Why would race mags run faster ? Don't all mags on a 4 stroke engine run at half engine speed ? /quote]
No, it is common to have mags run at engine speed and using the wasted spark principle via a second plug on large capacity engines of the type fitted to wartime tanks and aircraft. These engines mostly had twin mag installations, both of which had to be tested before takeoff or in the daily check in the case of tanks. This was necessary as even these high quality instruments were prone to suffering from the same problems as Mr. Lucas's efforts.
The reason for running at engine speed was to keep mag revs high enough to maintain a reasonable spark, and to assist starting at the low cranking speeds of these large capacity engines. Even this was not sufficient to gurantee ease of starting and trembler booster coils were installed on british tanks with Merlin derived power units and american tanks fitted with the Wright Whirlwind engine.The Bosch mags on german vehicles had a clockwork impulse starter, incorporated in the mag drive, which served the dual function of increasing the mag speed at the firing point and retarding the spark at the same time.
Sorry to go on at such length, but at least you now know why our bikes wont start, missfire at all the wrong times and why the series D consigned mags to the museums. No , I dont like mags!