13-1-59 30-12-58 MOTORERA LADY WIGRAM TROPHY RACE LADY WIGRAM TROPHY RACE LADY WIGRAM TROPHY RACE LADY WIGRAM TROPHY RACE LADY WIGRAM TROPHY RACE LADY WIGRAY TROPHY RACO SATURDAY, JANUARY 24 SATURDAY, JANUARY 24 SATURDAY, JANUARY 24 GRANDSTAND SEATS, 10s EACH GRANDSTAND SEATS, 10s EACH GRANDSTAND SEATS, 10s EACH D.I.C. BOOKING OFFICE D.I.C. BOOKING OFFICE D.I.C. BOOKING OFFICE Country Patrons! Book by Mail Order. 2-9-59 MOTOR RACIN LADY WIGRAM TROPHY RACE LADY WIGRAM TROPHY RACE SATURDAY, JANUARY 24. SATURDAY, JANUARY 24. GRANDSTAND SEATS, 105 EACH. D.I.C. BOOKING OFFICE. Country Patrons! Book by Mail Order. - 8583 5-9-59 PAPARUA COUNTY COUNCIL PROPOSAL TO CLOSE ROAD TO VEHICULAR TRAFFIC PURSUANT to the Transport! (Vehicular Iraffic Road Closure) Regulations, 1949, notice is hereby given that the Paparua County Council, IoI the purpose oi preventing traffic congestion and to provide a clear exit for ambulances, etc., during the preliminary trials and on the day of the car racing at Wigram, proposes, subject to the approval of the Minister of Transport, to close the illowing road ordinary vehicular traffic for the periods indicated hereunder. During the proposed periods of closure the following provision will road: be made for ordinary vehicular traf-! fic which would Permits normally issued to use the property owners having access on to this road, and desiring to use the' road during the closures. Any person objecting to the proposals is called upon to lodge his objection and grounds thereof in writing. before Saturday the office the 10th day of January, 1959, of the Council, at Sockburn. Road proposed to be closed fo ordinary vehicular traffic: VICKERYS ROAD from the Junction with Washbournes Road South East to the blind end. Periods of proposed closures: 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, the 23rd January, 1959, and- 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.on Saturday, the 24th January, 1959. A. KELLY, County Clerk. 5438 7-9-59 i. Harris, of Tai lapu, scooped сле, роо! at the Nelson Car Club's annual two-dar beach meeting on the Tahunanui circuit over the New Year holiday period. Harris, driving a V8 special, won the Nelson circuit championship, the scratch event for cars over 2000 c.C., the invitation race for the ten fastest cars at the meeting. and the nandicap race for cars over 1500 c.c. A new lap record of 40.8 seconds was set by Harris for the three-quarters of a mile track. This is an average speed of about 66 miles an hour. Provided the B.R.M. holds together, it will appear in all! the international races in New Zealand this season, according to its driver, the young scotsman, Ron Flockhart. This means that the B.R.V. will, all going well, race at Wigram on January 24, Waimate on January 31, and Invercargill February 7. Flockhart. incidentally. has been co-driver of a Le Mans-winning Jaguar sports car on two occasions, but has not had a reat deal of success in Grand Prix races and has been out of the game, for many months following an accident in France. His B.R.M.I has the latest modincations, and is. in fact, the No. 1 1959 team car. Ross Jensen, i, New Zealand's No. 1 racing driver, is not yet on the Cbristchurch Motor Bacing Club's books as a definite starter in the Lady Wigram Trophy on January 24. But it is a pretty safe bet that he will be among those present when the starter's flag drops for the 150-mile classic. Jen. sen has written to the club, and the club has written back to Jensen. The club is saying no more than that at present, but it is another pretty safe bet that the main content of! the letters has related to starting money! Jensen, if be starts at Wigram, will most likely be using the El Salvador Maserati commissioned be the Automobile Club Santa Апа. This is the lightweight! model he will drire at Ard.! Zealand more the lewr Grand Prix on Saturday. Three 12-1-59 Overseas Drivers for Lady Wigram Trophy THREE overseas racing drivers to compete in the Lady Wigr church on January 24. They are Brabham, who took second plac Cooper Climax in the New Zeal Ardmore on Saturday; Ron FI Scotsman, who was up in third I factory B.R.M. when forced to retir Arnold Glass, who finished twelftt have been signed up am Trophy at Christ- • the Australian Jack ce with a 2200 c.c. land Grand Prit at ocke thin the None e; and the Australian h in a Ferrari. The notable absentees ar two Scuderia Buell Pi Maseratis and the 250F Mas the . Swedish cham Joakim Bonnier. The only reason why cars are not coming sout that Guerrino Bertocchi, famous Maserati test driver head of the racing departr considers the cars are in no dition to meet the oppositio pected from the high-class ram field. re the ! The Grand Prix turned iccolo into a debacle as far as the serati Maseratis are concerned. pion. One Buell car, which was driven in turn br Carroll these Shelby and Harry Schell, this finished fourth. The other the retired after forty-one laps. r and Bonnier's car went out with ment. steering trouble. • con- Brakes were the main cause on ex-! Wig. Of the failure of the Maseratis and lack of them led to the overstressing of engines with associated troubles. The Motor Racing Club. sponsor of the Lady Wigram Trophy. and Mr Temple 'Buell. sponsor of the Maseratis. are disappointed. But. according to a report received br the club in Christchurch this morning. Bertoechi was adamant that the cars could not be raced again in New Zealand in their present condition. They will be shipped back to Italy for modifications. Little, time can be wasted as the European Grand Prix season is only a few months away now. Flockhart made an excellent showing at Animore with the B.R.J. and was bitterly • disappointed shen forcel to retire. He made a bad start in the race and was forced to stress the car to the utmost in order to catch up with the leaders. This effort caused vibration to set in and that resulted in a fractured oil breather-a comparatively minor complaint. but enough to put him out of the race. Possible Winner It is extremelv unlikely that Flockhart will he confronted with similar se: of rilcumstances at Wigram. and on the car's showing at Ardmore he could be the hardest man to beat Brabham on his Ardmore showing will provide tough opposition. Glass, who has raced at Wigram before. now has he latest 22-litre Dino Ferrari motor fitted in his Super Squalo. THE New Zealand Gran that Stirling Moss is a There was just no one at him in skill or determinatic • Moss set a new lap rec but he, was never really pre the feeling that if the occas have gone even faster. "So history has repeated itself. Once again the New Zealand Grand Prix winner has not been préssed. Meticulous attention to detail is one of the reasons for the Englishman's success. This was again illustrated at Ardmore. There was a descrate race against time to repair the Rob Walker Cooper-Climax for Moss after the heat i the morning- nd Prix proved once again driver in a class of his own. Ardmore who could match on. cord and a new race record, essed, and there was always sion had arisen Moss could He was last out of tr starting grid. but even though everyone was waiting for him, he immediately saw that there was a possibility of some rain, so he called for a vizor to wear instead of goggies which would cloud up in the event of rain. Prepared As it happened there were a few spots of rain at the start. Moss was prepared for it and later when the race was in its concluding stages it did rain quite heavily for a few minutes. The imperturbable loss pressed on without embarrassment while drivers with goggles were busily wiping the water away. No one could • justifiably offer excuses for the failure of the Scuderia Buell Piccolo Maseratis. They were fitted with brake linings which were too soft for the Ardmore circuit. The result was that after constant application for the tight, slow bends, they started to bind, grab, and fade. Their drivers, Harry Schell and Carroll Shelby,. were not at all happy and, in fact, were heard to say that they considered the cars • dangerous. It mould be most untair to judge their driving ability on the Ardmore showing. Bonnier was afflicted with similar worries with his older ex-Fangio car. Underpowered However, the cars appeared to be under-powered also, and Ross Jensen's El Salvador Maserati proved to be definitely faster. He profited by previous Ard- more experience. As soon as his car arrived in Auckland he had it stripped down. The first thing he realised was that the braie linings were obviously too soft for the circuit. So they were replaced with harder ones. is a • wonder that the Buell cars and that of Bonnier were not similariy modified. No Preparation However, according to a source very close to the overseas Maserati team there was virtually no pre-r ce preparation done in Auckland and there was also a general attitude that the Cooper opposition could be taken fairly lightly. Apart from brake troubles, thel Piccolo Maseratis did not appear very stable either. Schell Just could not keep his car on the course at College Corner and made an excursion well out on the grass most times. Io keep them down on the road, both cars started with full fuel tanks to give extra weight. Thus they carried considerably more fuel than was required for 150 miles. In fact, all the measures taken were makeshift and they proved useless. Unfortunate Brabham would have been given a better run for his money if the young New Zealander, Bruce McLaren, had not been unfortunate enough to get him-. self involved in a spin in the third lap. He over-revved the motor of his 1960 c.c. Cooper Climax and wisely nursed • the car along for the rest of the race. Moss was getting 152 miles an hour without trouble in the back straight with a 2014 c.c. engine, while Brabham was managing 148 miles an hour with a 2200 jc.c. motor, and Mclaren regiso tered the same figure with 1960 S c.c. Acceleration Flockhart's B.R.M. was doing 144 miles an hour, but obviously was geared for acceleration out of the slow bends rather than a high maximum. On the fact of it, Flockhart could be the hardest man to beat at Wigram as he will undoubtedly use higher gearing on the faster circuit. seems highiy probable that Brabhan and McLarer were getting all they could out of their Coopers. It seems a certainty that lap speeds will again soar at Wigram so a new race record would not be surprising. On the whole the Lady Wigram Trophy should prove to be a closer race than the Grand Prix. Moss was neading back to England as hard as he could get to try out the new Rob Walker 2}-litre Cooper. He has not signed up to drive for anyone in the 1959 European season. but it looks as though he will probably enter the Rob , Walker Tony Vandervell recides to withdraw from Grand Prix racing.