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Gordon Bennett Motor Race 1903
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Leinster Leader, Saturday 11 July 1903, Last Edition - Page 5
ANOTHER MOTOR RACE?
A 250 GUINEAS CUP.
“Motoring Illustrated” makes a spirited offer, which whether acceptable or not to those who control and maintain local roads, will be admired for the sporting instinct and enterprise that prompts it.
A 250 guineas cup is tendered for International competition. It is proposed that the race should take place over the Gordon-Bennett course. The conditions would be altered for the better, so as to make the test not one of high speed, but one of skill in manufacture.
The project has been accurately described as a kindly and sportsmanlike attempt to provide Ireland with a yearly motor fixture of the first magnitude. Unquestionably local opinion would be highly favourable to the undertaking, provided that prompt and definite arrangements were guaranteed for the care of the road and the cost of policing. A special Act of Parliament would again be necessary, and the difficulty in securing this would not be small.
The strong point of “Motoring Illustrated’s” proposal is that it would be calculated to concentrate manufacturing effort and invention on the very qualities of a motor which most concern the average man – its reliability at moderate speeds and its general perfection as an “every day” article. If the motor ever comes into general use, these qualities must necessarily distinguish the make of machine that will be in most demand.