Mcl uar en's wid 10W aonates new trophy Wigr am race By PETER GREENSLADE Drivers contesting the twenty-first Lady Wigram motor race on Sunday will be competing for two Lady Wigram trophies-the one awarded annually by promoters of the event and another donated doday by the widow of New 'Zealand's most successful driver, Bruce McLaren. Driving Cooper "imaxes, Melaren won the trophy race -over a distance of 150 miles -in 1963 and again, over a distance of 101 miles, in 1964. The trophy donated by Mrs Pallie Metaren wil be presented by her lo the driver who records the fastest lap in the race on Sunday and will be an annual aard ' The club will relain the trophy in Christchurch. bul will present appropriate memento lo the award winner. In 1963. McLaren averaged 93.832 miles an hour for the race and Australian Jack Brabham. who was destined to be world champion driver on three occasions, set the fastest lap at 97.63 miles an hour. Tast year's trophy race was won at an average speed of 114.277 miles an bour by the then Australian champion. John MeCormack, in an Ansett Din MRs Repeo and the last- -75 17 i est lap of 120.566 miles an For this year's race, the :hour was set by Englishman hairpin bend has been re-intro- Peter Gethin in a Chevron ducer. B24. Trophy race drivers will have their first taste of the revised circuit tomorrow when SERIES there will be qualifying trials for starting positions in sun- Gethin went on to win the day's race. FOOTNOTE: Bruce Meeight-race Australasian Peler Laten was killed in a crash Stuyvesant series in which the while testing one of his Canwigrain race always constitutes the third round. Am sports racing cars on the Goodwood circuit in England On the face of it, race and on June 2, 1970, He had been lap speeds do not appear to racing and building Grand have increased all that. dram- Prix, sports racing and Inatically since Melaren had dianapolis cars for about 16 his first Wigram win, which years and had established was also his first major vic-! one of the world's most formlory in his own country al-idable racing tcamns. though by then he was well The leam is still very much established and highly re-to the forefront and was respected in grand prix racmg cently awarded the Ferodo circles. Trophy, one of the most cov- In Melaren's day, the slow eled awards, for winning the hairpin bend at the end of the world drivers' and construct- ¡long back straight was used nes' Championships as well as until it was replaced by a fast the Indianapolis 500. left-hand curve for the 1972) last vear's race and lap times So the comparisons between 'Sponsors and those of Mebaren in 1963. are really not true ones. in 1971, the last occasion on which the hairpin was part major of the circuit, Graham MeRae, ; appropriately driving a Mesharen Formula A-5000 car, won the race at an average speed of 104.93 miles an hour problem' and made fastest lap at 107.12 miles an hour. Lack of sponsorship is the bie problem facing motor-rac. Ing today. according to Mrs ¡Pattie MeLaren. "Sponsorship is becoming increasingly difficult ln find be cause companies no longer have the money to spend on advertising." She said. sponsorship we'll all go out of business— but hopefully this is too far into the tute. looking British team. March, had withdrawn fron formula one racing because of lack of sponsorship. Rising fuel costs were add. ing lo the difficulties. "We (Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Ltd, of which she is a director) have an advertising sponsorship contract with two companies. "If expires next could feel it then year, so we MI's Mclaren said motorracing was still a large part of her life. "but for obvious ¡reasons I don't feel the same about it as 1 used to. "I still spend quite a lot of time doing lap and time scores for the team in England and for the major races in Europe." does not do any racing herself. "I used to want to, but Bruce always used to say one racing driver in the family was enough. "I have done some go-karting though." IOr ABOVE Mirs Palli Lady Wigram Tro lo Mr Jack Brewe Rueing Club. The annually to the dri the race. ie Mclaren presenting sphy won bs her hust er, president of the M trophy will be awai iver with the fastest lal