30-1-60 MOTOR RACING IS FIC HEAR CKLE TBREA AND KING By Pefer Greenslade MOTOR RACING can be a heart-breaking business. This was proved at the Lady Wigram Trophy meeting last Saturday. For a start, let's take the case of the Cooper Car Company's team drivers, Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren. Only a desperate effort on the part of Tim Wall, Brabham's mechanic, assisted by Colin Beanland, McLaren's mechanic, got the world champion's Litre Cooper-Climax to the line in time. It was one of those last-• minute rushes that can so easily spell disaster, or at least disappointment motor sport But nevertheless Brabham went out and won as he liked. On the other hand McLaren's sister car was ready for racing twenty-four hours before the training session started. Yet he blew it up in the training session and that was that. Indication Only McLaren drove a magnificent race with the Lycoming Special kindly offered him by Malcolm Gill. But if the New Zealand champion had been handling his works Cooper the pace would have been a sizzler at Wigram." Brabham only gave an indication of the speeds that are well within the compass of an expert driver on the. 2.116-mile aerodrome circuit when he lapped it at 95 miles an hour to set a new lap record. Last year Ron Flockhart told me that the "aces" would manage 95-miles-an-hour lap at Wiggram witnout too much trouble. I think if he had seen Brabtarms this time he would have that the 100-miles-an-hour lap is more than a possibility. Outelassed After the race the Lotus iriver,. David Piper, said he vould have run Brabham closer if he had not tangled with Maurice Stanton's Stanton Corvette on lap 40. Piper went exceptionaliy well and earned his second place. But, make no hones about it, his pretty little Grand Prix car is well and truly outclassed by the works Coopers. Brabham always had a great deal in hand. He is the only man who has looked really fresh at the end of a Lady Wigram Trophy race. He had an armchair drive. Exhausted On the day the other Englishman, lan Burgess, looked the unluckiest of all. In fact, he was one of the most sporting competitors. A pre-race check, after some imposing training session times showed that all was not well with the gearbox of his 2.2-litre Cooper. With another three races. to go without the competition of the works Coopers he could have been excused for not starting and thereby saving the gearbox to have it repaired before more extensive damaged re sulted. But Burgess turned out and! raced into a well-earned third place. After the race he was mentally as well as physicaliy exhausted. He nursed the car along and every time he usod fourth gear he had to hold the gear-lever in place. It is not much fun holding the steering wheel with one hand and the gear-lever with the other and circulating round Wigram at speeds in excess of 85 miles an nour. This 2.2-litre Cooper that Burgess drives might well have headed off Piper's Lotus. But that's motor racing. 30-1-60 30-1-60 4-2-60 He Did It Bruce McLaren has made his name with the rear-engined Coopers and as is invariably the case. success is often countered with suspicion. There have been many people who have said that McLaren would never be any good with a front-engined motor-car. No one would have given Malcoin Gill's Lycoming show of finishing in fourth place the night before the race. Yet McLaren did it and he drove the last quarter of the race without much help from the brakes. Make no error, this young Aucklander is real racing motorist and that is why he finished in sixth place on the world drivers' list last season. Unsuited It is becoming increasingly obvious as the standard of competition rises in this country that the Continental racing cars are really, not suited to New Zealand circuits. The courses are too short to exploit their speed, and the road-holding of the Ferraris and Maseratis does not compare with that of the British-built cars. All this makes Pat Hoare's fifth place with the 3-litre Ferrari most creditable effort. Hoare is steady driver and quite unspec tacular. Around the circuits there are people who will claim that some drivers would extract more from the car. But Hoare's record of consistency is one that would be lard for any man to beat. Tribute The Ferrari went to the line. perfectly prepared by Ernie Ransley and his assistant Colin Berryman. Many people are inclined to forget the major part mechanics plays in motor sport. Hoare has a great deal to be thankful for, and he is the first to appreciate it. No greater tribute could be paid to Ransley than a remark made by lan Burgess. He told me that he had nerer seen a works-entered Ferrari as well prepared as Hoare's cat. Then he went on to say that he doubted if anyone could have lapped Wigram quicker than Hoare with the car in question. Most Promising The young Hamilton driver, Jim Palmer, might well have headed Hoare if a front wheel had not been knocked out of alignment at the start of the race. He had difficulty in keeping his sports Lotus running in a straight line for the 150 miles and was absolutely exhausted at the end of the race after having taken sixth place. Additional Wigram Awards After watching the Lady Wigram Trophy race meeting last Saturday Peter Greenslade makes the following additional awards: Most Improved Performer.- The Christchurch Motor Racing Club. Nothing could have been worse than last year's organisation. It would be hard to better this year's Sportsmanship — Malcolm Gill. No driver likes to give up the chance of a race. Gill let McLaren give the fans a treat with his Lycoming. Best Fighter. - Jim Palmer He kept on going with a car that was not right and earned sixth place. Consistency. — Pat Hoare. With the help of mechanic Ernie Ransley and common-sense driving he earned a good place with the difficult Ferrari. Most Unlucky. — Johnnie Mansel. . Transmission' trouble put his Maserati out in the first lap. But there are no "if's" in motor racing. Wigram Trophy Race Sir, As regular visitors to the Lady Wigram Trophy meeting may we express our disapproval of some very arnoying, instances occurrine of. recent years. Firstly. our view from the stand of the hairpin bend. and pert way to the club curve: was badly obscured by a large number of parked vehicles on the inside of the circuit Some of the vehicles close to the public address box belonged undoubtediy, to. competitors in the saloon car race, but others strung well out towards club curve were not moved all day. Secondly. spectators crash through the barrier and swarm in front of the stand when the winner of the race is driven around the course for all to see, thus depriving the stand patrons of even getting a view of the car conveying him around. We ttust that text year the Motor Race ing Club may rectify these matters and give the stand patrons a better deal→ TWO RACE FANS, Ngakawau, Westport.