Los Angeles herald., 1910-03-20
BENZ AND FIAT
GREAT RIVALS
CONTEST AT M0T0RDROME TO
DECIDE SUPREMACY
Limit Of Speed viii Be Reached When
Car Goes to Pieces, Says
Oldfie Id--DriVers
Determined

The assertion of Manager MoskoVcs
that the actual power of the big cars
coming to the motordrome inaugural
meet has never been tested will arouse
new interest in the matches. The
power of neither the Oldfeld Benz nor
the De Palma Fiat has been measured
on a dynamometer. r. r. Hollander.
manager of the Fiat Automobile com
pany in New York. says the "Mephis-
topheles" will develop POS horse power.
Jesse F'roelich. manager of the Benz
Import company of America, insists
that his Company's machine has con-
siderable more power than the Fiat.
Thousands of dollars have already
been Wagered in New York on the
motordrome match between De Palma
and Odheld, mostly at even money.
No money is UP. however. between the
Fiat and Benz representatives in this
country.
1t is practically impossible to give an
idea of the tremendous speed which
Will be shown on the motordrome track.
At the speed which Oldfeld, De Palma,
Robertson and other famous drivers
are expected to develop there is tre-
mendous wind resistance. II is re-
garded a s almost certain that the big
batch will show better speed than 12O
miles an hour. for the Benz has trav-
eled 1919 miles an hour and the Fiat
has done 121 miles. Both records were
made on the Brooklands track, while
the recent records by Oldfeld at Day
tona show even greater possibilities.
At 120 miles an hour neither driver
nor mechanic can hold an arm i'm the
air because Of the wind resistance. 1t
Is impossible To use ordinary goggles
on the eyes. The goggles must have
the finest spectacle glass that can he
obtained, and they must be made so
that the frame does not touch the face
within two inches below the eyes, 9th
erwise the wind would press the frame
so closely against the eye that the
sight would be blurred.
Both Oldfeld and De Palma regard
the Los Angeles motordrome as a dis
tinct step in approaching the actual
limits of speed, and they figure that
it's opening means complete new set
of records.
De Palma, who looks on the motor
drome inaugural as the chance of his
life, especially since he will have the
Fiat Mephistopheles. on which his
heart is set, is "A strong booster for the
Los Angeles board track
THE course of the Los Angeles mo-
tordrome being a perfect circle" said
De Palma the other day, lit will be a
decided advantage over the oval for
making great speed. Cars may whirl
at very nearly constant speed, having
no bad turns to negotiate. Having
raced motorcycles on the Springfield,
Mass, board track, which is only one
third the size of the Southern Calfor-
MIA one. I am convinced of this.
Nearly Like straightaway
perhaps very few persons have ever
stopped To consider that on mile |
banked track which is an absolute cir |
Gle pilots will be able 10 drive under |
conditions not greatly different from |
straightaWay going. Figuring it out |
mathematically. [ believe you will find |
that driver has to deViate from a |
straight line only one inch i'm every !
sixtY-four feet. Inasmuch as the curve |
is constant and the steering wheel |
must be set to vary only slightly when |
passing other cars. a. driver will be /
able to devote more attention to man
ipulation of his motor rather than
steering wheel
In my estimation the twenty three
degree banking on the new course
will be sufficient to counteract CEN
trifugal force. 1t will surprise me
greatly if cars show any tendency to
skid on the board surface; the trac-
ton ought to be ideal All the other
drivers seem in favor of the planks,
and I have great confidence in Jack
Princes ability to produce the proper
article. 7 am not surprised that the
east is much interested in the new
Pacific coast course
Barney Oldfeld is equally confident
as to the Los Angeles pie pan" He
brought out new wrinkle in discuss
ing the motordromo at Daytona yes
terday when he said:
"When l was a kid I lived i'm the
oil region of Ohio and I used to watch
the wagons go out from my little town
loaded with nitro-glycerin with which
to shoot the wells. That was the
limit of daring to mo at tho time-to
see a fellow sit up on the front seat
driving "A pair of half-tamed horses
the wagon jolting along over a rough
road I used to hear the wise
villagers tell of what would happen if
went wrong, and once |
went out to where a wagon had blown
up. It must have blown the poor
driver clear through to China. There {
was nothing left but a huge hole in
the ground.
THAT Nitro glycerin chance is not
half as dangerous as the chance De
Palma and ! will take on the track
with the great cars we are to drive. ;
The thing ] most dread now is the ,
limit Of speed. Limit of speed Did
Won ever stop and think that there is ]