, catalogue cars, amongst

Privately-owned sports-cars. A inanu-‘ facture’ might submit a Le Mans or T.T. or L.C.C. Sports-Car Race entered car immediately after the race, to emphasise that no drastic alterations could have been made after the scrutineers had passed that car as within the race regulation ruling.