Topic: AL104 Start of the 1929 TT race on the Ards circuit

[Allan L]

Here's a rather different one for you.
Can you tell me where/when/what for a point?
Can you tell me the make and any details of cars 60 and 61 for another point?
Can you tell me the drivers of cars 60 and 61 for another point?
Can you tell me who, driving what, won the race for another point?

[nicanary]

 

[Fёdor]

 Arrol-Aster 23-70hp

[Allan L]

 Arrol-Aster 23-70hp

Yes to Arrol-Aster but not 23-70hp
I'll lock the "car" part of this for you to try other car details.
Oh and welcome to our gang - you had a very successfull first day!

[Fёdor]

 17-50hp
Monte-Carlo 1929

[Allan L]

 17-50hp
Monte-Carlo 1929

The 23/70 was nearer but there was more to it than that.

[Fёdor]

 21-60hp

[Allan L]

They were not standard production cars - same capacity as the 23/70 but there was a difference.

[Fёdor]

 17-50hp kompressormotor

[Allan L]

 17-50hp kompressormotor

Well that's the word I was looking for (the English word is supercharged) so I'll call the cars identified and give Fёdor the point.
The entry list and contemporary press show the Arrol-Aster cars to have had a 76mm × 110mm 6-cylinder (=2362 cc?) supercharged sleeve-valve engine.

There are still points to be gained with this one:
Can you tell me where/when/what for a point?
Can you tell me the drivers of cars 60 and 61 for another point?
Can you tell me who, driving what, won the race for another point?

[Fёdor]

 Tourist Trophy 1929 Belfast 17.8.1929

 categ. D 2.0-3.0 litr
 №60 N. Garrad
 №61 Eddie Hall

 Pos.1 Rudolf Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz SS)

[Allan L]

 Tourist Trophy 1929 Belfast 17.8.1929

 categ. D 2.0-3.0 litr
 №60 N. Garrad
 №61 Eddie Hall

 Pos.1 Rudolf Caracciola (Mercedes-Benz SS)

Everything correct as asked for so another 3 points for you.

[nicanary]

Great photo. How things have changed - the road is now a 2-lane highway each way, as a main feeder route to Belfast. The near end of the pits is now a Toyota dealership, and the grandstand is now a second-hand car dealer/car wash. The road must have been straightened when the new road was constructed, as it barely curves at that point. A very large local authority housing estate now takes up the fields in the distance.

A memorial plaque has been placed beside the road to indicate where the pits once stood, and originally it was accompanied by a replica pit, but local disaffected youth decided to burn it down one night. I attach a photo showing the area as close as I could find - this shows the road in the opposite direction, the pits stood where you can see a small lay-by and what seems to be a bus stop sign, on the left hand side of the image.

BTW the 2 Ford Model-A tourers were entered by Wrights of Belfast, local Ford dealers who presumably did so for the public exposure rather than any competitive intent.

[Allan L]

Thanks for the local input!
That's the downside of using public roads for motor racing - the primary use of the road takes priority and the historical layout ends up totally destroyed if the demands of modern traffic are met.

[nicanary]

Thanks for the local input!
That's the downside of using public roads for motor racing - the primary use of the road takes priority and the historical layout ends up totally destroyed if the demands of modern traffic are met.

I don't know whether you've ever visited the area, but much of the original track remains in some form or other. The winding section of Bradshaws Brae remains just that, although probably a bit wider, and the town streets through Comber haven't changed at all. Even parts of the main road from Comber to Dundonald are pretty much as they were - sadly the route from Newtownards to Comber is now a dual carriageway.

Freddie Dixon's cabbage patch is now the garden of a bungalow. The entry to Newtownards which caused the final demise of the race is now unrecognisable - the railway was the victim of Mr. Beeching and has disappeared along with its bridge, and the line of the track is now an inner link road.

I agree with you about public roads needing to cater for modern traffic - it's a shame for we historians but it has to happen, except in Monaco and Macau, where they couldn't do much about it anyway.

[Allan L]

I visited Northern Ireland sometime in the early 1960s and made a point of driving my Ford 100E hire car round the Ards and Dundrod circuits. I think I found Ards much as it was in the 1928-36 era and Dundrod was still in use of course, but still frighteningly narrow. Must have taken photos but finding them is a grade I impossibility so here's another old one.
I think this is 1928: