Timeline

Sir Henry Wigram founds the Canterbury (NZ) Aviation Company, a flying school at Sockburn. (Te Ara)

The Government takes over the aerodrome, which becomes the home of military flying and is named Wigram. (Christchurch City Libraries)

Charles Kingsford Smith lands at Wigram, completing the first trans-Tasman flight. (Wikipedia)

No events recorded.

26 February: the first NZ Championship Road Race, moved to Wigram after the Harewood road course was blocked. Morrie Proctor (Riley) wins in front of 20,000–30,000 people. (Air Force Museum of NZ)
Lady Wigram Trophy: Morrie Proctor, Riley · NZ Championship Road Race (before the trophy)
The first New Zealand road racing championship at Wigram in 1949 was won by Morrie Proctor in 1 hour 35 minutes over 105 miles, before a crowd of about 25,000. (clipping)
The 1949 Wigram circuit of just over two miles, formed from runways and connecting roads, was the first real course used for motor racing in New Zealand. (clipping)
Lady Wigram presented the Lady Wigram Trophy for the first time in 1956, a year before she died aged 96. (clipping)
The first New Zealand championship road race was moved to Wigram aerodrome on 17 February 1949 after police banned the planned Russley road circuit. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Hec Green, Wolseley Special · 2nd NZ Championship Road Race
The 1950 NZ road racing championship at Wigram was set for 25 February 1950 with prize money of 650 pounds plus challenge trophies. (clipping)
Over 20,000 watched the first NZ road racing championship at Wigram in February 1949, and the 1950 crowd was expected to be larger. (clipping)
The S-bend at the Wigram circuit slowed drivers to about 20 mph in 1950, a popular spectator spot. (clipping)
Coglan said at Easter racing meetings at Bathurst in Australia as many as 25,000 spectators would attend and Wigram's pits were too close to the hangar at the end of the straight. (clipping)

The Motor Racing Club runs the meeting, and the Lady Wigram Trophy is presented for the first time. (Air Force Museum of NZ)
Lady Wigram Trophy: Les Moore, Alfa Romeo Tipo B · Formula Libre; first Lady Wigram Trophy
Bathurst, with its mountain circuit built before the war, drew about 25,000 spectators to Easter meetings. (clipping)
In 1951 there were three Italian cars at Wigram for the first time: Sulman's Maserati and Moore's two Alfa Romeos. (clipping)
Les Moore won the 1951 Lady Wigram race in a record 1hr 27min 41sec, averaging 68 mph, in the Motor Racing Club's first Wigram event. (clipping)
Les Moore's 1951 Lady Wigram win was a record average of 68 mph under appalling weather; 18 cars started. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Les Moore, Alfa Romeo Tipo B · Formula Libre
Hec Green has a first and a fourth in the first three Wigram races; Les Moore won in 1951. (clipping)
Les Moore's 1min 48.71sec broke Tom Sulman's NZ championship hill-climb record on the Governors Bay-Sign of the Kiwi course within a month of 1951. (clipping)
The 1952 Wigram meeting was the first to use two 25-mile heats and a 50-mile final for the Lady Wigram Trophy, partly because tyres would not last 100 miles on the non-skid airstrip surface. (clipping)
Bob Gibbons set a new Wigram lap record of 1min 38sec (77.6 mph) for the 2.1-mile circuit in the 1952 Lady Wigram Trophy first heat. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Ron Roycroft, Alfa Romeo Tipo B · Formula Libre
Consent was given for a motor-cycle race meeting at the RNZAF Station Wigram on 24 January 1953. (clipping)
Four major car races had been held at Wigram before January 1953; this was the first for motor-cycles. (clipping)
The fastest car race at Wigram to January 1953 was in 1952, won by Les Moore at 76.79mph in a supercharged 2.9-litre Alfa Romeo. (clipping)
The Wigram circuit is 2.1 miles; the car course cut across the concrete parking strip in front of the hangars, which motorcycles avoided. (clipping)

The race becomes an international: Peter Whitehead (Ferrari) wins. (Motor Sport)
Lady Wigram Trophy: Peter Whitehead, Ferrari 125 · International Formula Libre
The 1954 Lady Wigram Trophy was a 100-mile international race with a Wigram circuit similar to Silverstone, according to Peter Whitehead. (clipping)
The first Lady Wigram Trophy in 1949 had a winning average of 66.17mph and a fastest lap of 67.9mph. (clipping)
Before the war beach racing was the most popular form of motor racing in New Zealand; the first large circuit event was at Wigram in 1949. (clipping)
Maurice Proctor of Wellington won the first Lady Wigram Trophy in 1949 in a Brooklands Riley, 100 miles in 1hr 35min 56sec. (clipping)

No trophy race: the main-straight runway is being resurfaced. (Motor Sport)
The 1955 Lady Wigram Trophy, planned for 22 January 1955, was cancelled in November 1954 because Wigram's tarmac was being resealed. (clipping)
The Air Department said the ban on racing at Wigram was not necessarily general and continuing; resealed taxiways take time to consolidate. (clipping)
The Stanton special in 1954 had an inverted four-cylinder De Havilland Gipsy Major aero engine and twice recorded 14.7sec for the standing mile. (clipping)
F. Shuter's rebuilt Edelbrock special reached over 100mph in trials in 1954. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Peter Whitehead, Ferrari 500/750S · International Formula Libre
Sir Henry Wigram established the Canterbury Aviation Company to train pilots at Sockburn; first Canterbury passenger flights were on 19 June 1911. (clipping)
The 1956 Lady Wigram Trophy was set for 21 January 1956 over 150 miles (71 laps) of the Wigram circuit. (clipping)
The 1956 NZ championship fixtures included: NZ Grand Prix at Ardmore on 7 January, Levin sealed circuit on 14 January, Lady Wigram Trophy 21 January, NZ road race championship at Dunedin 28 January, South Island championship road race at Christchurch 7 February, Southland road race at Invercargill 11 February. (clipping)
The first prize for the 1956 Lady Wigram Trophy was 150 pounds, with fifteen other prizes. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Peter Whitehead, Ferrari 555/860 · International Formula Libre
Prize money of £1500 was offered for the third international Lady Wigram Trophy meeting on 26 January 1957. (clipping)
In late 1956 the Wigram circuit was the fastest in New Zealand and the lap record was Ken Wharton's 89.37 mph in the BRM in 1954. (clipping)
Ken Wharton died in 1957 in a Monza Ferrari crash at the New Zealand Grand Prix at Ardmore. (clipping)
Roycroft had raced at Wigram every year since the first Lady Wigram race in 1949. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Archie Scott Brown, Lister-Jaguar · International Formula Libre
During Lady Wigram Trophy practice on 24 January 1958 an unauthorised group blocked the Vickerys and Washbourne roads intersection near RNZAF Wigram and charged motorists 2s 6d a car. (clipping)
The 1958 Wigram sports car race was reduced from 75 miles to 50, with prize money based on £8 per car per class. (clipping)
The Canterbury Car Club planned the C. W. F. Hamilton Trophy race on the Southbridge circuit in December 1957. (clipping)
Whitehead's three consecutive Lady Wigram Trophy wins (1954, 1956, 1957) was a record likely to stand for many years. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Ron Flockhart, BRM P25 · International Formula Libre
The first Wigram race was held on February 26, 1949, moved to Wigram aerodrome after police objections to a road circuit at Waimairi. (clipping)
More than 20,000 people watched the first race at Wigram in 1949. (clipping)
The Wigram circuit has been used every year since 1949 except 1955, when it was being resealed. (clipping)
Archie Scott-Brown was killed in a sports car race at Spa, Belgium, in 1958. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Jack Brabham, Cooper T51-Climax · International Formula Libre
The Wigram circuit was 2.116 miles; for the 1954 race the slow sharp bend at the end of the back straight was eliminated, making a lap 2.073 miles. (clipping)
In 1959 Ron Flockhart set the fastest lap on the 2.116-mile circuit at 1:22.2, just under 93 mph. (clipping)
Nicky Thompson set the Bonneville 5-kilometre record at 345.33 mph, 5-mile at 340.70 mph, 10-kilometre at 327.59 mph and 10-mile at 286.16 mph in October 1959. (clipping)
The Motor Racing Club abandoned its 'come one, come all' entry policy for the 1960 Lady Wigram Trophy, to reduce the speed difference between fastest and slowest cars. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Jack Brabham, Cooper T53-Climax · International Formula Libre
No Lady Wigram meeting was held in 1955 because of circuit resealing. (clipping)
Qualifying for the 1961 Lady Wigram Trophy was held in heavy rain on January 20, 1961, with pools of water on the track. (clipping)
Jim Clark (Team Lotus) set fastest qualifying time of 1:39.6 for the 1961 Lady Wigram Trophy. (clipping)
A three-car crash on Bomb Bay Bend in qualifying involved Johnnie Mansell (Tec-Mec), Brian Blackburn (Maserati) and Bob Smith (Ferrari); only Mansell was hurt, with a slight shoulder injury. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Stirling Moss, Lotus 21-Climax · International Formula Libre
Bruce McLaren was unofficially timed at 97.66 mph (1:18) in the first training session for the 1962 Lady Wigram Trophy. (clipping)
A 100 mph lap of Wigram's 2.116-mile circuit required a time of 1:16.176. (clipping)
The 1962 meeting followed wet international meetings at Ardmore and Levin; overseas teams brought rain tyres to Wigram just in case. (clipping)
Brabham's Wigram lap record stood at 94.28 mph in December 1961. (clipping)

Jack Brabham sets the lap record for the original layout, 1:18.4. (Motor Sport)
Lady Wigram Trophy: Bruce McLaren, Cooper T62-Climax · International Formula Libre
The ninth international Lady Wigram Trophy was set for January 19, 1963, with the NZ Grand Prix to follow the first race of the series on January 5 at Pukekohe. (clipping)
Under the Motor Racing Club's 1963 rules for saloon car races at Wigram, tubeless tyres were banned and exterior bodywork modification was forbidden except for louvres and power bulges. (clipping)
The Wigram lap record entering the 1963 meeting was 1:20.1 (95.1 mph), shared by Moss (2.5-litre Lotus-Climax) and Surtees (2.7-litre Cooper-Climax) from the 1962 race. (clipping)
Moss's 1962 Lady Wigram Trophy race record average was 93.27 mph. (clipping)

Wigram becomes a round of the Tasman Series, as it will be every year until 1975. (Wikipedia)
Lady Wigram Trophy: Bruce McLaren, Cooper T70-Climax · Tasman Series
The 1964 Lady Wigram Trophy meeting was announced for 18 January 1964 with 600 pounds prize money on the main race. (clipping)
In the 1964 Motor Racing Club Championship each 20-mile heat carried 125 pounds prize money; the final carried 15 pounds prize money and 60 pounds starting money. (clipping)
1964 saloon classes at Wigram: up to 1300cc, 1300 to 2000cc and over 2000cc; the six fastest from the heats and six invited cars contested the 15-mile final. (clipping)
The 1964 programme included an invitation race for the ten fastest cars, about 12.5 miles, and a motor-cycle race of about 25 miles. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Jim Clark, Lotus 32B-Climax · Tasman Series
In 1965 a Christchurch businessman offered a 300 pound side prize for the first driver to average 100 mph in the Lady Wigram Trophy race itself. (clipping)
In the 1964 Lady Wigram Trophy Bruce McLaren's fastest lap of 1:26.9 (95.28 mph) was the race record. (clipping)
The Wigram circuit was described as 2.25 miles in 1965. (clipping)
In 1965 the Motor Racing Club ran two invitation-only 25-mile motor-cycle races (500cc maximum, then open capacity) as Christchurch now had the permanent Ruapuna Park circuit for clubmen. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Jackie Stewart, BRM P261 · Tasman Series
Clark won the 1965 Lady Wigram Trophy at a race-record average of 94.22 mph. (clipping)
Touring car championship points for the NZRDC were 10, 7, 5, 3 and 1 for the first five. (clipping)
The Wigram circuit was 2.25 miles around. (clipping)
A 250LM Ferrari entered by Scuderia Veloce for Spencer Martin was expected to add spice to the 1966 Wigram sports and saloon races and might be the fastest car there. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Jim Clark, Lotus 33-Climax · Tasman Series
A 400 pound side prize was offered at the 1967 Lady Wigram meeting for the first driver to lap Wigram at 100 mph in a preliminary heat or trophy race. (clipping)
The Motor Racing Club placed the 1967 paddock outside the circuit so spectators could view drivers and cars. (clipping)
Fastest practice lap in 1966 was 98.8 mph by Jackie Stewart in the afternoon qualifying trials. (clipping)
The Lady Wigram 100 mph lap side prize reached 400 pounds in August 1966; it was originally offered by Manchester Car Sales Ltd. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Jim Clark, Lotus 49T-Cosworth · Tasman Series
The Wigram lap record stood at 104.02 mph (1min 19.6sec for the 2.3-mile lap), in the names of Amon and Clark. (clipping)
The Wigram circuit measured 2.3 miles in length. (clipping)
Hulme's new Brabham FVA, built in the days before the 1968 meeting, ran for the first time in Friday practice, his first drive since his NZ Grand Prix crash almost a fortnight earlier. (clipping)
Grid positions for the two 25-mile 1968 trophy preliminaries were allocated, not based on practice times; the trophy race grid was set from preliminary race times, with the club reserving the right to put the fastest cars on the front two rows. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Jochen Rindt, Lotus 49BT-Cosworth · Tasman Series
The Pukekohe circuit was about three car-widths wide, making it hard to pass backmarkers, unlike Wigram. (clipping)
Jim Clark died in a crash at Hockenheim, West Germany, at the start of the 1968 European season. (clipping)
The 1969 Lady Wigram Trophy programme: first heat for trophy cars up to 1500cc at 10.00, second heat over 1500cc at 10.30, sports and GT over 1500cc 11.00, Motor Racing Club championship 11.45, Rothmans saloon heats at 12.30 and 1.30, motor-cycles at 1.00, Lady Wigram Trophy 2.30, free formula saloons 4.00, motor-cycles 4.30. (clipping)
The 15th Lady Wigram Trophy on 18 January 1969 marked 20 years of motor racing at Wigram, since New Zealand's first long-distance car race there in 1949. (clipping)

F5000 cars are admitted to the Tasman Series. (Wikipedia)
Lady Wigram Trophy: Frank Matich, McLaren M10A-Chevrolet · Tasman Series (F5000 admitted)
The 1970 Lady Wigram Trophy prize fund was $14,000, with prizes of $3500, $2500, $1500, $1000, $800 and $700 for first to sixth places. (clipping)
The sixteen fastest qualifiers in pre-race trials would form the Lady Wigram Trophy race field. (clipping)
Eight NZ and Australian international promoters put up $114,000 in prize money; seven of the eight races count for the Tasman Championship, the opener being at Bay Park, Mount Maunganui on 29 December. (clipping)
Frank Matich won the 1970 NZ Grand Prix at Pukekohe from start to finish at about 104.5 mph, in front of a crowd of more than 30,000, the biggest there since the first Grand Prix in 1963. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Graham McRae, McLaren M10B-Chevrolet · Tasman Series
The 1971 Lady Wigram Trophy attracted a record field of 23, 15 of them overseas entries: seven Australians, five Americans, an Englishman, a Belgian and nineteen New Zealanders were among the entry list. (clipping)
The 1971 New Zealand Grand Prix at Pukekohe was won by Niel Allen at 107.895 mph from Matich by 0.4sec; the first four finishers beat Amon's 1969 record race time. (clipping)
The existing Wigram lap record of 105.34 mph, set by McRae in 1970, and Rindt's 1969 race record of 103.11 mph in a Lotus 49B were expected to fall in 1971. (clipping)
Matich set a Pukekohe track record of 111 mph (56.7sec) on lap 50 of the 1971 Grand Prix. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Graham McRae, Leda GM1-Chevrolet · Tasman Series
For 1972 the Wigram circuit was to be modified by eliminating the hairpin at the end of the main straight and altering the loop, shortening it from 2.3 to about 2.1 miles. (clipping)
The 1972 revised Wigram circuit had fewer slow corners and top speeds were expected to reach about 190 mph on the main straight. (clipping)
Graham McRae won the 1971 Lady Wigram Trophy at a record average of 104.94 mph and set a 107.12 mph lap record; those figures stay permanently in the Wigram record book because the circuit was modified for 1972. (clipping)
The modified 1972 Wigram circuit measured 2.13 miles; the hairpin at the end of the back straight became a sharpish left-hand curve and the loop needed only one turn. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Graham McRae, McRae GM1-Chevrolet · Tasman Series
Wigram was the fastest circuit in the 1973 eight-race New Zealand-Australia Tasman series. (clipping)
The Lady Wigram 1973 meeting was to be the first time GTX production saloons raced at Wigram. (clipping)
Wigram was the fastest circuit of the 1973 Tasman series, with lap speeds up to around 115 mph. (clipping)
A crowd of several thousand watched the Friday practice at Wigram in January 1973. (clipping)

Run as the New Zealand Grand Prix. Peter Gethin (Chevron B24) sets the outright lap record, 1:03.6. (Wikipedia)
Lady Wigram Trophy: John McCormack, Elfin MR5-Repco Holden · Tasman Series; run as the NZ Grand Prix at Wigram
Prize money for the Wigram motor-cycle race was $900 with $120 for the outright winner. (clipping)
Jon White was the first production machine home, sixth overall, in the 1974 NZ Open Airfield championship. (clipping)
Fiat 124 coupes took the first five places in the Group 2 Castrol GTX race at Wigram in January 1974. (clipping)
At the 1974 Wigram airfield championships J. A. Boote's Yamaha TZ750 was electronically timed at 150.9 mph on the back straight, more than 20 mph faster than any previous speed recorded on the circuit. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Graham McRae, McRae GM2-Chevrolet · Tasman Series (final year)
The main 1975 Lady Wigram Trophy race was set for 44 laps with prize money of $14,500; the richest support race, the final saloon race, carried $2100. (clipping)
The 1975 Wigram track was to include the hairpin bend that had been deleted two years earlier in favour of a fast corner, because spectators wanted it back. (clipping)
Graham McRae won the Tasman series in 1971, 1972 and 1973 but failed to finish in the first two 1975 rounds at Pukekohe and Levin. (clipping)
McRae said the 1974 Stuyvesant series cost him about $34,000 against $24,000 in prize and starting money, and he had already spent $15,000 on the 1975 series. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Ken Smith, Lola T330/T332 · Peter Stuyvesant NZ F5000 Championship
For the January 1976 Lady Wigram meeting the pit and paddock area was to move from the infield to the outside of the circuit just beyond the exit from the hairpin. (clipping)
The eight 1976 Wigram races: Shellsport saloon, Motorcraft Formula Ford, super saloons, Lady Wigram Trophy, Radio Avon saloon race (OSCA or Shellsport), go-kart exhibition, vintage and historic cars, fastest saloons. (clipping)
Stuyvesant points were 9, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 for first to sixth. (clipping)
Graeme Lawrence set a new lap record at Pukekohe in the 1976 Grand Prix and led at Manfeild until a valve rocker broke. (clipping)

The first international Formula Pacific series. (oldracingcars)
Lady Wigram Trophy: Tom Gloy, Tui BH2-Ford BDA · Peter Stuyvesant NZ Formula Pacific
The first Wigram race in 1949 had a 20-car field including Bentleys, Lagondas, Coopers, MGs and Rileys; races were about 50 laps. (clipping)
Total prize money for the 1977 Stuyvesant series was $60,000, $12,000 per meeting. (clipping)
Prize money of $20,450 was offered at the 1977 Wigram meeting. (clipping)
In January 1977 it was announced that the world governing body would not issue a permit for racing at Wigram after 1977, because a once-a-year circuit could not be inspected. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Larry Perkins, Ralt RT1-Ford BDA · Peter Stuyvesant NZ Formula Pacific
Corners on the 1978 Wigram circuit were renamed with advertisers' names. (clipping)
The 1978 Peter Stuyvesant series was the first time March entered a works car in the New Zealand Formula Pacific series. (clipping)
At Teretonga in January 1978 the series ran in two heats per round; Rosberg won two heats but was penalised one minute for an alleged start jump in the first. (clipping)
Ken Smith was the first resident New Zealander to win the New Zealand Grand Prix, in 1976. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Dave McMillan, Ralt RT1-Ford BDA · NZ Formula Pacific
The first Wigram race in 1949 was 105 miles (50 laps), the first NZ championship road race, with a field of 22 or 24 starters and a crowd estimated at 20,000 to 30,000. (clipping)
McMillan's Ralt was rebuilt after a front cross-member broke in a crash at Teretonga, and had extra streamlining for the fast Wigram circuit. (clipping)
Riley damaged both left-side wheels hitting concrete at the hairpin during first practice at Wigram in January 1979. (clipping)
Organisers needed at least 6000 paying spectators at the 1979 Wigram meeting to make it pay without major sponsorship; the 1978 meeting had cost them $37,000. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Dave McMillan, Ralt RT1-Ford BDA · Aurora AFX International Formula Pacific
Hec Green won the 1950 Wigram race, worth about $400 in prize money, and was seventh in the 1961 race. (clipping)
The first Wigram race in 1949 was held on a circuit just over two miles long made from runways and connecting roads, with 500 bales of hay on hazardous bends. (clipping)
22 cars started the first Wigram race in late February 1949; Morrie Proctor won the 105-mile race in about 1 hour 35 minutes before about 25,000 spectators. (clipping)
Lady Wigram presented the trophy for the first time in 1956. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: David Oxton, Ralt RT4-Ford BDA · Aurora AFX International Formula Pacific
The Lady Wigram Trophy was first run in 1949 and had been run every year until the 1981 cancellation. (clipping)
Wigram was the only international licensed circuit in the South Island and one of the few airfield venues in the world (1980). (clipping)
The Wigram circuit was 3.4 km long in 1981. (clipping)
Each heat of the 1981 Lady Wigram Trophy carried A$5000 prize money, A$2000 for the winner down to A$125 for sixth. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Roberto Moreno, Ralt RT4-Ford BDA · Aurora AFX International Formula Pacific
From 1974 the series became the Peter Stuyvesant Series; Peter Gethin won the first in a Chevron and Warwick Brown the 1975 series in a Lola. (clipping)
Twenty-one drivers were entered for the 1982 Aurora AFX Formula Pacific races at Wigram for prize money of $5000. (clipping)
David Oxton's 1:10.6 in practice for the 1982 Lady Wigram Trophy was a tenth of a second under the Pacific lap record, but as it was set in practice it could not be claimed as a record. (clipping)
Less than 1.5 seconds separated the first seven Shellsport saloons in qualifying at Wigram in January 1982. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Allen Berg, Ralt RT4-Ford BDD · Just Juice International Formula Pacific
Frank Bennett paid about $1200 for the Invicta in the 1940s and raced it at the first Wigram event in 1949, finishing second after leading by a lap. (clipping)
In first practice for the 1983 Lady Wigram Trophy less than half a second separated the first five Formula Pacific cars, all Ralt RT4s. (clipping)
Allan Berg of Calgary was to be the first Canadian to contest a New Zealand Formula Pacific series. (clipping)
Dave McMillan started 185 races between 1972 and 1982, winning 78, second 24 times and third 22 times, and was fastest qualifier 75 times. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Davy Jones, Ralt RT4-Ford BDD · Just Juice International Formula Pacific
The Lady Wigram Trophy was first run in 1949 and was held every year except 1955, when the airfield perimeter strip was being resealed. (clipping)
Keke Rosberg won the trophy in 1977, the first year Formula Pacific cars ran at Wigram. (clipping)
David Oxton's 68.95 second practice lap at Wigram in January 1984 was faster than Ken Smith's 70.01 lap record, but times only count officially if set under race conditions. (clipping)
Ken Smith's best time in the first practice session was fifth fastest. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Ross Cheever, Ralt RT4-Ford BDD · International Formula Pacific
The Lady Wigram motor race was a major source of funds for the Papanui RSA, with Charlie McIver organising programmes and gatekeeping. (clipping)
Ray Archibald's first major race was the 1954 NZ Grand Prix at Ardmore, in which he was second in the sports car race and retired from the main race with a holed radiator. (clipping)
In 1954 Archibald finished sixth or seventh in the Lady Wigram Trophy race. (clipping)
Archibald won the Mairehau street circuit race in 1955; the event ran only two or three years. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Jeff MacPherson, Ralt RT4-Ford BDD · NZ International Formula Mondial Series
Only 1.69 sec separated the first eight drivers in Formula Pacific practice at Wigram on 18 January 1986; all were in Ralt RT4s. (clipping)
Strengthening wind after the first practice made improvement in the second timed session unlikely. (clipping)
The Quinns Fashion Trophy was a new four-lap (14 km) Group A saloon race for women drivers, first prize worth $3000. (clipping)
A 1930 Brooklands Riley, one of six built, won the first Lady Wigram Trophy race in 1949. (clipping)

The Air Force Museum of New Zealand opens at Wigram. (Christchurch City Libraries)
Lady Wigram Trophy: Paul Radisich, Ralt RT4-Ford BDD · Mita Copiers International Formula Pacific
The Wigram circuit was quoted as 3.44km in 1987. (clipping)
The New Zealand team for the 1987 Handy Hire match races was to be the fastest six qualifiers in Saturday practice. (clipping)
The 1987 Lady Wigram Trophy entrants might take second billing for the first time since the race began. (clipping)
Sports sedan racing at Wigram in 1987 was two 8-lap races over the 3.44km circuit. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Dean Hall, Swift-Cosworth · NZ International Formula Pacific
The 1988 Benson and Hedges series was the first to be organised by Global Sports and Promotions. (clipping)
The 1988 Motorcraft Formula Ford championship had record entries of up to 29 cars. (clipping)
Dean Hall won the 1988 Lady Wigram Trophy, his first Formula Pacific series win, after Radisich lost gears on lap 24. (clipping)
Bill Clark bought the P3 Alfa in 1960 for 2350 (pounds) with a trailer he later sold for 450; its last circuit appearance was a Country Gentlemen's meeting at Wigram in the summer of 1987-88. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Hiro Matsushita, Swift-Cosworth · NZ International Formula Pacific
The first Christchurch car race was held on 26 February 1949 and won by Morrie Proctor (Brooklands Riley) at 65.67 mph over 105 miles. (clipping)
The first Lady Wigram Trophy meeting was run by the Motor Racing Club on Easter Saturday, 24 March 1951, and won by Les Moore in a P3 Alfa Romeo. (clipping)
Three Australians (John Nind, Tom Sulman, Ken Tubman) contested the first Lady Wigram Trophy meeting in 1951. (clipping)
The Motor Racing Club cancelled its 1955 Lady Wigram meeting because the RNZAF planned to reseal the taxi-strips that formed the circuit. (clipping)

Toyota engines come to NZ Formula Pacific. (oldracingcars)
The Lady Wigram Trophy meeting moves to Ruapuna Park for two years while Wigram's runways are resealed. (The Press, 26 January 1990)
Lady Wigram Trophy: Craig Baird, Swift-Cosworth · NZ International Formula Pacific
The 1990 Lady Wigram Trophy meeting was moved from Wigram to the Canterbury Car Club's Ruapuna circuit because of runway reconstruction at Wigram. (clipping)
In October 1989 the Wigram circuit was announced unavailable for two years because of runway reconstruction. (clipping)
The 1990 and 1991 Lady Wigram Trophy meetings were scheduled for Ruapuna because of runway resurfacing at Wigram; the airfield circuit was 3.44km long. (clipping)
The 1990 Lady Wigram Trophy at Ruapuna was the first break from the Wigram airfield since 1955, when no race was held because of runway resealing. (clipping)

Lady Wigram Trophy: Ken Smith, Swift-Toyota · NZ International Formula Pacific
The 1990 Lady Wigram Trophy meeting was the first true international car race meeting at Ruapuna. (clipping)
The 1991 Lady Wigram meeting was held at Ruapuna for the second year because the RNZAF had a prior claim on the Wigram airfield. (clipping)
The Canterbury Aviation Company trained 182 pilots for the Royal Air Force during the First World War. (clipping)
After the July 1991 Budget the Defence Force ordered all RNZAF flying training to leave Wigram within three years, saving an estimated $4.8m a year. (clipping)

The meeting returns to Wigram on the newly resealed runways. (The Press, 18 January 1992)
Lady Wigram Trophy: Craig Baird, Reynard 92H-Toyota · NZ International Formula Pacific
Holden HQs and Mazda RX7s made a first appearance at the 1992 Wigram meeting as supporting races. (clipping)
The revised Wigram circuit for 1992 was to have an extended loop section and a resited pit area, with the infield kept free of spectators. (clipping)
Julian Westwood was regarded as the fastest and most professional visiting driver in the Peter Jackson series since Davy Jones, after the first two rounds at Teretonga and Levels in 1992. (clipping)
Graham McRae won the Lady Wigram Trophy in 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1975 and still held the record for most victories as of 1992. (clipping)

Americans Scott Lagasse (Pontiac Firebird) and Chris Kneifel (Porsche 944 Turbo) race in the TraNZam; Lagasse wins all three races. (jimbarclay.nz)
Lady Wigram Trophy: Craig Baird, Reynard 92H-Toyota · Peter Jackson series, Formula Pacific (last season)
The Britten V1100 motorcycle was the first New Zealand-built machine to win the country's Formula One Grand Prix, at Ruapuna in January 1993. (clipping)
Steve Cameron won the New Zealand Formula Vee Championship and the Bruce McLaren Memorial Trophy in 1979 and his first American Formula Atlantic race in 1984. (clipping)
McEwan on the Britten won the Airfield Trophy at the Lady Wigram meeting, 17 January 1993, in front of a crowd of several thousand. (clipping)
Attendance at the January 1993 Lady Wigram Trophy meeting was estimated at 500 to 1000 up on 1992's 3300. (clipping)

23 January: Paul Stokell wins the last Lady Wigram Trophy run at Wigram, in the rain. (Otago Daily Times)
April: the Motor Racing Club announces it will not apply for a 1995 date, ending the meeting at Wigram. (The Press, 15 April 1994)
Lady Wigram Trophy: Paul Stokell, Reynard 90D-Holden · Peter Jackson NZ International Championship; the last Lady Wigram Trophy at Wigram
The 1991 Defence budget cuts led the RNZAF to announce that all flying training would leave Wigram within three years. (clipping)
The first Lady Wigram Trophy meeting was in 1949. (clipping)
The 1994 Peter Jackson championship was held over three meetings, the first at Wigram. (clipping)
The 1994 Wigram meeting included the first Nissan Sentra Aztec Cup round in the South Island and the first round of the national Mini 7 championship. (clipping)

14 September: RNZAF Station Wigram's closing parade. (Wikipedia)
RNZAF Base Wigram was to close on 15 September 1995 after 58 years' service, with about 500 families departing. (clipping)
The RNZAF ensign was to be lowered for the last time at Wigram during a Beating of the Retreat on 14 September 1995. (clipping)
The Lady Wigram Trophy race lapsed after the 1994 meeting and was replaced at Ruapuna in January 1995 by the Ruapuna International Trophy. (clipping)
The January 1995 Ruapuna meeting included the first South Island round of the Bridgestone-Castrol Porsche Series. (clipping)

Ngāi Tahu Property buys most of the airfield land. (Wikipedia)
Ron Roycroft won the 1953 Lady Wigram Trophy 50-mile race in an Alfa Romeo P3 at 78.8 mph average. (clipping)
Maurice Stanton set an outright NZ land speed record of 173.8mph on Tram Road in 1958, which stood for 11 years. (clipping)
The Stanton Special 'Cropduster' used a Gypsy Major aircraft engine and raced in the first NZ Grand Prix at Ardmore in January 1954. (clipping)

31 October–1 November: Wigram Glory Days Relived, a classic meeting at Ruapuna for cars that raced at Wigram. (the clippings)
The first pupils moved on to the base in June 1917 and 32 graduated in February 1918. (clipping)
By 1998 the former RNZAF Wigram base of more than 250 hectares was owned by the Ngai Tahu Property Group. (clipping)
Ian Munt died at Timaru in 1998 aged 54 after setting his fastest ever lap there. (clipping)
Wigram Aerodrome was christened on 14 May 1923 after Henry Wigram's offer to the Government was accepted. (clipping)

9 February: the last race on the airfield, a drivers-only farewell classic meeting on the 3.87 km circuit. (The Press, 10 February 2000)
The first Lady Wigram Trophy race took place on 26 February 1949. (clipping)
The Last Wigram meeting was held mid-week in early 2000, fifty-one years after the first race, when the RNZAF had left and the airfield was being turned into housing. (clipping)
The Last Wigram meeting was not open to the public because a permit was impossible for safety reasons; spectators watched from the perimeter roads. (clipping)
Historic cars at the final Wigram meeting included the Brooklands Riley that won the first Wigram race and the historic Lady Wigram Trophy. (clipping)

Ron Rutherford rolled his Lotus Cortina-based car at Bombay bend at Wigram in practice. (clipping)
The Woodford Glen track was marked out 50 metres too long, and its cost grew from a $75,000 budget to $125,000. (clipping)

The Lady Wigram Trophy returns, at Ruapuna. (Wikipedia)

Bruce McLaren's widow returns his 1963 Lady Wigram Trophy to the Motor Racing Club. (the clippings)
Bruce McLaren won the Lady Wigram Trophy in 1963 and 1964 in a Cooper-Climax and was second in 1965. (clipping)
After McLaren's death in a testing accident at Goodwood in 1970 the Lady Wigram Trophy was awarded only twice, to Kenny Smith in 1976 and Keke Rosberg in 1977. (clipping)
The Lady Wigram Trophy was returned to the Motor Racing Club at Ruapuna in March 2004 after going missing. (clipping)
In 1958 the Stanton Special, with a Gipsy Major engine and Morris Minor road tyres, set an Australasian land speed record of 173.8 mph (280 km/h) on Tram Road. (clipping)

1 March: the airfield closes to flying; building of Wigram Skies begins later that year. (Wikipedia)

The Lady Wigram Trophy is awarded again, thirty years after the last Wigram race. (Otago Daily Times)