TUNING-U 1o-morrow IS Vital Day In Preparation ALTHOUGH the international Lady Wigram Trophy race will not take place until Saturday afternoon, as far as the competitors are concerned to-morrow will be the vital day. The mechanice do everything possible to prepare the cars before each race meeting, but it is not until the drivers actually have the chance to try them out on the circuit that they can really determine if they are ready to race. Hence the pre-race training sessions are vital. The point is that no two racing circuits are the same, and no matter how well a racing engine is prepared, a car is not likely to win a race unless its chassis is also "tuned" for a particular circuit. Thus, and always assuming there are no engine troubles, drivers and mechanics at Wigram to-morrow will devote their time to finding out the most suitable gear ratios to obtain maximum power on this power-driving circuit, and to experimenting with various suspension settings, tyres, and tyre pressures to obtain best possible road-holding. This is often slow and painstaking work and teams that have raced on a circuit previously generally have the advantage over those who are newcomers. Thus the "old hands" who have raced at wigram betore, such as Jack Brabham, Denny Hulme, B.RiM, team manager Tim Parnell and his drivers Jackie Stewart and Richard Attwood, as well as others, will go out to the circuit armed with the data they have collected at previous visits to the cirouit. Give Best Using this information they should, at least in theory, be able to set up their cars to give their best at Wigram. But theory is very different from practice. For example, since last year the 1,0 litre B.R.M. V8 engines have been developed to provide an additional 15 to brake horsepower. This means that they are potentially faster than they were twelve months ago and, of course, the speed increase may well: demand different gear ratios from last year and revised: suspension settings. It is generally conceded that such is the pace at which tyres are being developed these days that improvements can make a cutterence of up to as much as sec a lap in the course of a year. But pressures found satis factory at Levin or Pukekohe will not necessarily be the same as those that will exploit the full potential at Wigram. Nor is this practical prerace preparation confined to chassis tuning. Atmospheric conditions vary from place to place and from day to day. Fuel injection settings that might be suitable for a humid day at Pukekohe, for inslance, would probably be all wrong for a typical Christchurch nor' west day. Similarly, temperature variations are of utmost importance, as far as tyres are concerned, Generally speaking, drivers' qualiying times are better than those they return in their fastest laps in the race itself because the circuit carries ¡less traffic and is not likely to be so slippery as it becomes on race day beçause of rubber, which, combined with oil droppings, tends to glaze the road surface. Last year the Wigram Trophy winner Jackie Stewarti made fastest qualifying lap in his B.R.M. at 1min 23.9 sec. This was 1.1sec better than his fastest lap in the race, which constituted a new Wigram lap record. Lap Times However, in the international races at Pukekohe and Levin this year, race lap imes of drivers such as Stewart, Jim Clark and one ol two others have been considerably better than their qualifying times and this could again be the story at wigram, where there is a side prize of £400 for the first driver to put in a race lap at 100 miles an hour. To win the prize the driver will have to. cover one lap in min 22.8sec. It is safe to predict that everyone will be trying extremely hard! P AT WIGRAM Getting to Big Event MIDDLE LINCOLN CITY BOUND TRAFFIC EXITS PARKING AREA ROAD RACING CIRCUIT PARKING AREA •PARKING. AREA: WIGRAM STATION EXIT ENTRANCE MAIN •ROAD S SPRINGS Railway SOUTH ROAD ROAD If motorists follow! The plan shows the various the directions of traffic exits and parking areas and those portions the officers and officials they drome that are out of bounds lo should have very little the public. trouble getting to and Motor Racing Club, from the international which is sponsoring the meet- Lady Wigram Trophy ing, is particularly anxious that patrons should keep away from race meeting on satur- the out-of-bounds areas, follow day. To save them- the directions of officials and, selves when possible, either store time, patrons hitter in their cars or place it should take note of the in the bins provided. following points: Immediately after the meet- @Cyclists travelling only short ing, club members and volunteer workers will begin distances to and from the clearing up the aerodrome so ircuit should ride in single thai operational flying ile and keep as far to the start at 6 am. on Sunda • Motorists coming to Wigram dous task and patrons. can from south or east of the city assist greatly by being tidy. should use Lincoln, Annex and Mid-Lincoin Roads lo enter the circuit; @Patrons. who can conveniiently enter the circuit by way of Mid-Lincoln and Awatere Roads should do so, rather than use the Main South Road entrance; @Those approaching the cir cult by Blenheim or Riccar ton Roads should turn left immediately ove ithe overhead bridge at Sockburn and enter the circuit by the Symes Road entrance; @Traffic leaving Wigram through the Symes Road gates and should remain in the lanes as switching from one to another will cause conges.