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with increased cars on the road that London traffic disclosed problems not disclosed by the
Chateauroux trials, so included two or three thousand miles of driving in London traffic. Typical problems were clutch troubles, plugs misfiring or overheating from running the engine while standing in a traffic jam.
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could out-perform its famous predecessors. He said it was easier to make a car go fast than to operate under all climate conditions for the average customer. Their
Continental testing required 25,000 road miles (while provided free holiday transport e.g. to winter skiing at Davos!). They were finding
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The circuit started at
Dundonald at the Dundonald Hairpin, then past the R.A.C. Grandstand to the Quarry Corner. The Central Bar was a popular viewing point for the Dundonald Hairpin. At Dundonald the Carpark, Enclosure and Pits were near the R.A.C. Grandstand, and the pits were still visible until
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he averaged 80.81 mph, again the highest speed. He was second on handicap, beaten by 26 seconds by Dodson & Dixon in a Riley. In the large class Hall was up against teams of three
Lagondas and three Delahydes (which Rowbotham considered a semi-racing car as the very short Delahyde chassis
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as a lone entry could be forced off the road by a works entry or a minor mechanical fault, and the
Engineering Department knew nothing about racing (the last Rolls-Royce entries in a TT race were on the Isle of Man in 1905 and 1906 – winning in 1906). He would be responsible for the car, which was
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a local driver Jack
Chambers skidded on the Newtownards railway bridge while approaching the Strangford Arms in Newtownards, demolishing a lamp post and mowing down a crowd standing against the wall. The driver (Chambers) was not seriously injured but eight spectators were killed, and the race was
75:, Northern Ireland. Races were run in a clockwise direction, starting at 11 am. Initially races were of 30 laps for a total distance of 652 km (405 mi); from 1933 races were of 35 laps for a total distance of 760 km (470 mi).
164:. During the second pit stop one of the wheel nuts partially seized and the stop took 5½ minutes. Several smaller cars were on their third lap before the larger cars like the Bentley and the two Lagondas driven by Hon Brian Lewis and
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started. There was a dramatic duel with Lewis’s
Lagonda who passed Hall and took the lead when Hall slid on the road by the butcher’s shop in Comber; Hall, Lewis and Cobb ran in a pack for the first few laps, then Cobb fell behind.
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could not carry a normal four-seater body). A Lagonda, the next big car, was almost nine minutes behind him. After 1936 the circuit was abandoned, to
Rowbotham’s relief as he thought three entries with a lone car was
180:. Hall averaged 78.4 mph for the race with the best average speed of any entrant. He came second and 17 seconds behind to Dodson in a M.G. who won with a time of 6 hours, 13 minutes and 24 seconds. Hall had done
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Eddie Hall and his wife (who was his pit manager) were both worried about the car’s quietness and lack of drama or final adjustments before the race. A previous entry of theirs
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on the winding sections so the circuit did not suit the larger
Bentley or Rolls-Bentley cars. The only long straight stretch for high speeds was from Newtownards to Comber.
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So Hall ran again in 1935, losing on handicap by 1 minute and 13 seconds to a Riley, and again the fastest time of the race with an average speed of 80.34 mph.
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was instrumental in setting up the race. As
Northern Ireland's premier sporting event, it regularly attracted crowds in excess of a quarter of a million people.
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The record of the highest average speed in all three races helped the Sales department, as some old Bentley customers doubted if the first
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practice (to save his M.G. for the race itself ), and was impressed by its performance. It was the first new Bentley model or
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sports car races from 1928 until 1936, when eight spectators died in an accident. Industrialist and pioneer of the modern
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the 1960s. At Newtownards the right-angle Town Hall corner led to the Newtownards - Comber straight.
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who had competed in the TT races of 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932 and 1933 on the Ards Circuit asked
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the last on the circuit after reactions that spectators should be adequately safeguarded.
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had required four different types of sparking plug to keep it firing on its six cylinders
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The entries were handicapped to cater for cars of different sizes and capabilities, and
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prepared in the factory and then a non-stop 12 hours endurance run; the power of the
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The triangular circuit 21.7 km (13.5 mi) long ran between the towns of
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In 1936 Hall drove single-handed a Bentley with the larger 4¼-litre engine. In
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after Rolls-Royce acquired Bentley in 1931, and was known as
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for support as a private entry in 1934. He had taken the
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wrote that large cars could often be baulked by smaller
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Start of the 1929 RAC Tourist Trophy at the Ards Circuit
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The Rolls-Royce Motor Car and the Bentley since 1931
172:After the race the team celebrated in Belfast, and
551:Defunct motorsportsport venues in Northern Ireland
157:was increased from 114 bhp to 131 bhp.
144:agreed and Rolls-Royce supplied a support team.
253:Ireland, Culture Northern (23 December 2005).
182:far better than I (Rowbotham) thought possible
116:competent and successful amateur racing driver
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197:tempting fate to the limit ... a 100-1 chance
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140:. The company was initially reluctant, but
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99:spinning off the road in all directions
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384:Bird, Anthony; Hallows, Ian (1984).
292:"Memorial revives Ards TT memories"
375:Rowbotham, William Arthur (1970).
14:
400:(5th edition, 1st edition 1964)
228:"History of Ards TT Dundrod TT"
1:
377:Silver Ghosts and Silver Dawn
93:In 1936 with the race run in
556:Sports venues in County Down
482:Cookstown - Orritor Circuit
587:
462:Bishopscourt - Downpatrick
255:"The Tourist Trophy Races"
176:put in an expense account
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388:. London: B.T. Batsford.
155:slightly hotted-up engine
530:White Mountain - Lisburn
472:Coleraine - The Triangle
259:Culture Northern Ireland
320:Bird & Hallows 1984
561:Dundonald, County Down
21:
512:Nutt's Corner Circuit
208:the silent sports car
138:the silent sports car
97:and with contestants
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379:. London: Constable.
148:thought the project
41:agricultural tractor
112:Edward Ramsden Hall
106:Rolls-Royce entries
497:Kirkistown Circuit
467:Carrowdore Circuit
281:, pp. 86, 87.
178:To champagne – £45
37:RAC Tourist Trophy
22:
538:
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487:Cranfield Circuit
452:Ards - TT Circuit
447:Aghadowey Circuit
435:Northern Ireland
367:, pp. 86–88.
352:, pp. 85–86.
337:, pp. 82–87.
142:Arthur Sidgreaves
126:; to Italy for a
27:was a motorsport
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298:. 18 August 2008
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192:shocking weather
124:Bentley 3½-Litre
95:shocking weather
33:Northern Ireland
25:The Ards Circuit
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492:Dundrod Circuit
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437:racing circuits
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234:. 20 April 2015
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365:Rowbotham 1970
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350:Rowbotham 1970
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335:Rowbotham 1970
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322:, p. 146.
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279:Rowbotham 1970
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45:Harry Ferguson
29:street circuit
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477:Clady Circuit
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457:Armoy Circuit
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134:Derby Bentley
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80:W. O. Bentley
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507:Mid - Antrim
502:Lake Torrent
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300:. Retrieved
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262:. Retrieved
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236:. Retrieved
232:RMS Motoring
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174:Ernest Hives
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150:sheer lunacy
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129:Mille Miglia
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566:Newtownards
120:Rolls-Royce
73:County Down
61:Newtownards
51:Description
545:Categories
264:3 February
238:3 February
215:References
63:(known as
520:Tandragee
516:St Angelo
302:5 January
166:John Cobb
146:Rowbotham
84:baby cars
57:Dundonald
35:used for
206:Bentley
110:In 1934
571:Comber
392:
69:Comber
67:) and
204:Derby
390:ISBN
304:2009
266:2019
240:2019
65:Ards
296:BBC
71:in
31:in
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357:^
342:^
327:^
312:^
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114:a
59:,
43:,
427:e
420:t
413:v
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
