19-1-53 19-9-53 19-1-53 MOTOR RACING ON CAUSEWAY SHUTER DRIVES WELL SUCCESSFUL MEETING ON NEW CIRCUIT The popular Christchurch racing driver, Frank Shuter, proved the worth of the modifications made to his now familiar Ford V8 "hot rod" by his performances at the meeting held by the Motor Racing Club on its new circuit at McCormack's Bay on Saturday. Shuter won the two and returned rae tastest ran sa be the day. the fastest race His • lastest lap oi tne 1.6 miles circuit was also the best ior the day. at an average of 71 miles an hour. Shuter's Which has become well known in its cas high. square-bodied form. appeared for the first time in a road race as an unusually long. low-slung machine. Shuter apparently still Ands that the Ford motor gives him enough acceleration in its side-valve form. The circuit had one long straight (the causeway), which enabled most cars to get close to their top speeds, if only for a second or two before hard braking was ¡necessary for the extremely sharp hairpin bend back on to the old McCormack's Bay road. The rest of the circuit had no appreciable straight, and few cars recorded average of more than a mile a ¡ miaute. The races were held to raise funds for the International Air Race, and the crowd of no more than 10,000 was disappointing. The club had organised the races entirely as a benefit meeting, and a better response might have been expected from the public. Spectators were gathered at many points around the course, but those Who got the best view occupied every bit of flat space on the rocky hillside overlooking the start, at the Sumner end of the bay. The crowd presented no real problem to officials or traffic officers, although small parties insisted on strolling round the course, looking for new observation posts. and sometimes races. The weather neing up the start of was overcast, not cold, and there was no dust nuisance. Competition for Shater Only two drivers crowded Shuter's bei- 'lowing Ford, and both were really ony four-wheeled motor-cycles. Hee McLean, Who was a familiar figure a few seasons ago in his fine old Invita, handled 1100 c.c. Cooрег-J.A.P. brilliantly and ran Shuter a. close second after leading him for several miles in the first race of the day in a 500 c.c. motor-cycle. The Norton gear-box, designed for use failed after this race, in which both Shuter and Mc- Lean started from scratch. The other driver who made Shuter push his car to the utmost was racing motel Kett, containe a 990 ce. Vincent. model Kieft, containing a 998 c.c. HRD vee-twin engine. In the last race of the day, Shuter and Moore met for the first time, Moore had an advantage of 30 seconds at the start of this nandicap event, but was beaten to the finish by half a second Hec Green, with his supercharged Vanguard special, would probably have been more than a match but his distributor failed a few yards finish of the second race. He coasted over the line a winner by eight seconds from Moore, but his car was out of action for the rest of the day. Four cars returned race times better than an average miles an hour. These were Shuter, Moore, McLean, and Green. Not much slower was J. Tutton, who was handling his XK120 Jaguar better than ever before. He took a perfect line into the difficult fast bend at the entrance to the pits section, and it ras only his lack of sheer speed on causeway straight which kept him irom a mile a minute race time. His best was 8min Tsec for eight miles. H. Ở'Neill drove a very pretty Chevrolet-engined special, which once housed D. Wild's 1100 c.c. Fiat engine, with considerable skill. The car was painted white, with tongues of flame in red enamel at strategic points. ONeill was able to keep close to Tutton in the first race, but only completed one lap before retiring with an overheating engine at his next start. Miss Nola Blackburn drove a courageous race after being left at the start with a stalled motor in her father's 500 c.c.| Cooper-JA.P. She worked her way through the field, and was only just beaten; Ior third piace by D. Sprague's Ford Mercury V8 special. She drove a very steady race, leaning nght out of the cockpit or the bends in the best half-litre racing style. She started in a later race, but retired early with gearbox trouble. Results otherwise stated:- Ael races were of ive laps, unless First Scratch Race.-F. Shuter (Ford V8 special), McLean (XK120 Jaguar), 8min 13sec. Second Scratch Race.-H. Green (Vanguard special)._ Imin 54sec, 1; L. Moore (Kieft-Vincent-HRD), 8min 2sec, 2; Sprague (Ford Mercury V8 special), 8min 39sec, 3. Stock Car Handicap (three laps) -W. K. Macdonald (Mark V Jaguar), 29sec, 6min/ 15sec, 1; R. McGregor (Chevrolet coupe), 15sec, 6min 25sec, 2; F. Macdoanid (Austin A40 sports), 20sec, 6min 34sec, 3. First Handicap Race.—Moore, 25sec, 8min "sec, 1; Tutton, 15sec, 8min 22sec, 2; P Hoare (Vauxhall special), 15sec, 8min 22sec, 3. Second Handicap Race.-F. Sharman ford. V8 special), 85sec, 10min 9sec, 1; D. Haigh_ (Citroen special), 85sec, 10min 9sec, 2; M. Winterbourne (M.G.), 65sec, • 10mir 12sec,. 3. Third Handicap Race,_ Shuter, 55sec, ömin lisec, 1; Moore, zssec, smin lIsec, 2; Sharman, scr, 8min 27sec, 3. MOTOR-CAR RACES OVER NEW COURSE AT MeCORMACK'S BAY.—Competing cars just before the start of the first scratch race at MeCormack's Bay on Saturday, when the Motor Racing Club of Christchurch held a series of short races in aid of the Air Race funds. The winning car was No. 1 (driven by F. Shuter), and second to finish was No. 16 (H. MeLean).