20-9-84 STIIE Le RNZAF Station ist Race starts Wic Wigram, Saturday 21, 11,30am rary Sunday 22 January Trophy SES Close rac By Lindsay Kerr The closeness and excitment of last year's Lady Wigram trophy heats without doubt provided the best single-seater racing seen on the Wigram circuit in ZhieaSunday's Lady Wigram meeting is the final round of this year's international series and it promises to serve up a repeat of iast year, with the drivers who contributed so much again on the entry list. Unlike years gone by. when the gladiators were Brabham. Clark. Moss. McLaren and Keke Rosberg. who won the World Formula One championship last year, the drivers who provided last year's excitement, were, almos without exception, New Zeaianders. Aucklanders Ken Smith, David Oxton and Dave McMilan fought out last year's trophy races as if there was no tomorrow. These three will again be at Sunday's meeting. Smith and McMillan have campaigned in all three previous rounds of this year's Just Juice International Formula Pacific series, and Oxton joined the circus at the New Zealand Grand Prix at Pukekohe. Thin look The field which took to the grid at Bay Park had a thin look about it primarily because only three overseas competitors were included. However, as the Lady Wigram races last year demonstrated, New Zealanders have more than held their own against the leading overseas competitors in the Formula Pacific class and on occasions such as Wigram have emerged as the victors. Added to Smith. Oxton and McMillan is another New Zealander who has emerged as a serious challenger to all who compete against him. ing Is aga Radisich. a 21year-old Aucklander. who championships, he has finished runner-up in the last will be driving the Graham two international series. Watson Australian Ralt Both Smith and Oxton RT4. has literally thrown himself into the single- will be driving Ralt RT48. seater racing and returns McMillan has in recent to this country after com- years spent the New Zeapeting in the Australian land winter racing in the Gold Star series. United States. Two years Since his return, Radi- ago he achieved what must sich has won the revived be the pinnacle of his Motorsport Association successes to date, when he Driver to Europe Award. won the American For- He then proceeded to mula Atlantic series. (For- FOrprove he was a worthy mula Atlantic is the Amerwinner by showing a clean ican equivalent of Forset of rear wheels in win- mula Pacific). ning both heats at Bay A previous winner of the Park. Lady Wigram Trophy, he also won the New Zealand Lap record International series in 1980. Smith, at 42. has been racing single seaters for Untried half of his life and is still winning races. His last MeMillan this year will not be driving his Rait RT4 but returns with the new encounter at Wigram saw British built and relatively him run second to Oxton. untried Dart. and in his efforts to gather Also driving a Dart will in Oxton he set a new lap be expatriate New Zearecord of 70.01 sec. lander Brett Riley. Smith headed off Oxton The 30-year-old Riley in the first round of the last raced in New Zealand National Gold Star series in 1980 when in a March at Pukekohe and ran: 77B he competed in the second to Radisich at Bay international series. He Park. finished second to Italian At the Grand Prix. Teo Fabi in the 1979 series. Smith won the preliminary Riley's last serious racrace. again with Oxton ing was in the 1980 British dicing every bit of the way Formula 3 championship. with him. In the Grand His come-back to test the Prix proper. it was almost new Dart is seen by Riley a repeat dose, but this time as a special challenge. Oxton got the upper hand "I believe the car has a Oxton. 38. has been rac- iot of potential." he says. ing single seaters since "It should work well once 1968, Five times winner of we gei it adjusted. the National Gold Star in promised The overseas contingent initially consisted of lan Flux from the United Kingdom, Justin Revene (U.S.) and Graham Watson (Australia). However, since the first round at Bay Park. the veteran New Zealand driver i Graeme Lawrence. who provided Canadian Allen Berg with the winning car last year, has brought into the country the sensational 19year-old American Davy Jones. Jones had been in the country only 36 hours when he powered the Lawrence Rait RT$ to a superb victory in the Pukekohe Grand Prix. At Manfeild. in spite of intense pressure irom Oxton. he emerged with two more wins. He comes to Wigram with the earmark of another future worid champion to have raced on our shores. He has just completed a season in the! British Formula 3 series, finishing in 3rd place. This culminated in a Formula One test drive for Brabham Watson. who is noted more for his skill as ai racing car constructor than a driver, abandoned his Ralt after Bay Park and brought to Pukekohe the hard-charging Andrew Miedecke. Miedecke has lived up to that repuation with his driving. but failed to finish either race. his Grand Prix effort ending with the car over the bank at the hairpin corner. Ian Flux will be looking for a good result at Wigram. His results when he was here in 1980 and his races to date this season have been disappointing Fiux is a much better driver than these results show, with a second placing in the British Formula Atlantic championships to prove this. He has also raced in both Formula 2 and 3. Flux will be driving a Rait RT4. Justin Revene comes to New Zealand under the auspices of Dave McMillan, driving the MeMillan Rait R14. Before coming to these shores Revene had never driven a Pacific or Atlantic car but has quickly demonstrated that in his jump from formula Ford he is a driver of considerable ability. The rest of the New Zealand contingent in the Just Juice series is led by some long-standing and still quick drivers. Grant Campbell, who holds the lap record at Ruapuna for Pacific cars. discarded his ageing Chevron last year and will again appear with his Ralt RT4. while former Formula Ford champion Eric Morgan. after jumping up to the modern Ralt RT4 this season. suffered the tragedy of having the car destroyed in an accident ai Bay Park. It is likely that he will be driving his older CRC Rait RT1. The remainder of the field will include Charlie Fece Taker Cheren B49) and the Dunedin drivers Ross Cameron! (March 77B, and Chris! Read (Chevron B29).