- LADY WIGRAM T MORAND • Graham McRae shows the speed which won the Lady Wigram Trophy race last year. He averaged a record 104.94 miles an hour to win. 18-1-72 ROPI PROSE FEAST International circuit in the 18-y The ingredients in the main dish — the trophy race are such that the race cannot help but be the fast- est run at Wigram, provided the track remains dry. The ingredients? Well, the race has attracted an imposing number of top-ranking Formula A-5000 drivers, each of whom is ready, willing and able to pick up the laurels with a car that is capable of doing the job. Also, there is a bunch of second-stringers to snap at the big boys heels and ready to grab a piece of the main action, given some in the running. Circuit modified On top of that, the circuit has been modified in such a way that it cannot help but be faster than ever before. Instead of having to brake almost to a standstill to get through the traditional hairpin at the end of the back straight, drivers will tackle a sharpish left-hand curve at much higher speed and sweep on, gaining pace all the way, through to Hangar Bend, just beyond the pits. The Loop, just beyond the hangars, has also been altered in such a manner that drivers, instead of having to make two decided turns to change direction, will make only one and find themselves much better lined up to accelerate away more briskly into the succession of short straights and curves that lead round to that long, fast, back straight. Record lap Last year the Wellington driver Graham McRae, who IY RAC Saturday, January 22nd PECTS BRIGHT • YET C Lady Wigram Trophy ra ear history of the South Formula 5000 drivers on the European scene, averaged a record 104.94 miles an hour to win the big event and also set 107.12 mph lap record in his modified McLaren M10B. Those figures will remain permanently in the Wigram record book because of the modifications that have now been made to the circuit, which is also fractionally shorter at 2.13 miles. The changes, as' well as the improvements made in car performance in the past twelve months, could mean seven to 10mph race speed increase. This means that it is quite on the cards that the Lady Wigram Trophy could become the fastest-run race in the eightround New Zealand-Australia Tasman series. The major contenders for trophy race laurels have all the right credentials. There is Frank Gardner, this year's New Zealand Grand Prix winner, European Formula 5000 champion and former British saloon car champion, who has had a wealth of Tasman racing experience and is no Wigram stranger. Fresh from winning the United States Formula A championship, comes Englishman David Hobbs who, using a brand-new engine on his MeLaren M22, ran it in and was still placed third in the Pukekohe race. Hobbs will be one of the new faces at Wigram. Another will be that of Mike Hailwood who, after gaining fame and fortune as the world's top motor-cyclist has switched to four wheels IN AER By PETER G ce patrons should come Island's classic car rac abilities by finishing runnerup to Gardner in the European 5000 series, as well as notching numerous wins. in sports car and other singieseater events. Hailwood, in his worksentered Surtees TS&A, was one of the fastest qualifiers for the New Zealand Grand Prix and showed that he has all the talent by coming home an untroubled second behind Gardner. Australian Grand Prix winner for the last two years, Frank Matich must be reckoned one of the topliners in Tasman-style racing. Last year he made a quick trip to the United States and, using the Austrahan-built Repeo engine, toppled a number of the crowned heads in the American L and M Formula A series The current Australian Gold Star champion, Max Stewart, and a former one, Kevin Bartlett, should be Wigram front-runners also. Both have proven records and in the New Zealand Grand Prix Bartlett finished fourth and Stewart fifth, Stewart, who had run third most of the race, being rather unlucky because in the later stages the Repco engine in his Australian-built Elfin was not picking up the fuel as it should have been. Likeable Diminutive and likeable, Denny Pilette, Belgium's most versatile racing driver, after Jackie Ickx, raced at Wigram and in the Tasman series last year under Team VDS colours and gave a good account of himself. FOR BIGGEST ODROME CIRC REENSLADE prepared on Saturday for the biggest speed fe ce. Pilette plays himself in and looks a good prospect for a points-scoring Wigram place. With 1970 Tasman champion Graeme Lawrence recovering from his injuries after the tragic Pukekohe crash in which Bryan Faloon lost his life, New Zealand's main Wigram hope is McRae. It would be surprising if he did not go out a very "hot" favourite, for during the Pukekohe qualifying trials he was head and shoulders above everyone else and in the race itself streaked away from the field in his Leda GM1, only to lose all chance, with gear selector problems after two laps. The 1971 Tasman cham pion, McRae, will be the SPEED UIT.. east on the aerodrome driver everyone will have to beat to win at Wigram Among the seconastringers are the Australian Elfin works drivers, Garfie Cooper and John McCormack, American Evan Noyes, Canadian Dave McConnell, and the balance of the depleted Kiwi contingent.