Text and pictures with courtesy of hathitrust.org hathitrust.org; compiled by motorracinghistory.com
MOTOR AGE VOL. XX, No. 22, NOVEMBER 30, 1911
Vanderbilt a Mulford-De Palma Duel Running of the Great American Classic
Lozier and Mercedes Put Up Terrific Battle for the Old Trophy – Foreign Car Leads in Early Stages But Once in the minds of those who watched the chang Lead American Holds First Place With Bulldog Tenacity.
Lap by Lap Story of the Fight for the Vanderbilt at Savannah – How Mulford in Lozier Showed Way Home to Pick of Foreign Flock, Making a Sensational Average for Race
THE duel from start to finish between Ralph Mulford and Ralph DePalma in the Vanderbilt was one that will long live in the minds of those who watched the changing conditions. In a word, DePalma took the lead in the race for the first four laps and then Mulford took it for the remaining thirteen. DePalma led Mulford by 1:10 at the end of the fourth lap, which was changed to a Lozier by 53 seconds at the end of lap five, DePalma having to change tires on the course and stop at the grand- stand pits for 2 minutes while tires were put in the rack and oil and water taken on, the result being the Mulford had a lead of 2:06 at the end of lap six. He increased it to 2:14 in lap 7 and at the end of lap 8, with the race practically half over, Lozier had a lead of 5:19 and lap 9 saw the Lozier’s lead increased to 5:29. This was the greatest margin that separated the two at any point in the contest.
Battle of Gladiators
DePalma cut 4 seconds off of Mulford in lap 10 and lap 11 saw 2 more seconds cut off. It was a gallant chase that dePalma was putting up and an equally gallant race that Mulford was giving him. Three more seconds were cut off in lap 12 so that at the end of this circuit Mulford had a lead of 5:20. It was at the end of this lap that Mulford slowed down to change a left rear tire and take on gasoline and oil, losing all told 1:06. He lost more because the Savannah people were anxious to have him cross the tape so that his time for the distance might be taken. At this point he had covered 205 miles and the crowds wanted to know if he had beaten the speed at the recent Santa Monica race which was at a distance of 202 miles. Mulford stopped at his pit before crossing the tape, then crossed the tape so his time was taken and then backed up to the pit. It was dangerous work with so hot a pursuer. The result was that at the end of lap 13 he had a lead of but 3:47 on the Mercedes, which was being pushed hard, dePaima doing the lap in 13:27, which proved to be his third fastest in the race.
At the end of lap 14 the lead of 3:47 was cut to 3:38. Excitement was intense at the end of lap 15 when Mulford had to stop to put a tire on the rack, which cost him 10 seconds. Taking on a tire meant that he had made a change on the course and when the time was announced for this lap he had a lead of but 2:33 with two laps yet between him and victory. In spite of changing a tire on the course and stopping at the pit he made the lap in 14:43. Laps sixteen and seventeen were anguishing processions. Everybody wondered – ondered if the Lozier would have to change another tire and if so, the Mercedes would almost overtake it. At the end of lap sixteen there was 2:07 between the speed monsters at which time both were given the green flag by the starter, meaning one more lap to go.
Throughout the entire last lap the grandstand sat or stood spellbound. Nobody noticed the other passing cars, but all ears were strained to hear the megaphone announcements. As these told of the progress of the two contenders the uncertainty continued. Finally the Lozier was announced as being in the home stretch; a few seconds later he was in the grandstand turn for the last time and then the checkered flag ended his part of the drama amid deafening cheers. As the Mercedes carried No. 10 and Lozier No 8, the Lozier had a minute lead and so everybody knew that to win DePalma had to get his Mer- cedes across the tape inside of that minute. Seconds chased one another, finally but a few remained and no DePalma. At last he came, tearing down the stretch as he had done in the second lap when he made the record for the course. The crowd knew he was defeated but had learned to love his sportsmanship. They jumped to their feet and greeted him as they had greeted Mulford a couple of minutes be- fore. When the official times were announced it was seen that the Lozier had a margin of 2:11.28, it having gained 4 seconds on the Mercedes in the last circuit. In analyzing the performances of the two cars on the seventeen circuits the Mercedes made fourteen of the seventeen circuits under the 14-minute mark, which means over 73.5 miles per hour. The record of 13:14 is 78 miles per hour. The following were his laps: 13:14, 13:16, 13:27, 13:32, 13:33, 13:33, 13:36, 13:38, 13:38, 13:42, 13:43, 13:45, 13:46, and 13:50. He had three slow laps namely 5, 6 and 7 in 15:39, 15:12 and 17:07 seconds.
As compared with this the winning Lozier made thirteen laps under the 14-minute mark, the fastest one being the seventh in 13:25. Mulford showed remarkable regularity by doing four laps in 13:41 each and three in 13:45 each and two in 13:38-each. His slow laps due to tires and fuel were 8, 13, 16 and 15.
Lap by Lap Story
Lap 1 – It was a whirlwind start, six of the fourteen starters setting out to do the distance under the 14-minute mark and they did it. Ralph DePalma, the favorite before the start, set the pace with a lap in 13:33 or 76.5 miles per hour and Patschke in the Marmon was close by in 13:41 with Wishart in another Mercedes, the Mulford Lozier and the Matson Fiat close behind. It was a magnificent opening spectacle.
Everybody wondered what the course would be and when the opening lap was so favorable everyone looked for the establishing of new road race marks. Starter Wagner got them away at 30-second intervals and it was a long 7-minute wait from the time Matson left the tape until the megaphone announced, „car coming.“ Down the stretch a white meteor flashed towards the big grandstand turn and Grant in No. 1 Lozier, first away, was first to cross the tape. Behind him came Burman in his yellow Marmon, a literal streak as it flew down the black polished roadway. Scarcely had Burman passed the judges‘ stand than the somber gray Wishart Mercedes took the curve in arrow-like fashion and was gone. Disbrow in the Pope-Hummer was not 200 yards back of him. Then came a wait, seconds seemed minutes and minutes, hours. Eyes were strained into the bushes on the stretch where the black ribbon of road emerged from the foliage.
A wait and then a yellow flash and Patschke in his Marmon came and went. Another glance saw Mulford in his white Lozier and with white uniform chase Disbrow. These five were ahead of the rest of the field. Then followed a wait. Everyone was anxious. Presently the gray No. 10 Mercedes of DePalma shot into the curve and was gone. Behind him came No. 9 Jackson, the only time the grandstand was to get a sight of it. It withdrew in the second lap.
Everybody looked for some of the red Fiats; they all started late, their numbers being 11, 14 and 15. Parker in No. 11 came first. A blue Abbott was next. No. 9, driven by Mitchell, and then came 15 and 14 Fiats, Matson, driving 15, having passed his team mate on the opening lap. With all passed the grandstand the crowd settled down to witness the score boards and see how the struggle progressed.
Lap 2 – This was a Mercedes lap, with de Palma first, Wishart third and Pat- schke’s Marmon sandwiched between. Mulford was running in fourth place. This was a bad lap for Grant who lost a tire and dropped to tenth place. DePalma did the circuit in 13:14, which proved to be the fastest circuit of the race, a pace of 77.6 miles per hour. Mulford put himself in fourth place in the opening lap and held it. Parker’s No. 11 Fiat was but 26 seconds back of him. These five, Mercedes, Marmon, Mercedes, Lozier and Fiat, already were in a bunch by themselves in the lead. Back of them came another group made up of Burman in a Marmon, Brown in a Fiat and Hughes in a Mercer, Grant in Lozier already was having tire troubles and was 5½ minutes behind DePalma. Back of him came the Abbotts. At this time there was 16 minutes between the first and last cars, with one car out, No. 5 Jackson.
Lap 3 – This lap saw the first big shuffling up and changing of positions among the speed kings. The first four leaders remained unchanged, namely Mercedes, Marmon, Mercedes and Lozier, but here it ended. Burman pushed No. 2 Marmon to the front and took second place and Parker’s Fiat, which dropped from fifth to ninth. No. 15, Matson’s Fiat, stopped to take on water due to a leaky connection and so dropped to seventh place. Disbrow established himself in eighth position with Parker and Grant below him. The two Abbotts were next, with Hughes in a Mercer last. No cars dropped out in this lap, but the Mercer had troubles that brought about its withdrawal in the next circuit.
Lap 4 – The cars were stringing out in this lap. It was a foreign lap with the Mercedes first and second, DePalma in the lead and Wishart second, having nosed Patschke’s Marmon out, which dropped to sixth position. Mulford had gained third place and was only 1 second behind Wishart, the figures being: Wishart, 54:55; Mulford, 54:56. But DePalma had the other Mercedes 1 minute 11 seconds in the lead. The cars were roughly in three groups, Disbrow, Grant and Matson in the second with the two Abbotts in the third.
Lap 5 – This lap was epoch-making as it saw the dislodgement of the European representatives, and the American car forged to front, Mulford’s Lozier taking DePalma’s place as leader, which he held to the end. But it was still worse for the Mer- cedes people as Wishart stopped for a tire change and lost 2 minutes, the new rim not fitting. This put him from second to fifth place and moved up Burman and Brown. Below this the order of affairs remained the same excepting that No. 15 Fiat dropped out because of a broken radiator trunnion. There were three cars out with but five laps covered. At this time Grant and Disbrow were having a pretty duel. They passed the grandstand not a length apart on the fourth lap. Lap 6 Changes came in this lap. Mul ford’s Lozier held first place but DePalma dropped from second position to third, Burman by fast driving having supplanted him with a margin of almost 1 minute, while Mulford had in turn a lead of 1 minute on him. In fact, each of the four leaders, Mulford, Burman, DePalma and Brown, were 1 minute apart. Wishart was fifth and 3 minutes behind the first group. Grant and Disbrow were still together, the latter leading by 46 seconds. They were both 8 minutes back of the leaders. One Abbott was 7 minutes back of them and the other 27 minutes back. As Bruce-Brown passed in his Fiat it was known that the rear axle was badly sprung, the wheel toeing out. The referee had issued instructions to stop him on the following lap, but this was unnecessary for soon a megaphone announcement told of his losing the left rear wheel on a turn, and he was out in the following lap.
Lap 7 – This was not an eventful lap. Bruce-Brown in the Fiat dropped out when in fourth place and so moved those below him up, putting Wishart’s Mercedes fourth, Patschke’s Marmon fifth and Parker’s Fiat sixth. Disbrow was seventh, Grant eighth and Abbotts ninth and last.
Lap 8 – This lap was disastrous to the American field in that Burman’s Marmon, which he had put in second place and only 1 minute 7 seconds back of Mulford, went out because of magneto trouble. Wishart put his Mercedes from fourth into second place with de Palma in third, Parker fourth, Disbrow fifth and Grant sixth. Patschke dropped from fifth to eighth and went out in the following lap, the report being engine troubles. The contest was now resolving itself into a Lozier-Mercedes duel just as the Savannah race a few hours before became Mercer-Marmon duel. Grant was well up in his climb from tenth place, being now in sixth and as after events showed continued this upward march until in third position.
Lap 9 – This lap brought more American disaster, though not unexpected as Patschke, who had been long looked for, was declared out, leaving Mulford and Grant to uphold the American end of the race against the two Mercedes and Grant’s Fiat. By this time the cars had all settled down to a definite performance. The race was half over and there was little change in the order, which was Mulford, Wishart, DePalma, Disbrow, Grant, Parker and the two Abbotts. Disbrow and Grant had passed up, lowering Parker from fourth to sixth place. Six of the fourteen cars that started were out. There was 50 minutes between the leading Lozier and No. 7 Abbott. Both of the Abbotts were much lower powered than the other cars, but they showed remarkable regularity, No. 9 doing particularly reliable work.
Lap 10 – there was only one change in this lap, this being Grant’s Lozier climbing into fourth and pushing the Disbrow Pope into fifth position. This was the end of a duel between these two cars that had continued practically from the fourth lap. At this point Grant was gradually pulling away, his lead being 11 seconds. At this part of the race Mulford was leading the two Mercedes by 4 and 5 minutes and Grant was 5 minutes back of them. Parker’s Fiat was 2 minutes behind Grant.
Lap 11 – This lap saw Wishart’s Mercedes drop from second to sixth place, putting DePalma in second, Grant third, Disbrow fourth and Parker fifth. Disbrow had his troubles on the back stretch and he was 22:45 on the circuit, one of the longest of any of the leaders that finished. DePalma made the lap in 13:42 and Mulford in 13:45, both running very closely together. No. 9 Abbott was maintaining its place by going the circuit in 15:08, a pace of 68 miles per hour.
Laps 12 and 13 – Not a single change in the position of the contestants occurred in these laps. In lap twelve Mulford stopped 1 minute 6 seconds to change a left rear shoe and take on gasoline and oil. Disbrow stopped to change a left rear, losing 1 minute 35 seconds. Wishart was traveling fast in these laps and was rapidly cutting down the lead that Grant in third place had on him. DePalma also was traveling very fast and, due to Mulford having to stop, had cut his 5-minute lead to about 2 minutes. This marked part of the grand struggle on the part of both de Palma and Wishart to dislodge the leading Lozier. The Lozier had 5 minutes on DePalma, 13 minutes on Wishart, 14 minutes on Parker’s Fiat and 13 on Disbrow.
The finish – laps fourteen, fifteen, sixteen and seventeen can properly be considered together because in lap fourteen Wishart climbed out of third place and from that to the end there was not a change in the positions of the eight cars that were running. This order was Mulford, DePalma, Wishart, Grant, Parker, Disbrow and Mitchell and Limberg in Abbotts. As told in another place, the fight for first place was between DePalma and Mulford in these four laps. Mulford had to stop to change a tire on the back stretch and also to take a new casing on at the pits, this cutting his lead of 5 minutes to 2. But with only a couple of laps to go the handicap was too much for the Mercedes. Wishart was firm in third and Grant safe in fourth, having 4 minutes lead on Parker, who was fifth. Six cars finished the entire seventeen laps and the two Ab- botts were running at the finish. No. 9 finished sixteen laps and No. 7 finished 14. Six cars dropped out of the race for one reason or another.
Photo captions.
Page 4. LOUIS DISBROW IN CASE – HUGHES IN MERCER, TRAINING FOR THE RACES
TABLE SHOWING RESULTS IN THE SAVANNAH CHALLENGE CUP RACE WHICH WAS WON BY HUGH HUGHES IN A MERCER
OFFICIAL RESULTS IN RACE FOR TIEDMAN CUP, WHICH WAS WON BY WITT IN AN E-M-F
Page 5. DE PALMA IN MERCEDES IN HOMESTRETCH SPRINT – KNIPPER IN MERCER
Page 6. MAGNIFICENT STRETCH ON WATERS ROAD AT SAVANNAH – ERWIN BERGDOLL IN HIS GRAND PRIX BENZ
THEIR FASTEST LAPS VANDERBILT CUP – SAVANNAH CUP – TIEDEMAN CUP
Page 7. VIEW OF SAVANNAH HOMESTRETCH BEFORE THE RACES – LOUIS DISBROW IN POPE IN THE VANDERBILT
LAP POSITIONS OF ALL CARS IN THE THREE RACES, VANDERBILT – SAVANNAH – TIEDEMAN
Page 8. HEMERY IN GRAND PRIX BENZ – CYRUS PATSCHKE IN HIS GRAND PRIX MARMON – LOUIS WAGNER IN GRAND PRIX FIAT
Running of Savannah Cup
THE race for the Savannah trophy was started this morning at 8 o’clock and was for a distance of 222.82 miles or thirteen laps of the circuit. Seven cars started, three Mercers, two Marmon’s and two Case specials. Hughie Hughes, driving No. 22 Mercer, won, going the 222.82 miles in 195 minutes and 37 seconds or 68.34 miles per hour. Heinemann, driving a Marmon, was second, being 4 minutes behind the Mercer. Third place was won by Nikrent in another Marmon.
This race was a Mercer-Marmon duel from the fifth lap to the end. Up to the fifth lap Disbrow, driving the Case Special, led with Mercer’s second and Marmon’s third. Disbrow withdrew in the fifth lap, owing to motor troubles and this put the Hughes Mercer into the lead, which position it maintained until the end. The Mercer-Marmon duel was an interesting one from start to finish. It was not a case of one Marmon contesting against one Mercer, but the three Mercers were waging war against the two Marmons with varying success, although Hughes never was headed.
This race was started at 8 o’clock this morning with the ground white with frost, which made it cold during the first few laps. Disbrow started out to burn up the course and without doubt would have been an easy winner had his car held up. He made his first lap 22 seconds faster than his nearest competitor; at the end of lap two he had a 49 second lead on Barnes in a Mercer; in the third lap his lead was 51 seconds and in the fourth it was 54 over Hughes running second. Once the Case was out, the race was taken in hand by Hughes, who led from the fifth lap to the finish. While the Case was leading, the Mercer was running second and third with the Marmon fourth and in lap five it was Mercer one, two and three, the drivers being Hughes, Barnes and Knipper.
Lap six saw Knipper move to second place and Heinemann in No. 21 Marmon annex third position. Lap seven saw more Marmon gains in that Nikrent, driving Marmon No. 25, passed Barnes in the Mercer. In lap eight it was Mercer, Marmon, Mercer, Marmon, Mercer. Lap nine saw the same order of running continue and Knipper’s Mercer was taken out, the trouble not being known. In lap ten the order remained unchanged. Lap eleven saw the Barnes Mercer take second place away from Heinemann’s Marmon, which it held in lap twelve but lost in lap thirteen, the last of the race, so that when it was over the order was Mercer, Marmon, Marmon, the Barnes Mercer not finishing.
E-M-F’s Tiedeman Victory
TODAY’S race for the Tiedeman trophy, ten laps, 171.40 miles, was won by E-M-F machines that finished one, two and three, the only other car running at the finish being Kulick in the Ford. Two Abbott-Detroits were entered but one went out on the second lap and the other in the seventh. There were six starters and the race was started immediately after the Savannah, the first car in the Tiedeman. starting 30 seconds after the last of the Savannah. The three E-M-F cars made a remarkable showing, all finishing within a 3-minute zone.
The winner, No 35, was driven by Frank Witt, made the 171.40 miles in 179 minutes 19 seconds; No. 34, driven by Robert Evans, was second in 180 minutes 12 seconds, and No. 33 third in 181 minutes 33 seconds. Kulick in the Ford covered the distance in 201 minutes 7 seconds.
The fastest lap in the race was made by Mortimer Roberts in No. 31 Abbott being 16:23 or 63 miles per hour. When Roberts dropped out in the seventh lap he was 7 minutes in the lead, with the three E-M-Fs in second, third and fourth places.
Hartman in No. 32 Abbott was put out early in the battle, being eliminated in the second lap when a valve rocker broke. His partner, Roberts, winner of the Aurora cup, was a factor as long as he was running, but a cracked cylinder put an end to his aspirations at a time when it looked as if he would cash.
When it came to a race among the three E-M-F machines, No. 35 took the lead and maintained it, the other two not changing places. They all ran very consistently as an analysis of their lap times will show.
Photo captions.
Page 9.
DAWSON, OF MARMON TEAM, BEFORE HIS ACCIDENT
BENZ TEAM – HEMERY, BERGDOLL AND HEARNE
BRUCE-BROWN IN GRAND PRIX FIAT
