Mac Pherson gets easy Lady Wig raI Jeff MacPherson from the United St the "Phillip Mills Luxury Cars" Lady Wigr circuit yesterday. MacPherson's win came in an effortless fashion and • followed hard on his win in the first race -- also a heat of the 1986 New Zealand International Formula Pacific series. The first race had seen MacPherson work hard and he was not at all sure of the outcome until three laps from home when fellow American driver Ted Prappas faltered when his Ralt RT4 was stranded on the track with a broken battery cable. Throughout the preceding 17 laps Prappas, who had started from the pole position, never let Mac. Pherson out of his sight. In the early laps the gap was never more than lsec. At the halfway point the lead had been narrowed to only 0.4sec. but from that point MacPherson eased away to a isec advantage. However, Prappas was still not finished. He made a final desperate bid -made easier with Mac. Pherson having lost third gear in his Ralt. "I was very conscious of his presence throughout the race." said MacPher- Son. "When I lost third gear, however, I knew there was only a few laps left and I was still in with a good chance. I would still have made it hard for him 1o pa ile second encounter Prappas still had his problems and after starting rom the rear of the grid he lasted only a short distance. MacPherson ran away with the 30-lap Lady Wigram race with only the young New Lealand driver Paul Radisich giving him any problems - and that was in the early laps. Radisich cruised home in second place with a challenge from Brett Riley coming over the final few laps. Hard In the first race Radisich was also second afler the retirement of Prappas. The race was hard-fought Radisich came from sixth in the opening lap. The battle for the minor placings in the first race was closely fought between veteran New Zealand driver Ken Smith, his fellow Aucklander Brett Riley and another American. Carey Bren. Bren was passed by Smith on lap 13 and was chased hard by Riley. But he held onto fourtn, beating Riley home by 0.38sec. The Lady Wigram Trobhy shaped up in the early stages as being a repeat of the first race. Then Prappas departed and Bren fell ›v the wavsde aller holding third. He was passed by both Smith and Riley as he struggled for some laps before retiring. Smith kept Riley out for nine laps before sucrumbing. Riley from that point acHow Jeff McPherson sprinted away and the race became something of a procession. Christchurch driver John Crawford had miserable weekend in his first season driving a Formula Pacific. He blew a head gasket on his Dart during an untimed practice yesterday and then blew the motor during warm-up session. Support The racing highlight of the support races at the Radio Avon-sponsored meeting of the day came in the second race for the New Zealand Touring Car Championship when Christchurch's Trevor Crowe, driving the Archibalds BMW 635. headed home the eventual championship winner Graham Bowkett in a Commodore by.07sec. The races in this championship were the last in the series and, in spite of drawing a field of only eight cars, Crowe and Bowkett demonstrated that the race did not need any more than two in order to give the crowd their money's worth. For lap after lap the lwo staged an epic battle with Crowe using the BMW'S superior handling characteristics through the tighter parts while Bowkelt used the Commodore's speed down the long straight. By winning the first race and coming second lo Crowe next time out. Bowkett ensured the championship with Crowe second. The only driver to seriously come into contention was the Ford Dealer Tean Ford Sierra driven by David Oxton. Oxton tried hard but his car was not up to the mark on the sweeping Wigram circuit. Accident The only serious accident of the day came in the first touring car race when M VI By Lindsay Kerr lates celebrated his seco am Trophy Race which Neil Johns from Whangarei rolled his Corolla 1600 Twincam in spectacular fashion back straight. Johns had been having a good scrap with a similar car driven by Barry Dryden when he was confronted with the leading pair of Crowe and Bowkett. In giving them as much room as possible to lap him he got two wheels on the grass infield and lost control. Johns suffered a dislocaled shoulder and severe bruising Avon Hyde extended his lead in the OSCA supercar championship when he took his PDL-sponsored Commodore V8 to a 5.5sec win over John Osborne in his "Versatile Garages" Mazda V8. Trevor Crowe, the current OSCA champion, was in contention in the carly part of the lace but he orced to retire his starlet V8 with a mechanical problem. lan Munt had his best outing at Wigram for years when he bought his "Waterbedworld' Capri home third atter shaking off the initial attentions ol John Fisher in another Capri Young Ashburton driver Andrew McElrea in his Reynard kept his chantpionship hopes very much alive in the two rounds which counted towards the Motorcraft National Formula Ford Championship with a win and a second. In the first race MeElrea raced in close company with other series eaders. Glen Clark, Craig Coleman and Steve Richards, and got home for second after taking Clark on the final lap. Coleman was to emerge as the winner. The second encounter saw McElrea drive a beautifully-judged race taking the lead on the second lap and making enough of a break that would ensure that his rivals could not slip-stream themselves back into contention. Geoff Burrows from Auckland extended his lead in the "Toolal Coolwool" 2.5GT saloon car series with two wins ahead of rival Kerin Wills. Driving Mazda RX7s, the pair staged an excellent race for the lead in the first race until Wills tried too hard on the last lap and spun off the circuit. In the second race Wills was content to let Burrows go once his superiority had been established. Stephen Jones scored an upset win the race for the "Select Autos" Mini series heading home series leader Allan Milligan by ,94 sec. A big field of 19 cars competed in the race, race that was to see the lead change on four times over the five laps. Grant Milligan, in a Fal- ctory and visit to Wigram with a convincing win in . was run over 30 laps on the 3.43km airfield com V8, drew closer to the leader Russell Gutschlag in the "Ray Parke Autos "Pre-65 saloon series when he romped away from the 30-car field to win by 10sec to Ross MacDonald, Gutschlag was forced into fourth. Debbie Lester from Palmerston North drove her Rover Vitesse to an impressive victory in the "Quinns Fashions" 4 lap handicap race for women, Starting off the back mark Lester gathered in the scratch driver Gillian McFarlane from Dunedin, who was driving her lusband's Capri, on the final lap. Sandy Inns from Christchurch was third after a bold showing in an E49 Charger. Results: Avon City Formula Ford: (Heat оле) C. Coleman (Wanganu). Van Dieman) 1: A. McElrea (Ashburton. Reynard) 2: G. Clark (Auckland. Heynard) 3 (heat (wo) Meltrea 1: Coieman 2: Clark 3. Tootal Coolwool 2.5 GT Series: (Heat one) G. Burrows (Auckland. Mazda) 1: K. Wills (Auckland Mazda) 2: I. Henley (Auckland. Nissan) 3. Lady Wigram Preliminary: .J. McPherson (USA Ralt RT4) 1: P. Radisich (NZ. . Ralt RT4) 2: K Smith (NZ Rall RT4) 3. Touring car Championship (Heat ›ne) G. Bowkett (Auckland, Commodore) 1; T. Crowe (Christchurch. BMW) 2: D. Oxton (Auckland, Sierra) 3. (Heat (wo) Crowe 1; Bowkelt 2: Oxton 3. Selected Autos Mint 7 Series: S. Jones (Christehurch, Austin) 1; A. Milligan (Christchurch, Austin) 2; D. Drake (Christchurch, Austin) 3. Osca Supercars: A. Hyde (Christchurch, Commodore) 1: J. Osborne (Christchurch. Mazda) 2: I. Munt (Christchurel. Capri) 3 AGC Ford Laser Sporl Championship: D. Slater (Auckland) 1; W Hisiop (Palmerston Nth) 2; Heffernan (Auckland) 3 Pre 65: G. Milligan (Christchurch. Falcon) 1; R. MeDonald (Ashburton, Anglia) 2; S. Donaldson (Christehurch, Cortina) 3. Quinns Fastions Trophy: D. Lester (Palmerston Nih, Rover) 1: G. McFarlane (Dunedin. Capri) 2; S. Inns (Christchurch. Valiant) 3. Lady Wigram Trophy Race: (30 laps) J. Melherson (USA. Ralt RT1) 1, J. Radisich (NZ, Ralt RT4) 2: B. Riley (NZ. Ralt RT) 3: K Smith (NZ, Ralt RT4) 4: D. MeMillan (NZ, Ralt RT4) 5: P. Haskett (NZ. Chevron) 6. Radio Avon Flying Farewell: A Hyde (Christehurch. Commodore) 1: I. Osborne (Christchurch, Mazda) 2: T. Crowe (Christchurch. Toyota Starlet) 3.