17-9-73 19th- INTERNATIONAL LADY WIGRAM TROPHY RACE SATURDAY 20th JANUARY Local champion 1 New Zealand driver of particular interest in i the Tasman series, is the national gold star champion, Darid Oxton. Before his success in the Gold Star event. Oxton spent three months in Britain where he gained recognition as one of the world's top Formula Ford drivers. He will drive a Begg FM5 Wigram. a car which both Oxton and the builder, George Begg, are anxious to compare with the latest in overseas machinery. Oxton, aged 26, came to New Zealand from England as a six-year-old. Like his father he has had a lifelong interest in motorsport. Oxton graduated from his father's Daimler to a 1500 c.c. Lola sports racing car and won every Iace in New Zealand for that type of car during the season. The following tiro years he drove a 14 litre Brabham and in both seasons was runnerup in the New Zealand Formula for this class of car. Graeme Lawrence won in 1968 and Graham McRae in 1970. It was Oxton's ability in preparation which lea to nis first overseas drive. During the Tasman series he impressed an American team sufficiently to be invited to drive a Lotus in the final race of the Continental Championship at Sebring. In the race Oxton astonished many people by finishing fourth in a car which had never been highly successful in a Formula 5000 event. Graham McRae strikes a dusty patch on the Pukek ohe circuit in his MicRae G.M.1. The New Zealander is seeking his third successive win in both the Tasman series and Lady Wigram Trophy Race. He will certainly be the pre-race favourite. A GUIDE FOR RACING FANS The annual Lady Wigram Trophy meeting means different things to different people. To most nf us it is an enjoyable day in the usual Canterbury summer sunshine. enjoying one of our favourite sports. To those in the refreshment rents, it means an endless procession of hungry thirsty people. To the lap scorers in the infield grandstand, it is an exercise in concentrated scanning of car numbers, and marking of lap charts. To some in the pits it's a day of greasy hands and despair, and to many of the competitors, it often means the discovery that hundreds of dollars, and hundreds of hours, preparation are not enough. To the thousands of dyed in the wool genuine enthusiasts and experts in the field of cars, drivers and race watching I can tell very little, but to ine amateurs and first timers, I will offer a few words on how and what to watch. One of the best places to watch from is opposite the start-finish line. From this area it is possible to see the pit signals to the drivers. The equipment for a good days watching should include cushion, binoculars, stopwatch, and a programme. Perusal of Saturday morning's paper will reveal who made fastest practice times, and if these starters have a ring put round them on one's programme, it will make identification easy. Soon the numbers of the main contenders become quite familiar. DRAMA The most dramatic moments of a motor race often occur at the start. and as the one minute board is displayed, you should concentrate completely on the starting grid. One hand raised above the head is a signal that a car has stalled. In the mad rush for hangar bend, collisions and tangles are not unusual, as balked drivers swing across into the path of others. (By A. R. Your feld glasses come into action and at that distance it is colour alone which enables one to identify the cars. Field glasses are very useful but their field of view is restricted, and the more powerful models are fairiv hard to hold steady. As the cars reach the braking zone at the end of the back straight the naked eye preferable watch who leaves their braking late. and who overtakes under braking. Wigram is a spacious fast circuit, with no need for heroics or dangerous overtaking, and among the top drivers the one with : the best car is normally the winner. After two or three laps the field will have sorted itself out and it will be fairly clear as to who are in contention for the prize money. Due to the large gap in performance between top cars and those who are making up the number, after about five laps the big guns commence lapping the slower cars. This can be very safe if it happens in middle of the back straight but in the hangar] pena, control tower. chicanei area, things can get very tricky. Flag marshalls are situated at strategic points around the circuit. A steady blue flag indicates to driver that he is being closely followed. A waved flag indicates that another car is trying to overtake. Your programme will tell you more about flag signals. SIGNALS Flag marshalling is a job for experienced, witted mpe, ence to size ick a situation swiftly, to identify cars easily, and act at once. Christchurch, due to having regular race meetings at Ruapuna. is able to muster men with these qualifications. Years ago this was not so, and I re- BATEY) member with amusement seeing Moss and Brabham locked in a fierce struggle over much of the race, when the flag marshall at Club corner waved a blue flag at the front runner. The best ways of using the stop-watch are to use it for timing single laps of the best cars, and later on to time the gap between two cars. It is common for one of the leading competitors to have bad luck of some sort. A spin ofi, or a vișit to the pits will leave him towards the rear, and he will be flat out trying to bridge the gap to the leaders. One of your neighbouring spectators will claim, "McRae is catching the leaders." Your stop watch will allow you to find out if this is correct. Time the interval from the leader passing a clearly defined point on the circuit until the challenger passes it. Time it again on the next lap and you may be able to state, "yes McRae is gaining one second a lap on Matich." Matich is 20 seconds in front. there are 18 laps to go, so you can look forward to a great finish. FIGURES The pit crews of the properly organısed drivers will be holding out signal boards their men. The actual layout varies from crew to crew, but with your field glasses you will see a board held out to the leader with -10 MAT 14. You could interpret this to mean 10 seconds in front of Matich and 14 laps to go. A knowledge of the number of laps remaining, and the margin competitors will enable you to work out what the figures mean. Third placeman may 3. - 15. 11.7. Which might mean 3rd place 15 seconds from the leader, lap time опе minute 11.7 seconds. Towards the very end of the race if things are very close you may see some pit crews dispense with the board and allow the driver to handle the situation. Others hang out GO or 9000. which would be asking the driver 10г maximum effort in the first case. and in the second allowing another 50 i.p.m. On top of the previous limit. The great Fangio when asked how he liked to win his races, replied, "as slowiy as possible." It does not follow that every car in a race is driven flat out through the race. Many ace drivers upon reaching the lead will ease off and drive their cars no harder than necessary to maintain command of the situation. Likewise some second and third runners will conserve their efforts until the final stages. Many car enthusiasts claim that the best racing at Wigram is seen from the saloon cars. and I think that they frequently provide the best entertainment, and the closest racing. The average driver can associate himself with cars which externally resemble the one he drives on the road. The most enjoyable race in recent years was 1he David and Goliath struggle, when Paul Fahey in a Ford Escort. conquered the faster and more powertul Mustangs Camaros. Every lap the big cars outsped and overback straight, but in the braking zone Fahey still had his foot hard on the throttle while the drivers of the American metal were braking for the hairpin. The Escort sliced past the big on went the superior and boys, English the nimble superbly brakes, handling Escort hit the front again until sheer power prevailed again down the back straight. into S. THOMPSON