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From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Article from 'The Motor' magazine reporting on Dodson's victory in the 1934 R.A.C. Tourist Trophy race.

Identifier  ExFiles\Box 90a\1\  Scan046
Date  4th September 1934
  
The Motor
DODSON (M.G.) WINS THE R.A.C. T.T. BY 17 SECONDS

Triumphant Vindication of R.A.C. Ban on Superchargers
Terrific Duel Between Hall (Bentley) and Hon. Brian Lewis (Lagonda) for Second Place. Dodson Finishes Within 2 secs. of Estimated Handicap Time! Aston-Martins Win Team Prize

TO the utter confounding of all prophets who had prophesied a complete debacle, the seventh R.A.C. Tourist Trophy Race, on the Ards Circuit last Saturday, September 1 (in which all supercharged cars were unconditionally barred) provided not only an outstanding success, but provided the 500,000 spectators with one of the finest struggles for the first three places ever seen in the British Isles.

The Hon. Brian Lewis (4.4-litre Lagonda) and E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} R.{Sir Henry Royce} Hall (3.6-litre Bentley) fought neck and neck for second place behind C. J.{Mr Johnson W.M.} P. Dodson's victorious M.G. Magnette for lap after lap in the closing stages of the 6½-hour race, passing and repassing all the way round the 13½ miles Ards Circuit.

For eight laps these two big cars roared round the circuit a few lengths apart, now one ahead, now the other, until on the 33rd of the 35 laps, when Dodson was 1 min. 23 secs. ahead of them both, the finest duel that has ever been seen in the T.T. came to an end—Brian Lewis was forced into his pit to replace tyres worn to the breaker strip.

Little Charlie Dodson drove a magnificent race. He sat in the cockpit of the wonderful 1,287 c.c. M.G. Magnette bolt upright, driving like a seasoned veteran, although this is his first season of racing on four wheels; without taking any chances, without a skid or a bump, he averaged the seamless speed of 74.65 m.p.h. to win the third Tourist Trophy Race for the marque M.G.—their second victory in succession.

His average with an unsupercharged car compares very favourably with Nuvolari's winning speed of 78.65 m.p.h. with the supercharged M.G. Magnette last year.

With Brian Lewis's Lagonda out of the running, Hall went on to make a desperate bid to overtake the Magnette with only two laps to go. He clipped 21 secs. off Dodson's lead on the 33rd lap and 29 secs. on the 34th. On the last lap he was 42 secs. behind at Newtownards, 35 secs. behind at the Moate, reduced the lead by another 4 secs. before Comber's famous butcher's shop, lay 26 secs. behind at Ballystockart, crept to within 22 secs. at the Dundonald hairpin and, with a last mighty effort, closed to within 17 secs. on the uphill rush to the finish as the M.G. shot over the line to win.

Another feature of a race packed with surprises was the speed of the Lagondas, and of the Aston-Martins which ran away with the Team Award after a first-class performance.

The two Talbots ran well and very quietly, the Rileys were outpaced but always in the picture, and the Frazer-Nashes, having set out on a sort of high-speed reliability trial, were impressively reliable and fast.

The Story of the Race
BRIGHT morning rapidly gave way to an overcast sky while the long streams of traffic were wending their way by devious routes to the various positions of vantage around the 13½ miles of the Ards Circuit hours before the race. Huge masses of clouds rolled threateningly over the horizon in the distance, but fortunately apart from a sharp shower in the late afternoon at Comber, the threats of rain were unfulfilled.

By 10 o'clock, an hour before the start, all Belfast and its teeming visitors seemed to have simplified itself on to the Ards Circuit, and no fewer than 12 boat loads of visitors had been disgorged at the quays that very morning for the same purpose. The attendance was estimated at 500,000 people.

On the wide road between the R.A.C. grandstand and the long curved line of pits there seethed a mass of excited spectators, pressing around the racing cars despite the good-humoured efforts of the police, flags floated in the breeze, the air was rent by the sudden clamour of a started engine, and the roar of excited talk, greeting, good wishes and chaff combined in that atmosphere peculiar to the start of a classic road race.

The starting hour drew near. The roads were cleared, the stands filled, Lord Abercorn and his suite arrived to take seats in the Royal box, and then, quite before anyone realized it and without any preliminary warning whatever, the first group—the M.G. Magnettes—modestly and unostentatiously broke into life and shot off down the road, headed by W. G.{Mr Griffiths - Chief Accountant / Mr Gnapp} Everitt in the car Nuvolari should have been driving, followed by G.{Mr Griffiths - Chief Accountant / Mr Gnapp} Eyston, leading his own team of three M.G. Magnettes.

Thrills Start at Once
Things continued to happen and A.{Mr Adams} P. Hamilton (M.G. Magnette) missed the sandbags at Newtownards by inches, H.{Arthur M. Hanbury - Head Complaints} J.{Mr Johnson W.M.} Aldington (Frazer-Nash) missed the turn altogether and went up the escape road, Powys-Lybbe's exhaust pipe fell off his Alvis and Norman Black, out of luck to-day, heard an important noise in his engine and stopped for an enquiry at Comber—for a long, long time.

The Start, Group by Group
Thereafter, group by group, according to handicap, the entire field joined in, with Powys-Lybbe's Silver Eagle Alvis last, but by no means least, until the road was empty, just as the squalling squadron of M.G.s was screaming through the twists and turns of Ballystockart on the downhill rush to Dundonald.

On the very first lap E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} R.{Sir Henry Royce} Hall came very near to retiring not too gracefully from the race, when his Bentley flung itself into a gigantic skid at the Moate, but Hall pulled it straight again. On this very same lap, Hamilton brought the 1½-litre six-cylinder Riley into the pits for plugs, the first to stop.

ORDER at 11.30 a.m.
1. Hall (Bentley), 77.87 m.p.h.
2. Hindmarsh (Lagonda), 76.51 m.p.h.
3. Eyston (M.G. Magnette), 75.40 m.p.h.
4. Dodson (M.G. Magnette), 73.55 m.p.h.
5. Hon. Brian Lewis (Lagonda), 76.90 m.p.h.
6. Hindmarsh (Lagonda), 76.78 m.p.h., 18 secs.

The Ford team was early in trouble, for less than half an hour after the start Sullivan was changing plugs at the pits. The Frazer Nashes dashed up to adjust brakes and rushed off again. Powys-Lybbe brought in his Alvis to mend the broken exhaust (borrowing parts from a sister car in the enclosure to do it), and then Hall (Bentley) set up a record lap at 79.31 m.p.h. while Lord Howe...

OFFICIAL RESULTS
1. C. J.{Mr Johnson W.M.} P. Dodson (M.G. Magnette) 6 hrs. 13 mins. 24 secs., 74.65 m.p.h.
2. E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} R.{Sir Henry Royce} Hall (3.6-litre Bentley), 6 hrs. 13 mins. 41 secs., 78.40 m.p.h.
3. T. Fothringham (1½-litre Aston-Martin), 6 hrs. 16 mins. 15 secs., 74.35 m.p.h.
4. Hon. Brian Lewis (4.4-litre Lagonda), 6 hrs. 17 mins. 31 secs., 77.37 m.p.h.
5. J.{Mr Johnson W.M.} S. Hindmarsh (4.4-litre Lagonda), 6 hrs. 18 mins. 29 secs., 77.38 m.p.h.
6. L. P. Driscoll (1½-litre Aston-Martin), 6 hrs. 18 mins. 47 secs., 74.05 m.p.h.
7. C. Penn-Hughes (1½-litre Aston-Martin), 6 hrs. 20 mins. 54 secs., 73.65 m.p.h.
8. John Cobb (4.4-litre Lagonda), 6 hrs. 21 mins. 42 secs., 76.54 m.p.h.
9. A.{Mr Adams} F.{Mr Friese} P. Fane and A.{Mr Adams} von der Becke (Riley Nine), 6 hrs. 25 mins. 47 secs., 67.87 m.p.h.
10. W. M.{Mr Moon / Mr Moore} Rose-Richards (2.9-litre Talbot), 6 hrs. 27 mins. 59 secs., 70.83 m.p.h.
11. N. McClure (Riley Nine), 6 hrs. 37 mins. 65.88 m.p.h.
12. P. L. Fairfield (Riley Nine), 6 hrs. 46 mins. 2 secs., 68.42 m.p.h.
13. Lord Howe (2.9-litre Talbot), 6 hrs. 49 mins., 67.95 m.p.h.
14. A.{Mr Adams} P. Hamilton (M.G. Magnette), 6 hrs. 49 mins., 71.39 m.p.h.
15. Hon. Peter Mitchell-Thomson (1½-litre Frazer-Nash), 6 hrs. 52 mins. 20 secs., 68.58 m.p.h.
16. S. H.{Arthur M. Hanbury - Head Complaints} Newsome (Riley), 6 hrs. 49 mins. 1 sec., 67.57 m.p.h.
17. N. V.{VIENNA} Terry (1½-litre Frazer-Nash), 6 hrs. 52 mins. 22 secs., 67.95 m.p.h.

TEAM PRIZE.
Aston-Martin team—T. Fothringham, L. P. Driscoll and C. Penn-Hughes.

Photo Captions:
The most spectacular crash of the day: H.{Arthur M. Hanbury - Head Complaints} B. Prestwich (Riley) disappearing over the hedge at Quarry Corner in the early stages of the race, for-tunately without serious effects. Current reports were that his mechanic was not injured either—which were quite fair, due to his being at his pit at the time!

(Above) Charles Dodson and his wife meekly suffer-ing congratulations after his splendid win, 17 secs. in front of E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} R.{Sir Henry Royce} Hall (Bentley), who is seen (on the right) with Mrs. Hall, celebrating the result.
  
  


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