9-2-00 The Last Wigram JOHN HAWKINS • PHoTos EvAN CAMERON The magnificent PDL Mustang, restored and driven by Steve Ross Peter Cuddings (USA) enjoyed driving his very valuable Alfa Monza around Wigram from Dunedin The first Lady Wigram Trophy race took place on 26th February 1949 - the opener for :50. the golden age of New Zealand motorsport. Fifty-one years after that first race, the old airfield resounded to the sounds of race cars for the final time. John was there to witness The Last Wigram races, and couldn't help conjuring up glorious ghosts of the past tast Begram divers' group with the... Brooklands Riley that won the ist Wigram afd the historic lady Wigram Trophy. The dusty back entrance-way leading to the for safety reasons. But many shared his sen- MIOB and a Ralt RT4. "With all it's cor- T Wigram airfield seemed familiar, but the surroundings not so. Gone were the gorse *It was the type of track timents, and spectators lined the perimeter roads of the airfield, craning their necks to ners and apers and braking points to get right, it was a brilliant circuit," he rehedges and empty paddocks lining the way, and in where your get a last look. called. "I was so sorry to hear they were their place were concrete channel ways - the unmis- Gerald Jiggs' Alexander, a solicitor in closing it down, and tried hard to get a tabable hallmarks of new housing subdivisions. mind told you Christchurch (and one of Canterbury's car for this last meeting." It was inevitable that Wigram airfield would fall to keep your motorsport characters), missed only one prey to a housing development from the time the foot in it bat Wigram meeting. He was working (picking The last race RNZAF reluctantly vacated the place, but all who your body onions") when the first race was run in 1949. The fields for the racing were broadly gathered, mid-week, at this historic venue shared a said no." At every subsequent meeting he either similar to those who had competed at The battie from the PDL continued at Wigram between sense of loss and outrage that this would, indeed, be Warren Good from Dunedin in his ex Paul Adams BMW watched or competed. His early memories Kuapuna just days before. Through ill- Peter Stewart in the PDL Mustang 2 and the ex Brock the last Wigram. 2002 won all the races for larger Saloons focussed on Hec Green's Wolseley and Hec ness, Abba Kogan was absent with his A9X of John Rae McLean's Invicta, Recalling past glories shot of the venue that so The race of as well as the Warren Good was just as impressive in the Crawford clipping the apexes and then run- Staring out across the expansive flat horizon toward the familiar caught my young imagina- the day was Brookland Riley. medium saloon class, fring his BMW 2002 ning out to the edge of the track was somehangers and control tower, you could easily imagine that Stirling tion and made motor rac- the last with 'Jiggs' practiced around chased by an assortment of Alfas and thing special. Robert Borrius Broek treated Moss' Rob Walker Lotus or even Graham McRae's Crown Lynn ing so much a part of my the battle for one meeting Dennis Chapman's Fiat Abarth replica. Mark his Reynard Mugen with respect on the McLaren M1OB was about to burst into view. life after I made my first between John with the Dymond (Australia) with his Brabham Wigram bumps. Ghosts from motorsport and aviation history surely linger here. visit in 1957 at the age ten- Crawford Michael Horton BT16, enjoyed some good dices with Grant Finally, the big saloons provided some battles Look -there's Archie Scott der of five. (Lola T332 HWM but a oil Clearwater's similarly twin-cam motivated in the best Wigram tradition, with John Rae Brown on his way to the Everywhere I looked there F5000) and leak during prac- Begg, while I couldn't help reflecting that recovering from a morning off round the flag with his Lister Jaguar, were not only cars, but Bill Farmer tice put the two the little Lloyd Special and the Citroën Spe- hangers to return and do battle again with Ron Flockhart's dark green drivers from the past, all (Dome F3000) stage super- cial both trailed at the back of the field as I the PDL Mustang II. Rae benefited from BRM, Jochen Rindt's here for one last look. "It charged car out. recalled from the Motor Racing Club Peter Stewart's Mustang suffering a plug winged Gold Leaf Lotus 49 was the type of track where your mind toid you to keep your foot in On another occasion, he raced a prewar Championship races many years ago. They problem at times, but the local car remained and even our own Bruce it, but your body said 'no'," recalled a spectating Don Grindley, who Chevrolet Coupe and found that the cars both seemed more reliable than back then, in front of the Torana when it mattered. Fur- McLaren in one of his raced his Mazda Buick and his splendid Oldsmobile Cutlass there. were handicapped on engine capacity, so he however. ther back, Brian Blain able to stretch the Above: Brian Blain (USA) in his 1988 Ford Coopers, or perhaps the He also recalled, the spectators who used to view from the hairpin faced the daunting task of giving ground to a The big single-seaters thrilled the crowd, Nascar Thunderbird's legs and was generally Thunderbird NASCAR leads the PDL Mustang of Lycoming. I couldn't resist they held up a large hand, giving the thumbs up if a driver braked then-modern 3.8 Jag. with John Crawford, out in Stan Redmondis third fastest, while Steve Ross (PDL Mus- Steve Rossa and the "38 Coupe of Avant Silverster taking a last mental snap late, and the thumbs down if he or she braked too early. Keith Laney also competed at Wigram, with Lola T332 really pushing Bill Farmeris tang 1) and Grant Silvester (Chevrolet "I'm just glad I got to have a couple of runs here, even if they were several different cars, including a McLaren much later Dome Mugen along. To watch Coupe) had some entertaining tussles. only ai club days," said Dick Gardener, a former club competitor and national morokhana champion. Mark Dymond (Australia) battled all races in his Brabham BT16 with The final chapter the Begg Twin Cam of Southlands Grant Clearwater At the end of the day the racers left the cir- Memories cuit, Wigram became empty and soon fell SYDENHAM PARK CAR Neville McKay, a regular visitor ro these shores from silent - a flat area of grass and concrete that Hong Kong, considered that the meeting should will presently be full of houses. I wonder, have been open to the public. This, of course, when the proposed development is complete, would have made it impossible to obtain a permit whether the new residents will be aware of the historical significance of the ground be- /'m jus! glad I got to neath their feet. Once again 'progress' has etruns here. even if they caught up with us and, as we did with the cloa clut days." - Dick Garden sure of Bay Park, we have lost another part of New Zealand's motor sport history.