Motor Racing THREE OVERSEAS DRIVERS WILL COMPETE AT WIGRAM

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28792, 13 January 1959, Page 6

Motor Racing THREE OVERSEAS DRIVERS WILL COMPETE AT WIGRAM

Only three overseas drivers have accepted the terms offered by the Motor Racing Club in Christchurch to compete in the fifth international Lady Wigram Trophy race on January 24. They are Ron Flockhart (8.R.M.) twice winner of Le Mans in Ecurie Ecosse Jaguars; Jack Brabham (Cooper), the world Formula II -champion; and the Australian, Arnold Glass (Ferrari).

Several problems were met by the Motor Racing Club representative (Mr I. Daikee) when he discussed the Wigram race with overseas drivers in Auckland on Sunday. Harry Schell and Carroll Shelby, who drove the latest Piccolo Maseratis of Scuderia Buell at Ardmore, took part in the discussions, but later announced they would be unable to come south. Maserati’s chief mechanic who is in New Zealand, Bertocchi, is adamant that the two Piccolo Maseratis are in no fit mechanical condition to compete at Wigram. They will be shipped back to Italy immediately, where they will be prepared for the world championship series of races.

Joakim Bonnier (250 F Maserati), the Swedish champion, is booked out of Auckland on the same aircraft as Schell and Shelby. His car withdrew at Ardmore because of steering trouble, but it js„. difficult to _understand why this relatively minor fault should decide him against competing at Wigram. Not Money

However, all three drivers assured Mr Daikee that their disinterest in the Wigram race was not a matter of money. The Australian. “Bib” Stilwell (Ferrari) will stay in New Zealand until the end of this week, but he too, has made plans to return to Australia before the Wigram race. Although the lack of overseas drivers may be mourned by South Island motor racing enthusiasts, it will give New Zealand drivers an opportunity to win some of the major prize money. For the last four years first prize has gone to an English driver, but this year New Zealanders will have their best opportunity since the international races were'begun at Wigram in 1954. Glass cannot be considered among the top drivers in the race, so that Brabham and Flockhart are the main contenders.

It must have surprised few enthusiasts when Flockhart was forced to withdraw from the Ardmore race. with the B.R.M. The car was living up to its usual reputation for unreliability, and

since Flockhart’s car is the same as the Owen organisation will race in the championship series this year, its Ardmore failure is not a very promising start. If the car can hold together for the 150 mile at Wigram it must have a good chance of an overdue win. Crash at Rouen

Last Saturday’s race was Flockhart’s first since a crash at practice at the Rouen Grand Prix last June. He broke his spine in two places, crus? 1 six ribs and punctured a lung.

“According to doctors, I shouldn’t even be driving, or even walking, but I feel pretty good and I’ve had a couple of drives,*’ said Flockhart in Auckland. “1 crashed when I had to leave the track to avoid an ambulance which had been driven on to the track.”

Flockhart’s greatest success in grand prix events was a third place in the B.R.M. at the Grand Prix d’Europe in 1957. Because Flockhart's car has a bad reputation, Jack Brabham, the Australian who is the world Formula II champion, will be pre-race favourite. Brabham was second to Stirling Moss at Ardmore, and has a car which is ideally suited i to Wigram. Bruce McLaren, of Auckland, who gained third place at Ardmore, will also drive a Cooper and has a grand chance of being the first New Zealander to win an international event at Wigram. No entry has yet been received from New Zealand’s champion driver last season, Ross Jensen.