13-52 11160 RONNIE MOORE (right, in circle) and C. Ransley stand alongside their cars after a mishay in the Lady: wigram Trophy race at the Rosal New Zealand Air Force Station, Wigram, last Saturday. Passing the scene of the accident at full speed is B. ' Gibbons's Cooper. 9-3-52 HANDICAP PROBLEM FOR WAIMAIRI ROAD EVENT The speed at which the Wigram Smith (Gee Cee Ess),. • Hec Green: was run and the fact that (RA, Vanguard), - Lies Moore: (Alfa car race. Romeo), Hec Mclean (Cooper), and a matter of 10min Isec was all Bob Gibbons (Cooper).-»: separated the first place getter, Les The two last named must have a Moore (Alfa Romeo), and the tenth good Chance, for: they will have an finisher, * Jack: Tutton (XK -120 advantage as far as passing Is con Jaguar), will be some indication for cerned, their cars being small, on the handicappers 'for the New Zealand narrow twisting circuit.- 100-mile. road race championship to The handicappers main headaches be conducted by the Canterbury Car will arise through sueh drivers as Club on the Waimairi circuit on Des Wild (Allard), Frank Shuter (V8 March 22.% * A. Stafford (Cooper 500) * Notable feature of the Centennial mrs s.. Special Lupp (M.G.), and Pat Hoare face last year was that in the handi-(R.A. I. They were all well up 1t capes is to a cour in 100 baby one best Probably the biesest proben of smallest car in une race, au be Jack Jutton 2 - He started trom the front mark, Last Saturday he drove the "whole but was closely followed home by distance in third gear, and coud not Bon Roycroit in his, 120 saguar, get a speed better than to moles au ·20 had started well back the hour from his white & 120 Jaguar feld. Boycroft made fastest race The reason was that the Jaguar's time. = On paper it looks as though large bunch of the minor place getters in the Lady Wigram Trophy siderably nearer the leaders. Under race should have a very good chance those circumstances he, along with of taking a share of the money in Don Ransley (Alfa Romeo): and the Waimairi event Ronnie Moore (Kieft), both of whom: Likely back-markers there will be, had the mistortune to crash, must be subject .40 their starting, George regarded as unknowa quantities. 1-3-52 FAST LAP TIMES FEATURE OF BIG WIGRAM CAR RACE accounted "for" Smith's tyre going Wite last saturday i mod ar raind et teasts minds that lap times would soar in the Lady Wigram Trophy race. would have been necessary probably On such a hot day, tyre changes for most of the faster cars if the For a number of weeks, observers had predicted that speeds distance had been"100 miles. Needwould jump from round the 65 miles an hour mark to some- less to say that would have brought , thing about 10 miles an hour faster. ^ Iney. were not the slightly siower drivers more into the picture. disappointed. Les Moore brought the Grand Prix P3 Alfa Tọm Sulman, on the day, did not Romeo home a comfortable winner, having averaged an appèar to have a chance, although officially timed 76.79 miles an hour for the fifty miles. It was he might have been able to have gone faster if the need had arisen a grand effort. for him to retain his second place, THE race speed immediately raises likes to get in front from "go" and but such was not the the point of what would have stay there. But first round Australian's Maserati could not get been the result if the distance had Green had 2sec Smith, and helpear the Alta Romeo, and Sulman same as last year-100 continued to build his lead until he had a comfortable 1min 45sec lead miles. "Of the eighteen cars that went out in lap 13 with a wheel that on Frank Schuter's V8 Special... started eleven were still running at could no longer stand the the end of the fifty miles. A notable Incidemely pain sanding ip thing about quite a proportion of the was timed at 1min 4usec by an retirements was that they were the unofficial stop watch - this cars which were fastest. Les Moorelexactly the same time as the lap put in two laps at 81 miles an hour, record established by Australian Hec Green did two at 80.1 miles an Garry Coglan in his supercharged! hour, and George Smith did three at M.G. in 1950. Coglan's time was that speed, while Bob Gibbons also a tying lap, and even if the undida! Tom watch not quite so accurate, and the Australian, Sulman was next with a lap at 79.2 Green"s time was exceptional. miles an hour. With the exception of Sulman and Lead Increased Moore, the others did not complete strangely. At ten laps Green had Itsec, again. enough only one of the trio went out by unoficial watch, and was slowlyi with engine trouble. That was Bob but surely increasing it. There is no Gibbons, whose Cooper 1000 melted room for "ifs" in motor racing, a piston, wnich, taking it all round, there are a lot of people who believe was not such was theif the left-hand back Ironically, R.A. Vanguard had not disintegrated it was not engine trouble that put Green would have been an easy George Smith in his Gee Cee Ess out winner. of the race. On the back straight a Although it has not been officially| tyre gave out when Smith was still checked, presumably • Smith's three aps at 80.1 miles an hour were pul challenging just behind Moore. in during his thrilling duel with Les Big Disappointment Moore's Alfa Romeo. Smith was not quite so fast as Moore on the back Green's elimination was probably straight, but he was leaving the greatest. disappointment of all. braking point for the hairpin bend From the drop of the flag the R.A. at least. 100 yards later than Vanguard was off like a flash. It was and the Gee Cee obvious that he was not In appeared to be considerably quicker make any bones about things. accelerating up from the lower speed practice and in his heat he had taken ranges. The later things easily, the car never budged fiercer acceleration probably an inch from its lines through the bends, but as Green came into tae control tower bend from the start' he was in a perfect slide, and looked as though he was going : at least ten miles an hour faster than he had been in either the neat or practice. Close behind him was Smith, who