15-1-76 Redman-the man to watch : Brian Redman, the ! reigning American F5000 champion, is a driver of rare skill and ¡experience, a true professional who lores driving racing cars and enters every race to win. The myth persists that all the best drivers are in Formula One, but Redman, for instance could have a Formula One drive tomorrow if he wanted it. And he doesn't. He has raced for the Cooper Fl team, gaining a third in the Spanish Grand Prix, and more recently for the U. O. P. Shadow team. But his Fl drives are not the events he remembers best, nor the achievements he considers most notable. The race he was most pleased to win was the 1970 Targa Florio sports car. race. on the public roads of Sicily. This race has been discontinued because of the inherent dangers of the circuit — Redman himself crashed there, and was badly burned but when he won it in a Porsche 908 it was one of the most severe challenges for a driver. Four times he has won the 1000km sports car race at Spa, Belgium, on the fastest road circuit in the world; and he won a 500km race there driving single-handed. Compared with races like that, Wigram is a short sprint. Redman - is . an affable, quietly spoken and modest Englishman whose interests outside racing include horse-riding and hunting. He is aged 38, married, and has his wite and family with him in New Zealand. He began racing in 1959 in a Morris Minor 1000 and graduated to a lightweight E type Jaguar, in which he had 15 firsts and one second from 16 starts. By 1966 he was racing a CanAm Lola with some success and the next vear he turned professional and began racing F2 single seaters. He drove the remarkably successful Ford GT40 with Jacky Ickx in long-distance sports car races in 1967, and made his debut in F1 the same year. Between 1969 and 1963 he teamed with the Swiss driver, Jo Siffert, to race for the Porsche team in sports car races, scoring some notable successes. In 1971 he began racing F5000 cars., and in 1972 was second in the European series at the wheel of a McLaren MIOB. He com-, peted in only a few Ameri-: can races, scored enough points to finish. fourth. In 1973 he teamed with Jacky Ickx in Ferrari sports car and won races at the Nurburgring (his favounte circuit) and Vlonza, as weil as finishing șecond to Jod! Scheckter the American F5000: series. In 1974 and 1975 he won the American series, driv ing a Lola T332 in preference to a T400, and also took part in a • number of saloon races, driving B.V.W. He says he would dearly like to have the three-litre B.M.W. in New Zealand to drive against our top saloons which he considers to be faster. He had not driven a Formula Iwo car for some time before racing ine! Chevron in the New Zea-i land Grand Prix, but that! did not stop him driving it as quickly any other driver would have been able to do. Watch Brian Redman at Wigram and you'll see a dedicated professional doing his job with all the skill he can command, and beating cars with engines more than twice the size of the B.M.W. Champions n Alter years of wrangles the Australian and New Zealand promoters decided to scrap the eight-race Peter Stuyvesant series this year, and the four-race series each country are being run independently. Peter Stuyvesant in New Zealand has put up a substantial amount for ine series, but the promoters have been unable to attract any overseas stars other than Brian Redman, and be in an uncompetitive car at that. Three former Stuyvesant champions — Graham McRae, Warwick Brown and Peter Gethin - are conspicuous by their absence, and until ot rac the last minute it seemed likely that the Australian contingent wouid not arrive either. But Brambles Freighters helped with sponsorship for a Fred Opert car for Redman, and Union Freight arranged the transport of the Australian teams. It would have been a poor series ing without the help of these companies and. of courst, Peter Stuyvesant. Wigram is the third round of the series, which makes the race one of the most interesting. The final round will be run at the Teretonga circuit, Invercargill. on Sunday week, January 25. Allison Bruce Allison, the brilfant young driver from Queensland. leads the Peter Stuyvesant series after a second at Pukekohe and a third at Manfeild. But Allison's position is anything but secure, as three drivers are together on nine points. Ken Smith, the winner of the New Zealand Grand Prix, failed to score at Manfield after tyre trouble; Max Stewart led the grand prix for a time but had to withdraw, making up for this with a win at Manfeild: and Brian Redman, battling in an uncompetitive car, scored a fourth in the grand prix Allison Stewart Smith Redman Bartlett Bernaseoni Wurdoch Baker leads and a brilliant second at Manfeild. The next driver, on five points, is the hardcharging Australian, Kevin Bartiett, who is followed by Paul Bernasconi (four points), Jim Murdoch (two) and Graham Baker (two). The man who led both the grand prix and the Manfeild round until he was forced out with mechanical trouble was Graeme Lawrence. So what has proved to be the fastest car-driver combination has still not registered on the points table. Peter Stuyvesant series points (points awarded from first place to sixth: 9, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1). Pukekohe Manfeild Total 6 4 10: C o: 9 5 NNH 25 PETER STU series ESAI DATSUN 10 International Motor Race Meeting WIGRAM 18th JAN