23-1-84 Tour By JOHN FRIDD Gary Sprague, at Tauranga, extented bis lead in the ANZ Bank nationa. touring car championship when be won the 50 km championship race at Wigram yesterday in his Fal- The championship rules are biased a little in favour of Falcons to allow them to com pete on equal terms with Ho!den Commodores and Sprague and Bruce Anderson (Auckland) stowed that the rule makers may have gone a little tar when they brought home their Falcons ahead of two Commodores, driven Neville Crichton (Auckland) and Rod Collingwood (Neison). Crichton had to alter the exhaust system of his car before the race because a Motorsport Association committee ruled on Saturday evening that the system his car had at last week-end's Manfeild race was illegal Yesterday's 15-lap race was exciting for the first 10 laps as Sprague, Crichton and Anderson roared around the quick circuit in close convoy. Ori lap three Anderson shot past Crichton on Club Curve and managed to break the "tow" ing-ca down the back straight to oper up a small gap on the Commo dore Ibe veteran St Andrews driver, Jim Little, 100ked set to take fifth place before wursting a tyre on Contro lower Bend and sliding off to track in his Charger E49. Barry Dryden (Duredin) also failed to finish after thumping a huge scraper tyre ai the hairpin and getting his car stuck Ine Arbuckies OSCA supercars provided more big-saloor action as Trevor Crowe, of Christchurca, screamed to victory in his amazing V8 powered Zagato Startet. Crowe was sept honest by another Christchurch AVOD Hyde arde Colins Common dore Chev), for much of the race but could not find the extra speed on the back straight to mount an attack on the Starlet. Tony Marsh, of Auckland, won both Shellsport two-litre saloon races in his Datsun 1200 coupe to extend his championship lead. The first six-lap race was robbed of interest by tne collision at Hangar Bend be tween two Aucklanders, Roy Harrington and Kevin McNamara, which put out both drivers. making Warren Burt, of Timaru, " come-back to Shellsport racing at Wigram, held third place for a time in his Toyota Corolla before pulling out with engine trouble. Race two was much more interesting as six drivers con tested the lead before Marsh and Warren Steel (Taupo) pulled out a small lead over the others. Steel actually took the lead when the race was half a lap oid but his race ended on lap three when he slowed suddenly with a mechanical problem. Harring. ton's wretched run continued when a drive-shaft snapped on his Escort Mark Rutherford, of Christchurch, drove well for second olace in his Escort ahead of Burt and McNamara After the races McNamara was excluded from the official r lead exte resuits because the officials deemed his Escort to be ur derweight. The Motorcraft Formula Ford beats were by far ine best races of the day, as several drivers, most of whom are serousiy aiming at becom ing worid Formula One champion, thrilled the large crowd with some wheel-to-wheel dic ing. Once again the series leader, Steve Richards (Hamilton), and John Crawíord (Christchurch) took a win each but they were very hard earned victories. In the first siz-lap heat the lead changed nine times as Richards, Crawford Richard Lester (Palmerston North) and Kevin Ingram (Feilding) circulated in a tight bunch, trying all the tricks in the book to improve their placings but, commendably for such young men, keeping the racing clear and avoiding pile-ups. The second heat produced an engrossing eight-car battle in the first two laps before Crawford, Richards, Ingram and Lester pulled away. Ingran led for two laps before Cras. ford slipped past and the Feilding driver eventually fin ished third behind Richards with only two seconds covering the top four at the finish - in the first race this margin we an even more increcibie 14s Ed Lamont (Auckland) just won the Laser Sport race abead Warren Bislop Palmerston North) but both drivers were lucky not to be disqualified for their doorbanging antics at the hairpin. Trevor Parmenter (Tianara) led the race for half a lap efore pitting with a problem nd Frank Ryan, of Central Otago, ruined the paintwork on the roof of his Laser when he tipped Lamont at the nairpir and rolled in a shower of broken glass, fortunately es canine unharmed. Resuits.- ANZ Bank touring sedans (15 laps): G. Sprague (Tauranga, Falcon) 1, B. Anderson (Auck, Falcon) 2, N.Crichton (Aack., Commodore SS) 3. Fastest lap, Sprague Imin 33.95s. Arbuckles OSCA supercars (7 laps): T. Crowe (Chch, Starlet Olds) 1, A. Hyde (Chch, Commodore Chev) 2, I. Munt (Chct, Capri Chev) 3. F.L., Crowe 1;19.38. Shellsport national two-litre saloons.—Heat one (6 laps): T. Marsh (Auck, Datsun 1200 coupe) 1, W. Steel (raupo, Datsun 1600) 2, Mi. Rutherford (Chch, Escort 1600) 3, F.L. nded Rutberford 1:28.53. Heat two (6 laps) Marsh 1, Rutherford 2 W. Burt (Timaru Corolla) $. FL, Marsh 1.28.78. Motorcraft Formula Fords-Heat obe (f laps) S. Richards (Hamilton, Titan) 1, J. Crawford (Cach, Van Dieroen) 2, , R. Lester (Palm. North, Swift) 3. F.L., Richards 1:24.85. Heat two (6 laps): Crawford 1, • Richards 2, K. Ingram (Feilding, Eutectic) 3. FL, Lester 1:24.34. Ford Laser Sports (8 laps): E. Lamont (Auck.) 1, W. Hislop (Palm. North) T. Jarvis (Auck) F.L, Hislop 1:44.19. South Island production saloons (7 laps). J. Little (St Andrews, Charger) 1, R. Collingwood (Nelson, Commodore SS) 2, B. McFarlane (Dunedin, capri v6) 3. F.L, Little 1:33.69 outa Island Formula Ford (6 laps): Crawford McEwen (Chch, CLE) 2, K. HủI (Chch, Hustler) 3. F.L., Crawford 1:25.07. Pre-65 saloons (5 laps): A. Dunn (Timaru, Anglia) 1, . R. McDonald (Ashburton, Cortina) 2, R. Pateman (Timaru, Cortina) 3. F.L, Dunn 1:41.53. Flying farewell (handicap, 8 laps) I. Crowe 1, S. Vigures (Chcn, Cortina Chev) 2, 1 Munt 3. F.L., Стоте 1:21.65. AUTO TRADER 10TO - GRAB Aptererati 7 4117927 Frank Ryan, of Central Otago, rolls his car at the hairpin in the Laser Sport race at the Lady Wigram international car racing meeting yesterday. The car came to rest on its side, and Ryan was able to climb out, unhurt. The race was won by Ed Lamont (car 61 in the top photograph), of Auckland. Lady Wigram Trophy race report, page 3.