|
1927 in Retrospect
Specially Contributed
Published in "Motor
Sport", January 1928
As each year's racing season draws to a close,
it is as well to give a critical glance at its results
and notice the features which mark its story, and in.
this way it is perhaps opportune to attempt to investigate
what 1927 has brought forth. The past year cannot be
said to have been brilliantly successful from the motor
racing point of view, though it was perhaps better than
1926, but nevertheless it presents certain characteristics
which are worth noting.
French Pre-eminence.
In the first place France has now definitely regained
her position as the premier motor racing country in
the world. Hardly an important race in 1927 for racing
cars proper has been won by a machine of any other nationality.
If 1926 was a Bugatti year, the past season has been
a truimphal procession for Delage. Out of the five races
counting for the championship of the world, Louis Delage
has won all four which were run in Europe ; but this
is not the full tale of his triumph. In the French and
British Grands Prix, three of his cars started and gained
the first three places ; and in the European Grand Prix
at Monza, a single car started and gained the first
place. The Spanish Grand Prix was the least successful
of the four, for in that race three Delages started
and finished first and third, the remaining car falling
by the wayside ; yet this result would more than satisfy
most manufacturers. The Championship of the world has
never before been won in so convincing a manner as by
Louis Delage in 1927.
Though beaten this year in the championship races, Bugatti
has not got out of the habit of carrying off the honours.
A third consecutive Targa Florio win is another feather
in France's cap, to say nothing of the San Sebastian
Grand Prix and the 200 Miles Race ; and wherever important
amateur races have been held, Bugattis have almost always
carried off the spoils.
British Insignificance.
As a contrast to this, it is not encouraging to look
at the part that England has played in this year's events.
Enthusiasts in this country are sufficiently aware of
our unenviable position, but it cannot be too often
repeated that somehow we must pull ourselves together.
The truth of the matter is that, as a motor racing country,
England as become insignificant. In the French Grand
Prix there is one amateur starter, who could not possibly
hope to compete against cars with big organisations
behind them; in the other foreign championship races
Great Britain is left unrepresented. Finally we run
one of the races ourselves, and the only cars built
in this country which can be found to compete in it
are again two machines entered by amateurs. An impartial
judge could only come to the conclusion, that we are
incapable of doing any better...
The Italian Collapse.
At the same time, France's other serious competitor,
Italy, has suffered a complete eclipse. Of recent years
the Italian cars entered have been expected to win every
big race, and more often than not they have done so.
This year their own big road race, the Targa Florio,
has been left entirely in the hands of Bugatti, with
only the small firm of Maserati attempting to put up
any fight against the French cars. In the championship
races, Italy is unrepresented at Montlhery and Brooklands,
and again only one Maserati appears at San Sebastian.
In her own race at Monza she is represented by two 0.M.'s,
which having figured on the entry lists of the big races
for the past two years without ever appearing are now
old racing cars, and while able to beat the Americans,
cannot live with the brilliant Delages.
American Isolation.
It cannot but be regretted that the Delages, having
swept all before them in Europe, were not entered for
the Indianapolis race. America, in fact, is becoming
entirely isolated from the rest of the world as far
as motor racing is concerned. The transatlantic 15oo
c.c. racers are capable of winning races in their own
country at far higher speeds than can be achieved with
their rivals over here ; yet the best American racing
cars are easily beaten on this side, as happened this
year at Monza. The cars are apparently built for the
same rules, yet the difference in conception and execution
between an American " straight " track racer
and a European machine which has to meet something like
road conditions is becoming more and more marked every
year. It is a great pity that the time seems to have
arrived when it is practically impossible for European
racers to run in American races, and vice versa, with
any hope of success.
The Position of Design.
As far as design is concerned, 1927 may be said to have
set the seal on what may be described as the standard
layout for a modern 1500 c.c.-racer, as exemplified
by the Delage. A straight-eight engine with a supercharger
has been used this year by practically all the competitors
in the big races—Delage, Talbot, Bugatti, Maserati,
O.M., and Alvis. It is interesting to note, however,
that Delage uses the Hotchkiss drive on his racing cars,
which appears to be losing favour in the touring car
world. Perhaps the most interesting design which the
season has produced is the new r2-cylinder Fiat built
on the principle of two 6-cylinder engines placed side
by side with their crankshafts geared together. The
idea is not new—it was used for aero engines by
Fiat and Bugatti several years ago—but it is a
novelty for a racing car, and the performance of the
Fiats, after their brilliant victory in the Milan Grand
Prix, will be watched with interest in 1928.
The Touring Car Races.
If the story of 1927 is not encouraging from a national
point of view as far as the Grand Prix. type races are
concerned, the performance of British cars in races
for standard productions is distinctly meritorious.
Thanks to Bentley, the two important touring car 24-hour
events on the continent have both been won by British
cars. The Grand Prix d' Endurance came very near to
being a British grand slam, and would have been but
for a mere accident ; one can learn useful knowledge
even from an accident, however, and in future it is
certain that if one team has an undisputed superiority
in speed over its rivals, it will not run in line ahead
formation, and thus expose all its cars to elimination
in a general mix-up. The victory, in spite of its accident
of the crippled 3-litre Bentley driven by J. D. Benjafield
and S. C. H. Davis, will always remain an epic, and
even if the competition was not as keen as in the past,
it is a great thing to have won a race with a car which
was damaged in the early part of the race. The sequel
to this in the form of the victory won by the 41-litre
car in the Paris Grand Prix at Montlhery has proved
to the hilt the present pre-eminence of Great Britain
in this field of activity.
|
