12-1-60 13-1-60 ARDMORE WINNER BRABHAM TO STAR T IN WIGRAM RACE I Arminner of the le Ardmore last Saturda champion driver, will sta Trophy at Christchurch on Brabham signed up to start in the race in Auckland resterday after he had given his Cooper-Climax Formula I car a thorough check-over. It has been understood for some time now that Brabham would be a starter if it tras possible for hin to come to Tigram. But the sponsor of the race, the Christchurch Motor Racing Club had nothing in writing until yesterdas. At Ardmore on, Saturday during the lunch break before the Grand Prix, the 33-year-old Australian was non - committal when asked about his pros pects of starting in the 150 mile Wigram race. He had good reason to be, because he was one of the few people at Ardmore who knew going to need fair share of luck to beat Stirling Moss and win the rich Grand Prix. Inevitable Brabham knew one of the cylinder head studs of the Coventry-Climax engine in his Cooper had come loose and there was no way of tightening it properly at the circuit. This meant he would in. evitably lose • water from the engine during the race, and there was every possi. bility of it overheating and seizing up. If that happened, there would have been no chance of the car being put right for the Wigram race. But more important still and this was Brabham's immediate concern just before the start of the Grand Prix - was ew Zealand Grand Prix at y, Jack Brabham, the world art in the Lady Wigram • Saturday, January 23. | that Stirling Moss should have • пО inkling Brabham's! troubles. That was part of the psycho- : logical and tactical battle that i was waged in Auckland between ¡Moss and the official Cooper works drivers, Brabham and McLaren, for several days bel fore the race. White Hot As things turned out, Brabham finished the race with a siowly deflating tyre, which impaired the handling qualities of his car, and with the engine almost white hot from lack of water. Brabham will undertake the pre-race preparation of his Cooper - Climax when the саг reaches Christchurch. That should be about the end of the week. It is being shipped direct to Lyttelton with the Cooper-Climax of his team-mate, the New Zealand champion Bruce Mc- Laren. 'Tailor-made Car a Arriving by Sea fo THE racing cars of the overseas drivers who will compete in the Lady Wigram Trophy on Saturday, January 23, will reach Christchurch in the vessels Kaipaki and Waikare on Saturday and Monday next. There will be the two works Cooper-Climaxes of Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren, the 2.2-litre Cooper-Climax to driven by the Englishman, Ian Burgess that will be driven the 1960 c.c. Cooper- Climax by the Australian champion, Len Lukey, and the Corvette-engined Tornado of his countryman, Tea Gray. Tavo Lotus's Then there will be two Lotus ngle-seat racers, These belong David Piper, an English river. One of these cars is the latest 2g-litre Grand Prix model, and Piper will drive it. The other is fitted with the smaller 1960 c.c. Coven- try Climax engine, and this is the car that is causing a good deal of discussion among racing enthusiasts at present. It is to be driven by a New Zealander, but no one knows who he will be. Frank Shuter, one of enristchurch's best-known • arivers, was to handle the car in the international events. In his only training session for the New Zealand Grand Prix at Ardmore last week, Shuter put up some very creditable times, but on the Friday night before the race he was rushed to hospital fyr an appendicitis operation. Rod Broke Arnold Stafford, an English mal now living in New Zealand, nd others r. Wigram drove the car but withdrew when a radius rod broke. Piper is hoping that Shuter will be fit enough to drive the Lotus at Wigram, but this seems most unlikely. It has been suggested that Roly Levis, a worth Island driver, might be engaged, but no decision has been made. However, it is not just a question of finding a driver. The man who does drive it will have to be able to fit in the car. The cockpit is virtually tailor-made and the fitting is small. One young Wellington driver who tried out the seating position at Ardmore found himself unable to straighten his shoulders, but was quite conf dent that he would be able to manage if a couple of holes were cut in the sides of the body. In the meantime the car has been entered by Piper for Wigram and a decision on the driver will most likely be made when he arrives in the city next week.