18-9-72 LADY WIGRAM TI sne HIR NEW ZEALAND SUZUKI BELL 10 ... • Aucklander Geoff Perry shows the form which has swept him to success in the first part of this year' 's national motor-cycle road racing series. ROPHY RAC Saturday, January 22 GEOFF PERRY IS CERTAIN PROVIDE SPECTACU Aucklander Geoff Perry, who has swept all before him in the to provide spectacular watching at Wigram. He began his display of the great ability he has acquired overseas at Wanganui on Boxing Day when he beat last year's 250cc New Zealand champion Keith Turner, another international rider. In the 1970-71 series, Perry finished second to Turner overali, but in the 250cc Lightweight Tourist Trophy race at Wanganui Perry came home ahead of Jim Landrobe and Turner. A week later, at Bay Park near Tauranga, Perry took a second placing in the 250cc Rothman's New Zealand championships, when he was beaten to first place by Yamaha-mourted Rob Hiaton of Australia. Three wins Perry shone at Bay Park. He took three wins out of four starts. When he is on the great 500cc Daytona Suzusi he has been racing overseas he has proved himself virtually unbeatable. His starting is seldom fast. but when he is under way there is little that can hold him back. He gave a demonstration of this at Bay Park in the all important 500cc national championship series race. His start put him not high in the field but handy. Set-back Then on the very fast back straight the Suzuki suddenly lost power, and rider after rider whizzed past. A check showed Perry had started with the fuel turned off. He continued, well back. The race, aiter that, seemed to go to Christchurch's Dale Wylie, who is also Suzuki-mounted and nas been shadowing Perry throughout the series. By the final lap, Perry had. succeeded in moving through to third place and blasted his way clear at the end of the long back straight to win again. At Pukekobe another bad start was nOt insurmountable for the young racer. He began the 500ce TT half-way back through the large field. The end of the first lap saw him up to fourth place and on the fourth lap he moved past Ginger Molloy on nis high-powered 500cc Kawasaki and into the lead. And once in the lead there is little chance of any of the other racers catching him, let alone passing him. Perry recently rode against multiple world champion Giacomo Agostini at Oram Park in Sydney. He was second to Agostini the worldbeater but won the only race the champion did not ride in. He has also recently raced in Singapore, Malaysia, and Djakarta. Wylie raced with him in Asia. The Christchurch rider last vear won the 500cc Rothmans national championships, and he has dominated road-racing in Canterbury for many years. Last year, for the third consecutive sear, he took the "King of Ruapuna" title. LAR RI first part of this year's I The year before, mounted on a machine that had a completely stock power plant but had otherwise been modified for racing, he took his second King title. Wylie accomplished a great double at Wigram last year when he took both the 350cc and 500cc Airfield championships. This year he is one of the few racers who stand a chance of taking Perry: And on his home ground he could stand the best chance. Former world champion Ginger Molloy, of Huntly, is one of the others. Again this year he has been prominent in tbe rac- ing. Last season he rode a strange Suzuki twin, but this time he will perform at Christchurch on his more familiar three cylinder 500cc Kawasaki. He held the big bright lime green racer to a second in the 500cc Ill at Puke- kohe. Molloy has just completed TO DING national motor-cycle roa a successful season racing in the United States on the HIR racer, derived from Kawasaki's Mach III roadmachine. On another machine he won the 250cc class at Talladega and was in the money at several other meetings. Keith Turner is another great rider back la New Zealand for the national series. From Taradale, he last jear competed in Enrobe it the • world championships and finised second on points to Agostini in the 500cc class, a feat accomplished by Molloy in 1970. Irevor Discombe will be riding a 350cc Yamaha TR2B which is equipped with a six-speed gearbox. The 350 is quite competitive in the 500ce class, as Discombe proved a year ago at Pukekobe when he took a magnificent TT double that put hirn well on the way to winning the 330cc Rothmans New Zealand title last year. Another rider worth watching will be Dunedin's id racing series, is sure Jim Landrebe on his immaculately prepared Yamanas. He smashed his way to fame at Christchurch last Easter when he scored a "grand slam" at the New Zealand motor-cycle Grand Prix meeting, taking 250cc, 350cc, and 500cc titles. The feat had been accompiished before by his brother Neville, who died a few months previously in a motor-cycle smash on the Pukekohe circuit. Jim Landrebe was winning the 350cc IT at Pukekone this year when the Yamaha smashed a piston on the second to last lap. Among the top local opposition are Dave Ellis, Mike Sinclair, and Paul MeLachlan, all on 500cc Suzukis. Wigram circuit will see an impressive collection of international - class racers lined out against each other. The result is sure to be some of the fastest and most spectacular motorcycle racing ever seen in Christchurch.