19-12-58 Overseas 18-11-58 SPORTING NOTEBOOK B.R.M. seas entries are concerned so of them, and also there shouid be some financial incentive to Christchurch Motor Racing The top men were at Tere. keep New Zealanders in the tonga Park for the first Gold sport. Club's Lady Wigram Trophy • Star meeting of the season, but The standard of racing was meeting in January. their luck was out. Tney were very high in the saloon and The news came. out at! ¡all quite philosophical about it sports car races at Invercargill, because it gave them a chance but retirements took a lot of Invercargill after the Tere- to try out their cars before the the interest out of the chamtonga Park championship (international series starts. pionship. meeting on Saturday, and it Ross Jensen, just back from Real Find Europe, and much imwas the first concrete infor- pressed about the standard The real find of the day was local Neil Herrick, mation about overseas entries preparation of the Lister-Jag- who drove his drivet: nome built Ausfor the classic. uars he drove there, went well tin Special into third place in ir. practice with ex-Moss "We have received advice the championship and won from London to make prepara- .250F Maserati, but sufiered pis-. handicap race. He has the ton failure. He may even drive makings of a fine race driver tions for the appearance of the is own car instead of the cars tonga Park," B.R.M. at Wigram and at Tere- being commissoned by the Re- and with a good factory racer under him, would leave stated the racing public of El Salvador in some many man be suthe oil company that of the international races. drivers at present more fortunaiely placed-as far as cars car while it is in New Zealand. Most of the top New Zealand are concerned—a long way be- "You can take it for granted drivers are not particularly hina. that the car will be appearing." happy, about the influx of over- Tony Shelly, the Wellington The driver will be Ron Flock- seas drivers for the 1959 New newcomer and winner of the hart, who has been co-driver in Zealand Grand Prix at Ard- championship, handled his a Le Mans-winning Jaguar and more. They, are also not so cooper-Climax well, and David is also chief tester for B.R.M. happy about lower starting and ¡ roung, the limaru lad with the Besides Flockhart, two mech- stake money for New Zealand- C-type Jaguar, after an initial anics from the Owen racing or- ers. Some of the comments gansation will accompany the were almost unprintable. flurry, settled down well. He car. Generally, all agreed that could go a long way with ex- The last time a B.R.M. ap- there should be some top line perience and by following some peared in Christchurch it was overseas men, but not too manylof the New Zealand top-liners. driven by the late Ken Wharton, who pushed it home tol third place in the trophy race. This was the it-litre supercharged model that cost about £1,000,000 to build and develop and turned out to be one of the most publicised Grand Prix failures. This new model has a Formula 1 24-litre unsupercharged motor and although it has not quite measured up to the Ferraris and Vanwalls, has not been far behind them. should go • well in New Zealand and could easily prove a winner on the tight Teretonga Park circuit, as well as at Wigram. Other Entries? No arrangements have been completed as far as other over-! 26-12-58 Notable Absentees From Wigram Entries ALTHOUGH there are some notable absentees from the entry list to date, the 22 New Zealand drivers who have entered for the Lady Wigram International Trophy race on January 24 have some fast and interesting cars. It is too much io expect the New Zealanders to monopolise the major placings it international race. and it is to ,be hoped thai Jensen. as well as Tom Clarke, Syd Jensen. Ron Frost, Merryn Neil. and Gavin Quirk eventually will be on the starting line. The entries received by the Motor Racing Club when entries closed on December 20 are:- A. L. Shelly (Cooper-Climax), E. A. Kennard (Healey-Corvette), K. D. Harris ‹Monza Ferrari), B P. NI. HOARE, shown driving his 3-litre Ferrari, is one of the best New Zealand prospects at the Lady Wigram International Trophy race. He was placed fourth last season. four or five overseas drivers compete at Wigram, but the size of the entry list indicates that the tussle among the New Zealanders for highest placing will be particularlv keen. One of the biggest surprises is the failure of Ross Jensen, New Zealand's top racing driver last season. to enter. He was a lie entry at the last Wigram race and may again make a last-minute decision. However. this attitude is noi particularly welcomed by any motor clab sponsoring a McLaren (Cooper-Climax), W. N.. Gill Buckler!. K. C. McMillan ‹Cooper-Climax'. R. J. Blackburn (Mistral). R. Gilbert ¡Couper-Bristol). P. M. Hoare ‹ Ferrari). W. Darrell (A.C.E. III), G. Lawion (Cooper-Climax), C O. Jennings (NI.G.A.), H. Pierce Austin-Healey 100S), M. J. F. Kenyon 'Austin-Healey), V. R. Blackburn ‹ Citroen Special', F. D. Cantwell ‹ Tojeiro- Jaguart. R. V. McCutcheon «Normac Special. D. G. Young 'Jaguar K 120C'. R. C. Campbel! Maserati 4CLT). J. Palmer • brius. R. J. Rovcroft Ferrari), R. A. Levis (R.A.L. Special). 10-12-58 LADY WIGRAM TROPHY Drivers From Overseas The names of the overseas rac-! ing drivers who will compete in the Lady Wigram International: •Trophy race on January 24 will not be announced by the Motor : Racing Club until after the New Zealand Grand Prix at Ardmore. on January 10. The club has received advice from five overseas drivers that they are interested in competing at Wigram. They are Ron Flockhart (B.R.M.). Carroll Shelby (Maserati), Harry Schell (Maserati), Joakim Bonnier (Maserati), J. Brabham (Cooper-Climax) i The secretary of the Motor Racing Club (Mr J. A. Brewer) said yesterday that in conjunction with the Southland Sports Car Club, his committee would select the overseas drivers paid to compete at Christehurch and Invercargilt. By waiting until the Ardmore race was concluded. he said, it would be possible to select overseas drivers whose cars were still in good condition and who , would make the two South Island events most: interesting. Mr Brewer considers it most likely that the drivers signed up Wigram would come from Flockhart, Shelby. Schell, Bonnier, and Brabham. However, he does not discount the possibility of other overseas men such as Masten Gregory (Maserati) making the trip. The gumber of overseas drivers seen at Wigram depends largely upon the sum demanded by each for appearance money. Among other drivers who will compete at Wigram is Bruce Me- Laten (Cooper-Climax), the young Auckland driver who was placed second in the world Formula II championship this year. K. D. Harris (Monza Ferrari) is another, and F. Losse, an American: studving at the Otago School of Dentistry, will drive a Sebringi Austin-Healey. Entries from New Zealand drivers for Wigram close on Decem-! ber 20. Men to Race Here? Five top-flight overseas racing motorists are interested in competing - In the Christchurch Motor Racing Club's annual classic, the Wigram Trophy, which will be held here on January 24. has pret there club, although it has put on a pmority list. will not make a definite decision until after officials have seen them in action in the New Zealand Grand Prix, at Ardmore, on January 10. At the top of the list is the British driver, Ron Flockhart, with the B.R.M. Then come the dashing Franco • American Harry Schell, and Carroll Shelby, a gigantic Texan who has been sports car champion lof the United States. These two men will be driving Piccolo Maseratis he American and they are in the team miltionaire, Mr Temple Buell. Man With the Money Mr Buell is virtually fmancing the entire racing department of the Italian Maserati concern. The other two drivers are the bearded Swedish champion, Joakim Bonnier, and the Australian Jack Brabham, who at the moment is world champior In the Formula II racing car category. Bonnier will have a very special Maserath Cooper and Brabham, who leads the works team in Europe, will have a 2.2 litre Cooper Climax. Brabham is the only driver who has so tar competed at Wigram and he won the New. Zealand Grand Prix at Ardmore 'this year. Want To Be Sure "We want to be absolutely sure that we have the best pos-shat reason vare band for that reason we are selective as we can," said Mr Brewer. "There is no point in making a frm arrangement for a car and driver only to find. that it !is impossible for him to start here because of a major break- ¡ down in the Grand Prix." Other Possibilines Among those who might also appear are at least two Australians, and possibly Giorgio Scarletti, who will be driving the third Buell car at Ardmore, a 5.6-litre Maserati sports-racer. Entries for all events at the Wigram international meeting do not close until December 20, but already the young Auck- Bruce McLareD, shot landerio the top in European racing this season and fnished second in the Formula I chamhas put in his entry Por the trophy race indications There early particuthat the other events, larly the races for sports and saloon cars, will be well sup ported. Already a United States Navy captain has entered for the sports car race. He is Fred Losee, who drove well at the national meeting at Invercargill recentlv