23-1-82 Long, The first New Zealand car road racing championship was held over a course of 105 miles on the sealed runways at the R.N.Z.A.F. Station. Wigram. on saturday, Februагу 26. 1949. The winner of that event was a Wellington driver, Maurice Proctor, in a Riley. Between 20.000 and 30.000 spectators. many of whom did not pay the admission fee, saw the 22 starters roar away around the 2.1-mile circuit at the drop of the Union Jack. Pole position for the event went to F. B. Bennet, driving an Invicta with Hec Green recording the second fastest speed at the wheel of a Wolseley special. R. F Christie. in an M.G.. and Proctor were next on the grid. and behind them was the only woman in the race. Sybil Lupp from Dunedin at the wheel of an M.G. One of the highlights of the event was the race-long duel between Ron Roycroft's tiny blue Austin and Green's red Wolseley Special. There was one mishap in the race, when an M.G driven by G. Parker, flipped lap 21. throwing the driver clear from his car. He was lucky to escape with only scratches and shock The fore headap they ted paid when the flag came down to signal Proctor's win. it was Bennett, from Christchurch, in second place. Sybil Lupp drove well to finish in fifth place. The race lasted 95 minutes and the winner's average speed was 65.67 m.p.h. The fastest lap for the race was 12 m.p.h. by Bennett. The first Wigram race was run by the Canterbury Car Club. but the following year the event was organised and run by the break-away group calling itself the Motor Racing Club Incorporated. It has excit • run the event ever since. With the exception of 1955. when the aerodrome was being resealed. air force operations have been suspended for one week-end every January to allow motor-racing to take place at Wigram. The former Labour M.P.. Mr Jock Mathison. then patron of the club. had an act passed through Parliament, giving Govenment ap proval for the race meeting to be held annually. In 1954, the event took on an international flavóur. with drivers from overseas coming here to take on the New Zealanders who. until then. had no overseas competition against which to measure their skills. For the next three years, the main race at Wigram was dominated by Englishman. Peter Whitehead at the wheel of his fabulous Ferrari. So it was not until 1963 before a New. Zealand driver again won the Lady Wigram Trophy. which was given to club by Lady Agnes Vernon Wigram in the early 1950s. was originally owned by the Christie family. who were personal friends of Sir Henry and Lady Wigram through their aviation connections. The Lady Wigram Trophy is one of the most prestigious trophies in New Zealand sport; it is to a racing driver what the Ranfurly Shield is to a rugby player. Sir Henry Wigram owned one of the first cars in Canterbury and Lady Wigram was one of the first women drivers in the province. She died in her Park Terrace home, at the age of 95. in 1957. 23 years after her husband. a former Mayor of Christchurch. The after Lady Wigram's a death. many overseas and New Zealand drivers battled it out for the trophy bearing the name of an equally brave and cour- ing hi ageous woman. Apart from Whitehead. there were men including Ron Flockhart. Jack Brabham. Stirling Moss. John Surtees. Roy Salvadori. Archie Scott Brown. who raced to victory with ine handicap of only having one arm. and New Zealand's then top young hoperul. Bruce McLaren. Many will argue that those years of Wigram were the best. In some ways, they are probably right. Who. for example. could ever forget the high-pitched wall of Ron Flockhart's. B.R.M. exhaust note as it echoed off the hangar walls and around the control tower bend as the dark green car headed for victory in 1959? Who could ever forget the performance of Jack Brabhain in the 1961 rain-soaked event. That year it rained so hard that the main race was shortened by 50 miles •as conditions got worse. The same sear. the Scottish wonder-boy. Jim Clark, had perhaps the biggest spin ever seen at Wigram. Lotus Eighteen spun off the back straight and skidded for what seemed forever. before getting bogged down in the soaking grass, unable to restart. Clark always listed that incident as one of the most frightening in his career. Wigram had never seen weather conditions like that before and. thankfully, they have never been like it since. In fact, since that year conditions have always been pleasant for motor-racing though sometimes it has been rather too hot. The 1960s had drivers like McLaren, Brabham and Scotland's all-time great. Jim Clark. dominating the event. Other drivers who appeared in those years were Lorenzo Bandini from Italy. Phil Hill from the United States. Jo Bonnier from Sweden. Tony story By GEOR Maggs of South Africa. Timmy Mayer from the United States. plus some topline Australian drivers. including Frank Gardner, and Kevin Bartlett. In the mid-sixties, a newcomer to motor-racing. Jackie Siewart from Scotlana, also appeared, teamed with the Englishman. Richard Attwood. to give the already established drivers some powerful opposition. The 1968 race was the last appearance of Clark. one of the most popular drivers Wigram 1919 M. Proctor (NZ) 1950H. Green (NZ) 1951 L. Moore (N2) 1952 L. Moore (NZ) 1953 R. Royeroft (NZ) 1954 P. Whitehead (Eng) 1955 No meeting 1956 P. Whitehead (Eng) 1957 P. Whitehead (Eng) 1958 A. Scott-Brown (Eng) 1959 R. Flockhart (Scot) 1960 J . Brabham (Aust) 1961 J. Brabham (Aust) 1962 S. Moss (Eng) 1963 B. McLaren (NZ) 1964 B. McLaren (NZ) 1965 J. Clark (Scot) 1966 J. Stewart (Scot) 1967 J. Clark (Scot) 1968 J. Clark (Scot) 1969 J. Rindt (Austria) 1970 F. Matich (Aust) 1971 G. MicRae (NZ) 1972 G. McRae (NZ) 1973 G. McRae (NZ) 1974 J. McCormack (Aust) 1975 G. McRae (NZ) 1976 k. Smith (NZ) 1977 T. Gloy (L'S) 1978 L. Perkins (ALst) 1979 D. MeNtillan (NZ) 1980 D. Nichfillan (NZ) 1981 D. Oxton (NZ) of La GE TANNER ever to race at Wigram. Tragically. Clark was killed in a Formula Two race at Hockenheim. West Germany: just three months after he left New Zealand. where he had made many friends during his annual visits. His death numbed everybody who was connected with motor racing. That year was also the last time New Zealand's hero. McLaren, raced in his home country. He had been very successful in the early 1960s driving Coopers but his last appearance in New Zealand was at the winners Riley 9 (Brooklands) Wolseley Special Alfa Romeo P3 Alfa Romeo P3 Alfa Romeo P3 Ferrari Ferrari Ferrari Lister-Jaguar BRM Cooper Climax Cooper Climax Lotus Cooper Climax Cooper Climax Lotus Climax BRNI Lotus Climax Lotus 49 Cosworth Lotus 49 Cosworth McLaren Mi0A McLaren M10B Leda LT27 McRae GMÌ Elfin MR5 McRae GM2 Lola T332 Tui BH2 Ralt RT1 Ralt RT1 Ralt RT1 Ralt RT4 dy Wi wheel of a B.R.M. partnering Mexican ace. Pedro Rodriguez. He won that race. at -Teretonga Park in Invercargill. and died two years later in a crash at Goodwood. England. testing one of his victorious Can-Am sports cars. The year 1969 saw the end of an era at Wigram. That was the vear before the formula was changed to F.5000 and therefore worksentered cars from teams like Lotus, Ferrari and others, made their final appearance with top international drivers from the Formula One world. The 1969 race was totally dominated by the Austriar driver. Jochen Rindt. driving a Lotus 49C. - Rindt completely spreadeagled the field that year leaving his team-mate. Graham Hill, to battle it out with Chris Amon and Piers Courage for the top placings. Amon was partnered at Wigram by Britain's Derek Bell. who returned the following year in a 25 litre Brabham. owned by millionaire car collector. Tom Wheateroft. Despite Bell's driving skill. the Brabham was no match for the powerful F.5000 cars on the ultrafast Wigram circuit. An Australian driver. Frank Matich. won the first trophy race for F.5000 cars at Wigram and the following three years were dominated by the brilliant Wellington driver-constructor. Graham McRae. McRae's first win was in a McRae-modified McLaren M.10B and the following year. he drove a Leda L.T.27, which he claimed he designed. although Leda cars were then built by a man named Len Terry. In 1973. McRae returned with a McRae G.M.l and once again took the trophy: The following vear was 1974. gram the year of the Commonwealth Games. and in keeping with the international sporting atmosphere in Christchurch. Wigram became. for the first and only time, the venue for the New Zealand Grand Prix. That race was won by an Australian driver. John McCormack, in an Elfin MR5, after MicRae dropped out with engine failure. Ironically, McRae never did win the New Zealand Grand Prix and despite four vietories at Wigram, that particular race did not go. his way. The final trophy race for Formula 5000 cars went to the Aucklander, Ken Smith in his Lola T332. Although these cars had been fast and noisy, they were also becoming more expensive to run and less reliable. Times were also becoming rather hard. and as a result spectators were staying away in large numbers. Something had to be done to bring them back, so the formula was changed to the less expensive. but very reliable. 1600cc Formula Pacific class. This proved to be a move in the right direction and the 1911 Lady Wigram race attracted a good field of Pacifie cars and as a resuit, a good race which saw victory go to an American, Tom Gloy, in a Tui BH2. Slowly the crowds started coming back, and in 1978, the Australian driver. Larry Perkins. won from the Finnish ace. Keke Rosberg. ish In the ! victory went to a New Zea- In the following two years, lander, Dave McMillan. but somehow. Wigram seemed to lose some of its magic. In 1980. the race was almost dropped altogether. and only a last minute meeting by the sponsors and organisers. reversed the earlier decision to scrap the race race Ceristchurch nad come vec? close to losing an annual classic sporting event. The loss of top inter-: national name drivers. the changing of race day from. Saturday to Sunday. plus other motor sports events, such as Ruapuna Park speed-way Woodford Gien, could be contributing factors in Wigram's loss of patronage, though last year, a rea? sonable-sized crowd turned up to see Dave Oxton win the race in a Ralt RT4. Over the years wigram has been notable for several firsts. It was in 1968 that Jim Clark debuted the Lotus team's new red, white and gold livery to the world. The! following year saw Jochen Rindt win his first race for Lotus. Wigram also has the enviable record of never having had a fatal accident in its 31year history. There have been some spectacular acedents there. though, including Frank Shuter's collision with a time-keeper's car in the early 1960s, resulting in his Maserati being cut in two* There was also a massive motor-cycle crash at the notorious Chicane before it was taken out and replaced with Nigram now has ine dis- ! tinction of being the only ! operational airfield in the world that still hosts an international motor race. This is unusual considering. the kilometres of armco barriers and catch fencing demanded by the world's internatonal governing body, F.LS.A., before granting a licence for such an event..! Wigram should never lose its famous race meeting. for it did. nol only Christchurch. but the whole country would lose an historic identity. This year's race promises to be as guoi as some of those from the past.