17-2-50 17-2-50 FRANTIC RUSH JOBS DONE ON RACING CARS Frantic last-minute work has been done during the past few days on i several motor-cars which will take part in the races at the Royal New Zealand Air Force Station, Wigram, to-morrow. Most of those having these hurried tunings and adjustments are entered for the national road race and the vintage model event. One of the biggest rush jobs was that carried out by F Blandford, who has an O.M. entered in the vintage race. The car was rebored this week, and the owner did not have the motor running until Wednesday: It was driven all day yesterday and all last night, with the owner and his brother doing the driving in shifts, to have it properly run in for to-morrow. Another car on which work was going on up to 4 am. yesterday was the Austin 7 which W. Cope has entered in the vintage race and the championship. To-morrow's fixture will be the second national road-racing championship held in New Zealand. A reature the programme that should attract much attention will be the high-speed reliability trial for post-war stock saloon models. NO! American cars have been entered in this section, though most English firms will be represented. Smaller Field So far as the championship is concerned. the field is smaller than last year, but the class is undoubtedly higher, particularly in view of the two Australian entries. On paper, it looks as if the pair from across the Tasman, P. J. R. Steele, with his 2.3 litre monoposto Alfa Romeo, and G. Cogian, with his supercharged T.C.M.G., may make a great fight of it. The Alfa Romeo is capable of speeds in excess of 130 miles an hour, and the M.G. is reputedly the fastest car of its type in the world. There will be much stricter control of the public at the race this year. Mr C. G. Mciver, of the Papanul suburban committee of the Christchurch Returned Services' Association, who will be chief ad-i ministration and control officer at Wigram to-morrow, said today that last year thousands gained admis- SIon for nothing. The • boundaries would be patrolled this year, and anyone who tried to get in without paving might be arrested. This year, too, there will be eight entrances, compared with three last real. In addition, there Will be more refreshment stalls and better conveniences. The Christehurch Star-Sun, Friday, February 17, 1950 N.Z. ROAD RACE 1950 CHAMPIONSHIP ON PERIMETER STRIPS AT R.N.Z.A.F. STATION WIG RAM 2. PROGRAMME COMMENCES Sat. 30 p.m. 11.30 a.m. Feb. 25th Refreshments Available. 18-2-50 Cars to Race Al Wigram For N.Z. Honours A Hen CLAss fied of six- teen competitors will face the starter in the New Zealand road racing championship at Wigram next Saturday. The cars will, in most cases, be faster than those which competed last rear, yet it is doubtful if the race will be won at a speed much in excess last year when the winner, 1l. Proctor, averaged slightly over 65 miles-an-hour for the 105 miles. THE Wigram circuit is notoriously and in the 1949 on tyres. race several competitors found that the tyres just lasted the distance. Fastest Canterbury driver will probably be Hec Green, who outstripped the field in the Wolseley Special in the first six laps of the a faulty 1949 race. but had to stop to rem ay petrol pump and lost chance of regaining the lead. The car has been rebuilt and should now be more reliable. If Pat Hoare's R.A. comes expectations. Green may find Hoare sitting on his tail for the 105 miles.: The R.A. will probably be fitted with racing tyres and thus will not have to stop for a wheel change. and is probably kinder to the driver than which is reported to the Wolseles handle at really hard to high! speeds. Supercharged N.G. Gary Coglan supercharged 1I.G. which is coming from Australia should be juggling for position with the two cars already mentioned if it performs as well as it has done in recent Australian races. In sprint events in Australia. this car regularly broken 17sec for the standing quarter-mile acceleration tests. Don Ransley was with his Riley in 1919, and he should be able to foot it with the fleetest of the field this year. The same thing may be said of D. McLean with the 12 litre Invicta which ran second in the hands of another driver. but the Invicta is hard on tyres and much of an increase in race speed would mean that stops would be needed. Halsey Logan (Nelson). with the Logan Special. and Mrs Sybil Lupp, which is now with the M.G. IC bott consistent supercharged, heir cars are always drivers and faultiessly prepared. Last Fear's Winner Then there is the little blue supercharged Austin driven by R. ROYcroft (Auckland) to be considered. This car is fast enough to win if it has a trouble-free run. A definite place-getter. is likely to be last year's winner, M. Proctor. who will be driving the Brooklands Riley again, but probably with a more powerful motor under the bonnet. Proctor ranks as one of New Zealand's best drivers to-day. Always cool, he drives fast and consistently. On paper the rest of the field has not much appeal. but they cannot be! dismissed altogether, and some of them may spring surprises. 20-2-50 25-2-50 Australian Driver To Compete in 105 Miles Road Race "We have been entertained SO generously since we arrived in Christchurch that I think we will stay here," said Gary Coglan, the Australian racing driver, this morning. Cogian has brought his car to Christchurch from Sydney to compete in the 105 miles New Zealand Road Racing Championship at Wigram. When an invitation to race at Wigram was received by the Australian Sporting Car Club several oi Australia's leading drivers hela a conference and decided the meeting might not be up to the Australian standard, said Coglan. However, they thought they should send at least one driver. Coglan said he was very impressed with the performance of the cars that competed at the acceleration trials on Sunday morning. He had no doubt that there would be at least six or seven Australian entries at Wigram next year. Coglan was working on his car this morning. It is a standard M.G. TC. fitted with lightweight bodywork and a supercharger which has losas built and dssigned is Australia. P. DIREEN WINS VINTAGE CARS RACE TO-DAY Driving a car seven years older than himself, 21-year-old P. Direen won the twenty-one mile handicap race for vintage sports and racing cars, which opened the programme for • the second national road-racing championship at the R.N.Z.A.F. Station, Wigram, to-day. Engine trouble took a heavy tol reducing the field of six to three, ail of which finished. The first car to suffer engine trouble was a D-8 Delage, driven by Mrs J. MeMilian. This car failed to complete even the first lap, being pulled out with a I broken piston down the back straight. The next driver forced to retire was A. Beach, driving a Vauxhall—his motor ran a bearing. The most disappointing incident of the race was the forced retirement of F. W. Blandford, driving an O.M. from the scratch mark. With two laps to go he had made up most of his handicap of 2min 27sec, and looked to have a fine winning chance. There were four scratchingsS. Jackson (14-40 Sunbeam), B. Harding (3-litre Bentley), R. Growcott (T-Ford), and R. Cowan Sunbeam 11). The depleted field was filled up again, however, by three postentries, from Direen (Chrysier), Beach and Blandford. There was a spectacular crash in the stock car race when R. E. Smith ploughed through the bales of straw on the wide south-western bend and ran down the side of a ditch, narrowly missing a solid concrete culvert. He had a miraculous escape from serious injury, receiving only a cut lip when be was thrown forward on to the steering wheel. Results: Vintage Cars Handicap, twenty-one miles-P. Dirren (Chrysier), Imin s7sec, 2fmin 48.8sec, 1; W. J. Cope (Austin 7), 37sec, 26min 5.4sec, 2; D. Greig (6s litre Bentley), ser, 30min 10.2sec, 3. High Speed Reliability Test-Class 1 (up to 10 h.p.): F. L. Neate (Humber) Class 2 (from 10.1 to 15 h.p.): D. I. Marra (Austin A40) 1, G. H. Hall (Morris Oxford) Class (from 15.1 h.p.): H. G. R. Sedgley (Riley) 1, C. I. Rhodes (Austin A70) 2. Class 4 (unlimited): A. E. Gardner (Humber Super Snipe) 1.