17-1-73 SIX NATIONS REPRESENTED IN Any person willing to place a bet on a particular driver in the Nineteenth International Lady Wigram Trophy race on Satorday probably has more money than sense. Although practise times give the spectator some indication as to a possible winner, the pre-race favourite can often end up in the pits by the end of the first lap—as was the case in the New Zealand Grand Prix at Pukekohe. Drivers from six nations will do battle on the fast Wigram circuit with their powerful Formula 5000 class cars. Five of the drivers are Australians, there are tWO Englishmen, tWO Americans, one Japanese, one Canadian and 10 New Zealanders. While the usual gap exists between the not so fast cars and the powerful machines, very little separates the faster cars. The new style Tasman series introduced in 1970 has been criticised for the general decrease in quality of cars and drivers that have made the long trek from Europe America to New Zealand each January. Although the criticism may have been valid two years ago, the situation improved last year, and this year's Lady Wigram field consists of undoubtedly the best quality cars available, being driven by the top drivers in the Formula 5000 class. Of the 10 New Zealanders in the 47 lap, 100 mile race, one driver will have particular appeal with the crowd. Graham McRae will be an obvious favourite. He gave WIGRAM CLASSIC few drivers a chance last year when he tore around the new circuit layout at an average speed of 112.92 m.p.h. L.S. Champion An experienced Formula 5000 driver, the 3<-year-ola Wellingtonian has competed successfully in the European Formula 5000 Championship series for the last three years He is fresh from victory in the Amencan L & M Continental 5000 series and will be keen to start the year off with another win in the Tasman series. McRae designed and built his McRae GM1 in his workshop at Poole in F. MATICH Dorset. The car arrived shortly before the New Zealand Grand Prix and provid- Ing it mechanically sound. after • some trouble at Pukekohe, it should be ideally suited to the fast Wigram circuit. Hot on McRae's heels will be the fast Australian, Frank Matich. The fastest qualifier ai Pukekohe in his Repco- Matich A50, Matich had to visit the pits after one lap and did not rejoin the race until some time later. Matich built and designed the car in his North Sydney workshop and he has had a lot of success in Repcoengined vehicles. In recent months the Repco-Matich A50 has won a number of races on the Australian circuits. Matich won the first three rounds of the Gold Star series at Sandown, Oran Park and Surfers Paradise, together with the second round of the Repco Birthday series at : Calder. He now holds outright lap records at each of these circuits. Formula 1 Besides McRae and Matich, the Lady, Wigram field includes at least six other drivers who would rank high in the Formula 5000 class. Some of these. drivers may be competing in the world championship series in Europe next season as it ig understood that the bag Formula 5000 cars Formula II cars may be allowed to compete with Formula I for the title. J. McCormack, of Australia, should provide some spirited competition in his Elfin MR5 foliowing a good. if close, win in the New Zealand Grand Prix. The Tasmanian, who is a member of the Ansett Racing Team, is competing in his second Tasman series. The team learnt a number of lessons on its last visit and now with an early victory and better knowledge the local circuit, must certainly rank as one of the front runners for the 1973 title. The Elfin MR5 was designed and built to comply with Australian National Formula I (F. 5000) using the Australian-built Holden engine modified and tuned by the Repco Development Company. The only English drivers in the field, Steve Thomp- son and Alan Rollinson, happen to be cousins. Rollinson finished second at Pukekohe in a McRae GMI and Thompson was third in a Chevron B24. Although unfamiliar with the spacious Wigram circuit, both drivers have had considerable experience in Formula 5000 events. Rollinson finished behind McRae in the European Formula 5000 championship and his switch to a McRae for the Tasman series could be a wise move. He raced a • Lola T300 in zurope. One of Rollinson's better wins was in a Surtees TS8 at Monza in 197l. Monza, like Wigram, is a wide, fast, slipstreaming circuit, ideally suited to the power of the F. 5000 cars. Rollinson will be hoping for similar conditions on Saturday. Surprise of the field could be Thompson. •His, Eurore America haste Europe and America year by the top British! driver, Brian Redman. Red man beat McRae three times in America in this car, so it is very reliable. His performances on weti tracks have been outstand-i ing and if the "horses for courses" motto is anything to go by and the Lady Wigram is held in the rain, Thompson may prove hard; to beat. American Another driver at Wigram who finished behind McRae in an overseas F.l 5000 series, is Sam Posey. Generally regarded as America's top F. 5000 Posey was runnert drive McRae in the L & M Continental 5000 championship. He finished fifth in last: year's Indianapolis 500 and was the first rookie home. He has had considerable success and driving experience since first signing with the Champ Carr team in" 1971. The team is sponsoring his attack on the Tasman series. Many American drivers have found it dificult to make an impact on the Tasman series in recent years, so Posey's progress at Wigram should be watched with interest. While Posey will be making his debut on the airfield circuit, a number of seasoned campaigners are back for another try. These include the experienced Australians, Kevin Bartlett (Lola 1300), and Max Stewart (Lola 1330),: who will be making an! appearance after a season! North American on the circuits. unlucky driver, Stewart qualified the fastest in last year's race, but a blown engine on race day spoilt any chance he had Given an ounce of luck, Stewart and the new Lola T330 will be close to thei front at the end of the 100: miles A young Australian not known IO Wigram: crowd is Warwick Brown,! aged 22, a member of the Target Racing Team. Last year he contested his first Gold Star series in al McLaren MIOB, and now he has secured the Lola T300 first brought to Australia by Neil Allen. The youngest driver in Saturday's big race will be Japan's Noritake Takahara, aged 20. He is racing a 1.8 litre Brabham B136. The appearance of the Japanese team will add real international flavour to the meeting. It was hoped that Graeme Lawrence would have his first race of the series on Saturday, but the organisers learnt yesterday that will not have his new Surtees TS15 ready for Wigram. This is a disappointment because Lawrence is hoping to make a comeback to the sport after his serious accident at Pukekohe a year ago. The New Zealand Gold Star champion, David Oxton could take a lot of beating in his Southlandbuilt Begg FM5. George Begg and Oxton are confident the Morand-Chevrolet powered car can keep up with the best in the field. The car was involved in a pre-race collision at Pukekohe and although it was repaired in time for the main event, Oxton was forced out with steering trouble. The Begg is equal to any overseas-built car, it has a good and with Oxton fresh Formula Ford competition engine, from good in England, the combination will be worth watching. #32. ... 5 2. The English driver, Alan Rollinson, on his way to second placing in the New Zealand Grand Prit in his Duckham's MeRae. Rollinson is one of Britain's top Formula 5000 drivers who competed successfully in the last European F. 5000 championships. Japanese entrant The Japanese driver, Veritake Takahara will be the youngest driver 1o join the starting arid in the Lady Wigram Trophy Race on Saturday. u: ving a 1 • litre Brzh XIT BT36 in all four le amand Terman Cup race ..re going go Australia to part of the chan hip. He has made grea rices in Japanese mon g and hopes to wide racing experience • WIt N. TARAHARA His assault on New Zealand race tracks is a thorougn japanese venture. His Brabham chassis is British-made. and Takahara may be using one of the Mitsubishi Colt racing engines which have beaten the European racing motors on several occasions in Japan. Takahara will also have a Cosworth Ford FVC Beginning racing at the age of 17 with a Honda S800. Takahara progressed to a Brabham Honda which took him to success in the Nippon sports car race during 1970. He won his class in the Fuji Junior Seven race series, and in 1971 switched to a Porsche 906 which brought him many successes, including the Autosport trophy. Suzuka Grest race and All Japan Drivers' Championship ALANTI In 1972 Takahara won the Suzuka 300 kilometre races with a Lola T212, and then drove a McLaren M12 into second place in the Fuji 300 kilometres event. He drove the same Brabham which he will use in the Tasman series in the recent Japanese Grand Prix. engine Takahara 15 bringing Japanese manager and t mechanice fit