23-1-56 23-1-56 Englishmen Tak Placings In e Major Car Race With a grand display of steady and : controlled Peter Whitehead, of England, drivinG the Lady Wigram won trophy for the second time at wigram on Saturday before about 21,000 spectators. Whitehead's lead was not challenged throughout the race, apart from a few occasions in the first ten laps when Gaze cut inside on the corners. The four Englishmen competing made complete sweep of the event, taking first four places. Tony leaze the se one at steam is 1954, filled same position and remained close behind Whitehead for most of the race. With the Connaught running perjectly, Leslie Marr was unfortunate spoil his chances when he spun the car on the hangars' corner early in the race. Until then, Marr had remained close behind Gaze, and it was noticeable that the leaders were doing everything to keep in front of beautifully streamlined English car. Reg Parnell drove a race of great concentration, and although his cornering was a joy to watch, the car had not power match the 3-litre Ferraris of Gaze and Whitehead. Whitehead Takes Lead Whitehead went into the lead from the nas posity to the are followed Gaze, Marr, and Parnell in that order. Hoare, of Christchurch, wasted precious seconds when his Maserati stalled at the start. The Talbot-Lago of A. T. Freeman showed itself particularly fast : car, and was not far behind Parnell the first part of the race. By the fourth lap, Gaze and Whitehead had lapped the tail-enders. with their Ferraris firing perfectly. McMillan's Alfa Romeo sounded very sICk, and he pulled into. the pits in the ninth lap and bad his spark plugs replaced within three minutes. Whitehead was averaging about 84 miles an hour, and he had soon lapped Parnell in the Aston Martin. David McKay and T. Sulman retired within îve laps of each other. The gearbox on Suiman's car broke down, and Me- Kay wore out his tyres and had no others in this country with him that could be fitted. Gaze Sets Lap Record On the eighteenth lap, Gaze estabfished new lap record of 1min 26.7sec, or 88 miles an hour. Even though Gaze was travelling faster than Whitehead, the gap was too great. Half-way through the race. Whitehead was 10 seconds ahead of Gaze, 48 seconds ahead of Marr and 2 minutes 10 seconds ahead of Parcell. R. Archibald (Jag::ar) and S. Jensen (Cooper) had a keen tussle for frst place among the New Zealand entrants. Roycroit s Bugatti-Jaguar was close behind these two, but the caI did not run as well as it did at Ardmore. Hoare's Maserati was averaging very high speeds, but another black disc appeared as he pulled into the pits with a fractured oil-pipe. For the rest of the race, the leaders maintained ane thrilleplaces. their Whitehead and the crowd with their steady driving, and seldom dia the highly tuned Ferrari engines bring the cars the check point with more than a second's difference on each lap. S. Jensen received a great cheer when he brought his tiny Cooper into the pits as the first New Zealander home. Special congratulations also went to f. Shuter, of Christchurch. and his home-built special. The beautifully prepared engine the Edelbrock did not falter during the entire race tensen at the fnish. and was only a few seconds behind "I nearly didn't make it." said Whitehead grimly as he pulled into tampier screw which teas proteige the pits. from his left-hand rear tyre. "It is just a matter of how much longer 1 could have kept going without the screw puncturing the tyre." he said. Whitehead was presented with the winner's laurels by the patron oi the Motor Racing Club (Mr J. Mathison, M.P.), and was driven round the open course in an open car to the cheering of the crowds. Miner Races Driving steadily and confidently, A. L. Shelley, of Wellington, won open car race of 25 miles. Although Shelley did well to finish first with a handicap of 50 seconds, V. Blackburn made an even better display to finish second with his Citroen special from the back mark. At the start of the Redes Pons Archibald and Gaze were last to get away from the Le Mans start. It was soon evident, however, that the power of Gaze's H.W.M.-Jaguar could not be matched, and within two laps the car was well in the lead. A great tussle deveioped between the two Australians, I. Sulman and David McKay, and the New Zealanders R. Jensen and R. Archibald. The disc brakes on Jensen's Austin Healey gave him a big advantage over the other cars in braking. Jensen, Sulman and McKay had a battle royal for second position, but it was Jensen's turn for bad luck, for he spun at the hangars' corner and lost much ground. In the second to last lap, Archibald. who had been close on the tall of McKay, opened the throttle wide on nis Jaguar. In one burst on the i back straight he passed both Aston Martins. Archibald did well to gall econd place ahead of the two Australians, but the crowds gave a special cheer for Jensen, who had driven his small car so competently. The saloon car race was a triumph for German manufactured cars. The Porsche Super of P. P. Stringer drew gasps of admiration from the crowd as it rounded the corners with scarcely a trace of roll. The Ford Zephyr of W. K. McDonald drew gasps too, but they were more in expectation of the car turning over. V. L. Neate brought the Borgward Isabella into second place to complete the German victory. Results were:- Lady Wigram Trophy Race (150 236 miles) -P. N. Whitehead, England {Ferrari), Ihr t8min .03sec, 1: F. O. A. Gaze, England (Ferrari), 18min 18.6sec. L mart, England (Connaugnt), 1hr 49mіn 35.6sec, 3; R. Parnell, England (Aston Martin), 1hr 53min 152sec, 4. S.H. Jensen, Palmerston_ North (Cooper), Ihr 53mia 51.6sec,_5; F. Shuter, Christchurch (Edelbrock Special), Ihr 56min 9.Isec, 6; R. J.1 Roycroft, Auckland Curati-Jagar Levin Simin 5.5sec, 7; R. Frost, (Austin Healey), 12.6sec. Noffatt, Ashburton (Jaguar XK.I20), 68 laps completed, 10; J. N. Archibald, Christchurch (Jaguar XK120), 68 laps, 11; J. Boyd, Auckland (Buckler), 63 laps, 12. B. W. Wild Chailenge Trophy (up to 1500 c.c.). S. H. Jensen: Brooklands Challenge Trophy member Motor Racing Club Cup shuter; Motor Assemblies Challenge (New Zealand-built car), F. Shuter; Kennett challenge trophs first New Zealand driver). S. H. Jensen. Redex Sports Car Race (50.784 miles).- Gaze (H.W.M.-Jaguar) 1, R. J. N. Archibald (Jaguar XK120) 2: D. Mackay, Australia (Aston Martin DB3S) 3; T. Sulman, Australia (Aston Martin DB3S) 4. Time. 39min S8sec. Open Car Race (25.392 miles).-A. L. Sheiley, Wellington (Morgan), 50sec, 1: V. Christchurch (Citroen Special), 2min Blackbur 35sec,_ 2; Rutherford, Christchurch (R.A.-Vauxhall), 2min, Time, 23min 3.Isec. Saloon Car Race (25.392 miles).-A. P. Stringer, Auckland (Porsche Super), 3min 40sec, 1; V. L. Neate, Christchurch (Borgward), 2min 40sec, Archibald, Christchurch {Citroen), 2min, 3. Time, 26min 112sec. Motor-Cycle Races All-powers Race (10.58 miles).-500 c.c. class: B. McGibbon (Tai Tapu). Triumph, Round (Christchurch), Triumph, c.C. class: A. M. Daniel (Christchurch). B.S.A., 1; E. Timms (Timaru), A.J.S. TR, 2; S. L. Waudby (Christchurch), B.S.A., 3. 250 c.c. class: P. Phillips (Christchuren), B.S.A., 1; G. Stutheridge (Christchurch), Ariel, 2; R. Taggart (Christchurch), B.S.A., 200 c.c. class: C. Fisk (Christchurch), Exceisior Barnett, I; R. Knowles (Christchurch), Francis 2; R. Scott (Christchurch, O.E.C.,, 500 c.c. Expert Race (21 miles).—A. G Holland (Christehurch), Norton, I: I. Mc- Cleary (Christchurch), A.J.S. 7R. 2; N. C. McCutcheon (Dunedin), A.J.S. 7R, 3. Time, 16min 34.2sec. Junior Experts Race (17 miles)-I. Mc- Cleary (Christchurch). A...S. 1; N.. C.i McCutcheon (Dunedin), A.J.S. 2; J. Swarbrick (Oxford), A.J.S. 7R, 3. Time, 13min 45.8sec. A. G. HOLLAND (left), of Christchurch, winner of the 500 c.c. expert motor-cycie race one of the events held before the Lady Wigram Trophy race on Satarday-is congratulated by : I. McCleary, who was second. The time for the twenty-one miles was 16min 34.2sec.