16-1-86 Race ace By Lindsay Kerr By modern standards. Californian Ted Prappas was a late starter in motor racing - and when his chance did come along it arrived in an unusual manner. Prappas, in Christchurch for Sunday's Lady Wigram Trophy race. was involved in a motor accident nine years ago when he was a passenger in a car which crashed when a tyre burst. Injuries received saw him lose part of his liver and he was awarded damages for his disability. "I had always been a keen follower of motor racing and had always intended to have a go when the occasion arose. The money that I received from the accident 1 enrolled was all that I needed to get me going and at a racing school, explained. Prappas was then 22 and his time at the British School of Motor Racing saw him graduate with flying colours after a 5-year stint. During his time at the school Prappas competed in 70 races, with the opposition invariably different each time. He won 50 per cent of these encounters which was a remarkable success rate. The time had come for him to branch out on to the race track proper, but the problem again was finance. He was also now 27. rather old to start a racing career. Living near Hollywood, Prappas' mother worked for actor Jimmy Stewart as his business manager, and when her son finished at the motor racing school he took his problem to Stewart for what Prappas thought was to be advice. Consistant The actor was so impressed by his story, he decided to fund the first year of racing out of his own pocket. Prappas has completed three years in the American Super Vee championship. He has consistently been up with the front runners with a record of a win, a second, three thirds and one pole position. His Formula Vee racing introduced him to two well known competitors in the New Zealand Formula Pacific championships - the current series leader, Jeff MacPherson, and Davy Jones who competed in the two previous championships. These two, with his team manager on the present trip, expatriate New Zealander Allan McCall, convinced him to cashed i come to these shores for the championship. "Both Davy and Jeff told me I should come our we a in intensule enjoy . enjoy and that the country was a great place for a visit." The jump from the Super Vees to the Formula Pacific has met with his full approval "The Pacifics run with wider wheels. have bigger brakes and the engines develop about 20 to 30 more horsepower - all very exciting particularly when you start to get used to them," he said. But this year's wet tracks have caused Prappas and the other Americans in the circus problems. Each of the three meeting at Bay Park, Pukekohe and Manfeild has been plagued by wet weather and slippery tracks (Prappas is very keen for Sunday's racing to be on a dry track). Itinerary "In my three years of racing I have driven on wet tracks on three occasions and now in the space of three weeks I have doubled that count," he added. Prappas has a full itinerary for the coming season and hopes to shift from the Vees to Formula Atlantic (the American equivalent of Formula Pacific. "I can get 35 starts in this class by racing in both the eastern states and western states series, whereas in the Vee championship there were only 12." For Prappas, racing is now a fulltime occupation - a far cry from his previous job of driving trucks for MGM and Burbank (formerly Warner Bros) film studios. In the future, he is keen to try the European Formula 3000 series. accepted springboard to Formula 1. "Unlike • most Americans. my real ambition is to drive Formula One. Our Indy car series has too many oval circuits, and I like the street and road circuits, " he said. With only two more races to run in the current series, both at wigram on Sunday. Prappas is the only driver who can catch MacPherson, but for this to happen MacPherson would have to finish out of the points and Prappas to win on both occasions. More realistically. it is likely Prappas will lift his current standing from third to second on Sunday at Wigram. non crash Ted Prappas with his mount for Sunday's Lady Wigram Trophy race.