23-1-80 Extre mely even field for Pacific races The network of low flying on Su the lady Wigram When the Wigram fam-ily donated the land to the Govèrnment for use as an airbase a prerequisite was that an annual motor-race be held on the runways,. Grand winner STEVE MILLEN, winner of the New Zealand Grand Prix at Pukekohe on January I2, is reaping the benetits of switching from Chevron cars to Ralt this season. Millen, 29 years old and based in Auckland, is the 1877 South-East . Asian champion and is a very versatile driver, having won saloor.-car races, rallies, rallycrosses and speedway midget races as well as single-seater races. Millen is backed by two expatriate New Zealanders now based in Singapore, Bran and Dave Schollum, who have supplied all his Singie-seater machines. Mitlen won at Bay Park in both the 1976 and 1977 Formula Pacific series. He regularly goes to South- East Asia to race in such places as Macao, Panang and Kusia Lumpur. The Chardon Ralt RTI Millen is driving this year has been modified by his team to imorove its handline : runways at Wigram airbase will be the scene of some unday as a classy field of drivers does battle for the Trophy and $11,000 in prize money. and this year sees yet another meeting on the fast 3.5km circuit, which is loved by drivers the world over. An intense battle between an Australian, Dutchman and two New Zealanders is likely for the Lady Wigram Trophy on Sunday. Fields for the annual international series have never been closer than the one for this season's Aurora AFX championship. The Australian is John Smith, 27, who has rocketed into favouritism with his stunning double at Marfeild near Palmerston North, the second round of the series on Monday. No one driver dominated the first round, at Pukekohe, bur Smith stamped his mark all over the two • Manfeild heats in his speedy Ralt RTI. Huub Rothengatter is the Dutch representative. He has been the most consistent finisher in the series so far and leads the. championship. On Monday he scored a third and a second despite an engine overheating problem in his new Chevron 848, and the 25-year-ola will be a big threat at Wigram. His only problem may be his car's weight, which could slow him down a little on the long main straight. Steve Millen and Dave McMilan are the two New Zealanders. streaked away from My from, 3e0 Fabi (Italy) to win bath heats of last year's Lady Wigram Trophy in Citizen Rait but this series Millen has proved to have the edge on him, "so a very * interesting battle could develop on Sunday. Steve Millen's Chardon Ralt RTI, which is virtually brand new, has special side-pods which his team designed to improve and treese seem tres, and these working well. They certainly worked in the second heat of the New Zealand Grand Prix, in which SMillen comotitably beat McMillan to the chequered flag. McMillan has also had problems staying the track at times, crashing badly in the first heat at Pukekohe and then being shunted off the track at Manfeild on Monday, and later spinning off. All articles by JOHN FRIDD: photographs by RICHARD SIMPSON. Some daring, high-speed dicing is likely to be seen on Sunday as these four top drivers try to assert their dominance and get in front at the start of each heat. One mistake at up to 255 km/h could mean disaster. Two = overseas drivers desperate to improve on Sunday will be the volatile Italian, Andrea de Cesaris, and Mike Thackwell, the 18-year-old New Zealand-born driver raised Western Australia. Their works March 792B cars have proved almost impossible to set up for Formula Pacific racing and the two win-hungry youngsters have got more aggressive each race. Larry Perkins, a veteran Australian driver, is not to be under rated on the Wigram track. The 29year-old's Chevron B39 may be a little outclassed by the speedy Ralts or the fast Wigram track but he knows the circuit well, having beaten Keke Rosberg on it in 1977. Brett Riley, an expatriate New Zealander now racing in the United Kingdom, has been a consistent scorer in the series so far and will be ready to pounce on Sunday if any of the other top drivers strike trouble. lan Flux, an up-andcorning young English driver, turned on a muchimproved performance a: Manfeild in the well designed Ehrlich and could aiso surprise. Ken Smith (Auckland, viarch 782B) and David Oxton (Auckland, Chevron B34) are two veteran New Zealanders who still have plenty of life left in them. as Smith proved when he won the first heat of the Grand Prix after a lucky choice of tyres. Points going into Sunday's round at Wigram are:- Rothengatter 49, John Smith 47, Millen 45, Riley 31, McMillan 25, Ken Smith and de Cesaris 22, Oxton 19, Perkins 16, Flux 13, Grant Campbell (Auckland) 12, Bob Do naldson (Hamilton) 10, Desire Wilson 3, Thackwell 1. Points awarded in each heat are: —1, 20 points; 2, 15 ;3, 12; 4, 10; 5, 8; 6. 6: 7. 4; 8. 3; 9, 2; 10, 1. teve Millen (left) and Dave McMillan neck and neck in their Rats in the first heat of the Grand Pris. Pillen gained a irth and a first to pin ine HP John Smith, the Australian racing driver is favoured to win the Lady Wigram Trophy at Wigram airbase on Sunday. A fivepage special feature on the two-day meeting over the week-end begins on Page ROTHENGATTER, and 2055 one of two drivers in Team Holland. Rothengatter has enjoyed considerable success in European Formula Three racing and should soon follow his countryman and tean-mate, Jan Lammers, into Formula One racing. Rothengatter is driving a new Chevron B48, run by the experienced Australian, Alan Docking. Rothengatter took the car to third place in the recent Macau Grand Prix but the less powerful engines used in New Zealand have taken the edge off the car's performance and he has to work hard to be competitive. DAVE McMILLAN won both beats at Wigram last year and will be hard to beat on Sunday. He knows the track like the back of his hand and loves its fast corners. McMillan, 35 and based in Auckland, is driving the Ralt RT1 that be has raced for the last three seasons However, the car has been kept up to date and is just as fast as any other Formula Pacific car in New Zealand. Memillan is fresb from a northern summer of competitive Super-Vee racing in the United States and is the current Union Iravel Pacific champion in New Zealand. LARRY PERKINS is probably the most experienced driver contesting the New Zealand series. Driving a three-year-ola Chevron B39 which he is having to work very hard to keep up with the more modern machinery, Perkins nevertheless always threat. The Australian won this season's Australian Formula 5000 series and was second with Peter Janson in the 1979 Bath ust touring-car marathon. Perkins likes the fast Wigram track, having beat the Finn, Keke Rosberg, here tWo years ago for over-all honours. Perkins is backed by Machinery Traders of Sydney.