28-10-72 OVERSEAS ENTRIES HOPE AT WIGRAM Although negotiations are ing events as well as the trosince possibetes or are as eat ise sor prese tinct possibilities of overseas participation in the saloon car Club Inc (Mr J. A. Brewer) and motorcycle races which today. will be supporting events at 'The trophy race for 5000cc the international Lady Wigram Tasman Formula single-sea- Trophy race meeting at ¡ters will, as usual, constitute Christchurch on January 20. • third round in the seven- "It is too early at this stage race Tasman Cup series and to give details of entries for the club anticipates that there the mating, but negotiations will be a fully international are in train to have overseas ¡line up for it," he said. saloon car drivers and motor- Saloon racing fans will have cyclists competing in support-jan opportunity to see all New i ¡Zealand's leading drivers in this category in action, rounds in the Bank of New South Wales, GTX production saloon and Ace-Osca championships will be decided at the meeting. In addition there will be an invitation race for the fastest aloons trom each group. ne balance of the programme wil comprise two motorcycle races, one of which will be for production machines, a recently in- ¡troduced category that is proving popular with competitors and followers of the sport. The Wigram circuit is the fastest used in the Tasman series. The winner of this year's trophy race averaged 12.92 miles an hour. He was Graham MeRae who drove a Leda GMI. McRae also shared the lap record with Australian Frank Blatich filatich A50 Repco) with a speed 115.35mph. 12-1-73 AUSTRALIAN 5-1-73 FORD 19th INTERNATIONAL LADY WIGRAM TROPHY RACE GRANDSTAND SEATS MAIN STAND. $3.00 each STAND AT THE LOOP. $3.00 each AVAILABLE NOW AT D.LC PRICLUDES ADMISSIOA AT GATE 20th JAN., 73 BOOK NOW AT D.I.C MAIL ORDERS TO D.I.C PLEASE ENCLOSE STAMPED ADDRESSED ENVELOPE. MAY RACE AT WIGRAM By PETER GREENSLADE • LEVIN. - There is a strong! possibility that one of Ford Australia's Group One Ford Falcon GTHO racing saloon cars will be racing at the Lady Wigram International Trophy meeting on Saturday week If the car can reach Christchurch in time. it will be driven by Reg Cook of Auckland. who is currently running second in the Castrol GTX production car series. At the moment. Leo Leonard, who is racing a Chrysler Charger, is leading the Group One section with a total of 36 points. Cook, who is driving a Ford Escort. is leading the Group Iwo section with 31 points. If. with the aid of the GTHO Cook can beat Leonard at Wigram and Teretonga Park. Invercargill, at the end of the month he should emerge overall winner of the series. The news broke at the Levin motor racing circult! this morning. The decision to bring the Falcon to New Zealand prob-i ably stems from the fact that in a free car market. success in motoring competition has! sales promotional ralue and! Ford obviously wants to remain at the top of the tree 15-1-73 15-1-73 Wigr am a tougher event for McRae WELLINGT champion racing win at the Levin International, he Trophy at Christc By PETER GREENSLADE ON. - Although the 1971 driver, Graham McRae, had circuit last Saturday in the will not have it so easy in church next Saturday. and 1972 Tasman an easy end-to-end 75-mile Rothmans the Lady Wigram McRae. who began his career at Levin, knows the tight 1.2-mile circuit like the back of his hand and this fact probably gave a number of the other tenders something of an inconority complex. In any event, his electrifying race qualifying time of 43.3sec -three-fiths of a second better than the lap record he set last year - made everyone else realise that McRae was the man to beat. In the race itself, he was out on his own and when. in the late stages, the American Sam Posey had the engine blow up t: his Surtees TSHIB, to spray the track liberally with oil, McRae continued to increase his lead over the current Australian champion, Frank Mat ich • Repco Matich A50:, picking up some Ilsec in as many laps. NEW ENGINE McRae has been saving that it is probable he will have a 530 brake horsepower engine - a Bartz-Chevrolet - in his McRae Gill for Wigram. McRae is something of …a psychologist and it could i be that he is romancing a little. in the hope bewildering other likely wigram front runners. Alan Brodie, who is one of the foremost entrants in Foramula A-5000 racing in Britain, reckons the Australian-de signed and built Repco V8 engines, which develop 490 brake horsepower, are far more pow. erful than anything being used in Europe. Brodie's driver in this series is Englishman Steve Thompson, who is driving a Chevron B24, a car reckoned one of the best in Formula A-5000 racing, although it has not made much of an impression in New Zealand so far. FASTEST However, 530 brake horsepower or not. McRae will not have things nearly so easy at Wigram, which will be the fastest circuit used in this year's eight-race New Zealand-Australia Tasman championship series. The second-fastest qualifier at Levin. Australian Max Stewart, should shine on the aerodrome circuit with his new Lola T330, and so should Matich and the New Zealand Grand Prix winner. John McCormack, of Adelaide, both whom will be running Repco engines. Matich is having a new engine fitted for Wigram, although the one he used in the Grand Prix and at Levin is still in good shape. The dark horse at Wigram may turn out to be Englishman Alan Rollinson, a highly experienced driver, who ran second to McCormack in a McRae GMI in the Grand PriX. Rollinson is a man who goes well on a power-driving circuit such as Wigram. Al Monza (italy) in 1971, he WOn the world's fastest Formula A-5000 race in history at an average speed of 145 miles an hour. Those are the sort of cred-: entials that should be extremey useful at Wigram. 19th INTERNATIONAL LADY W TROPHY IGRAM RACE SAT. JAN. 20th CONCESSION TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW AT ANY CHRISTCHURCH CITY BRANCH Bank of New South Wales Admission at gates on Race Day $2.50 Admission by Concession Ticket $2.00 SAVE 50c — Buy a Concession Ticket from the Bank of New South Wales SI SUCCESS Although South Isiand drivers were in the minority at Levin, those who did appear certainly did not disgrace themselves In supporting events. Formula Ford driver Gra- Baker, of Christchurch. notched two good second places in his PDL Titan and, Clyde Collins, also of Christchurch, i dictated all the terms in his two Ace-Osca saloon car drives with the beautifully pre 'pared Cortina Mustang. Timaru's Leo Leonard. who has been leading the Castrol GTZ production saloon series with his Chrysler Charger E49, did not have such a good day. Although he dominated the 25-lap race in the eariy stages. three spins cost him all chance of a win, although after each one he regained a number of places and even.: tually finished third. The Wigram GTX race could: be a vital one for Leonard and his chances must he rated highly, for the big Chargers will be much more at ease on; the fast, open circuit than ati Levin, where the circuit is : narrow and extremely tight. mances, new On the basis of levin pefor race records should be the order of the day at Wigram.