21-7-93 Indycar driver shows his class By Lindsay Ke Nigel Mansell might be the hottest propery on the American Indycar scene but it is Canadian driver Paul Iracy who is becoming the most talked about. Last week, the 24-year-old won his second Indy race at Cleveland in Ohio. The track was on the runways at a commuter airport and the sight of the cars racing on roads with grass right up to the edge brought visions of Wigram. Iracy, compe Christchurch airb 19-year-old and f more fancied team At the time it Iracy would be overweight and di class of Hall or the ders. ted оП the old ase track in 1988 as a finished second to his i mate Dean, Hall. was not thought that a star. He appeared idn't look to be in the e leading New Zealan- Final round However, a week later Tracy caused a few eyebrows to rise when he won the final round of the New Zealand Peter Jackson Formula Atlantic championship races at the Tinaru raceway. Tracy's rise to stardom in the US prompts thoughts of why many of the cading New Lealand single seater exponents have never tried to further their career in that country. The lure of Formula One appears to be clouding judgement as one by one they have ideas of being New Zealand's next Bruce McLaren, Denny Hume or Chris Amon. The road to Indycars, while still expensive, would seem to be more logical in that our own Formula Atlantic is one of the stepping stones to Indycars. Indeed, the recent race at Cleveland had a list of drivers who have come up through this formula, with many of them having come for a summer in New Zealand to do our series. A quick look at the line-up for this race spotted five in addition to Tracy. From the earlier days of thé Formula Atlantic cars in New Zealand there were Danny Sullivan, Bobby Rahal and Teo Fabi, with Mark Smith and Hiro Matsushita from more recent times. Smith, who was here two years ago, lett New Zealand with a reputation that suggested that he didn't have what it takes to get to the top, while Matsushita posted an historic win at Wigram when he was here in 1989. The popularity of Indycars is mush- FENNON. NONA Racin 386) Paul Tracy roonuing beyond the United Staes and with this comes the news that another American driver who is known to New campaign next year. Zealanders will be mounting a serious Davy Jones, who became only the second American to win the Lady Wigram Trophy race, in 1984, looks as though he will be rewarded for his patience and loyalty with a full Indycar programme. In recent years the likeable little American has been driving sports cars for Jag uar in a team run by Englishman Tom Walkinssshaw. Jones has always expressed an interest in furthering his career in single seaters. When he was in New Zealand a couple of year ago to race in a support event at the Wellington street meeting, he toid me that he still had not given up hope getting into Indycars or Formula One. He did, however, maintain that his best chance of this would come by sticking with Walkinshaw.