2 - 97 ROUND THREE RUAPUNA The Lady Wigram Trophy Race Meeting - a mere shadow of former giones But Ken Smith is brilliant. The Lady Wigram Trophy race has a proud heritage. It's history goes back beyond the dawn of motor racing in Auckland when the Johnny-Come-Lately's ran their first Grand prix at Ardmore. But in recent years the Lady Wigram Trophy race has fallen on tough times. The Lady Wigram meeting is something of an anachro nism in New Zealand motor racing. I's always been organised by The Motor Racing Club which used to be liked to be called THE Motor Racing Club and it was something of a closed shop for the Old Boy's Network and the rest of the Canterbury Hoi Polloi. Up until comparatively recent times it was a case of them and US with THE Motor racing Club. But time has been a great equaliser. And losing the very best motor racing circuit in New Zealand has been an additional blow. The Royal new Lealand Airforce these days has a prior claim to the artield and so for the second year rurning The Lay Wigram meeting was moved from Wigram Air Force base to the Canterbury Car Club's Mickey Mouse track at Ruapuna. Legend has it that when the much-monied Wigram family gave the land to the fledgling New Zealand air force for use as an airfield one of the stipulations that went with it was that the Air Force had to make the land available to a sporting body for a major event. Legends like that are aplenty around Christchurch and Canterbury though - like the stories that abound about how a small country garage owner like Pat Hoare in the late 1950's could buy works Ferrari Formula One cars. He was the only person who could! But that's another story for another time. Whatever the background to THE Motor Racing Club and Wigram airfield, this year, again, saw the meeting at Kuapuna. gotten. It was a meeting that should be quickly for- The racing was patchy. But the circuit has become an insult. In it's early days in the early 1960's Ruapuna could do no wrong. Huge crowds flocked to the place meeting after meeting. It set a standard that the rest of New Zealand envied. But the sport outgrew Ruapuna two decades ago. The place lacks facilities, the spectator 110779 SIMPSON Mark. S amenities are a disgrace. When there's a gust of wind there's a dust storm that you could hide Saddam Hussein's army in Ruapuna has become increasingly unpopular with competitors and spectators. We understand that the Christchurch City Council is interested in investing some money in a motor racing facility for the city. If that is the case the sooner THE Motor Racing Club and the Canterbury Car Club can get their act together, and hold serious talks with the Council the better. Much talk at Kuapuna over wigram weekend was about just what a fine circuit the airfield was - and the brilliant races that have been staged there. But on the weekend there was only dreary, dull little Ruapuna. I he race programme and the eury for ine Wigram Trophy meeting were much the same as for Teretonga and Timart. The first race for the Formula Pacific cars was a typical Ruapuna procession. Craig Baird led from start to finish in the Toyota powered Swift. Ken Smith in the Ford powered Swift was a close second and Paul Radisich had repaired the fire damage from Timaru AND found a bit more pace in the homely looking Toyota powered Reynard (or Rennard as the course commentator insists on pronouncing it) for an equally close third. The only drama was when Mark Smith in the G. Lawrence Mobil Swift spur on the sweeper into the main straight and clobbered some marker tyres and retired. This let his team-mate, Mike Berg into fourth ahead of Barrie Tomlinson in the ex Radisich Reynard of last year while he-who-has-beeneverywhere, Sandy Dells finished fifth in his Swift Toyota sponsored by Blue Thunder- Fosters Lager. Ho Humm...another no-passing race at Ruapuna. Butrace two was unforgettable because there was a masterly passing move. For most of the race it looked like it was going to be a repeat of the first heat. Baird, Smith, Radisich - as close at that. Then, at the end of the main straight, under braking for the tight hairpin, Baird left a gap. Smith saw it and just went for it and was through into the lead. And he stayed there. Baird made a mistake. He left a gap. But maybe he was a bit unsettled by an incident during mid-week training when a bolt through the brake pedal mechanism broke under braking for the hairpin. Baird had no brakes at all. Herode out a wild 220 kp/h ride. Into the rough stuff and high speed and ended upside down. Darnage was minimal and the car was quickly repaired and personal injuries were restricted to some bruises. So Ken Smith won the Lady Wigram Trophy Race for the second time in his lengthy career. Baird took second, Radisich third, Mark Smith fourth ahead of Mike Berg and Barrie Tomlin- SOn. Heather Spurle didn't start after she comprehensively blew the BDA motor in her Ralt in practice. CHAIG RAIRD: Lucas ABOVE LEFT: Craig Baird - plpped at Ruapuna by Ken Smith and RIGHT Kayne Scott had a miserable Ruapuna after the glories of Teretonga. FAR RIGHT: Back to early December where Peter Brock had his last Ford drive - and won. Photos by Allan Dick and Ib Olesen. t was a weekend that the Mark Petch team would rather forget about. After dominating at Teretonga, a mixed weekend at Timard they came to Ruapura hoping to do it right 100% But that would have to wait until Manfeild. In the first of the Hansell's Sun Valley TraN- Zam races Kayne Scott in the Petch owned Merkur led but Keiran Wills in the RX-8 is driving better than we've ever seen him and he took the lead under braking for the hairpin. It was a move that almost overshadowed Ken Smith's. Scott spun at the hairpin a lap or two later trying too hard. Rodger Freeth then took second in his CRC Starlet Rover V8 that sounds so good it brings a lump to your throat. Don Grindley, on home turf in the Lucas sponsored Olds, took third. A week of setting up the chassis on the big V8 powered car had transformed it. The Petch team were still working on the rear axle of the Merkur when it came to the second race. The diff had malfunctioned after Scott's spin so he took out the spare car - the Peanut Slab Group A Sierra. But it wasn't competitive against the big guns. The result was a re-run of the first race. Race three and the Merkur was back together and Kayne Scott made no mistake this time but even so he couldn't match the fired-up Wills who made it three out of three. Scott was second with Freeth third. The first of the Motorcraft Formula Ford event was a chiller. Andrew McEirea eventually won but only after a titanic battle with Garry Croft and Graham Lorimer's star driver Jonathon Harmer. McElrea has enormous talent but the 39 year old Croft has been the find of the season. His efforts are very, very impressive. The second race saw Croft win after McElrea spun at the hairpin. Harmer took second and McElrea recovered quickly for third. The ICI Dulux Autocolour Events for Group N were evenly shared. David Slater in the Sierra 4X4 Turbo won the first quite easily from John Sax in the BMW with a long way back to race and rally ace and hard-case, Hugh Owen in his rally Galant VR-4. In the second Sax couldn't get his BMW fired up for the start so he stayed in the pits. Slater had an even easier win from Owen with Kevin Pateman winning the Laser battle for third. Mini Seven racing saw Ruapuna specialist Robin Wilkinson in top form to win from John Hamilton and Doug Drake after Peter Black (who many claim is the best Mini Seven driver in the country) retired. Wilkinson also won the second from Black and Hamilton. The Pre 65's provided exciting racing. Chris Blackwood in the ex Grant Milligan V8 Falcon finally made an appearance and won both heats from the ever present Jim Little in his Valiant with Jon Palmer's tremendous 1955 Chev V8 third on both occasions. That was it - the Lady Wigram Trophy Race meeting for 1991. Let's hopeit's the last time it's at Ruapuna IN IT'S PRESENT FORM. If the airfield is lost forever then something should be done to restore the prestige to the meetng. Either pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into redeveloping Ruapura or get into a huddle with the City Council and create a street circuit around Hagley Park and ignore the Luddites who would be bound to whinge and moan about such a proposal. But there was no taking it away from Ken Smith. Craig Baird drove brilliantly. He is a young man going somewhere. But on the day the experience of Smithy just couldn't be stopped.