Coopers Dominate Trophy Race Field

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29107, 20 January 1960, Page 19

Coopers Dominate Trophy Race Field

TWENTY-EIGHT entries have been received by the Motor Racing Club for next Saturday’s international race, and five of them are from overseas drivers. The open car race for the Motor Racing Club championship has attracted 21 entries, the saloon car race 25, and the sports car race 19. Eliminations to reduce the field of the trophy race t® 25 will be made on Friday afternoon.

Coopers dominate the field for the international race with seven entries, and- Cooper hybrids number a further three. Four English Lotus cars have been entered—although one of them owned by David Piper does not have a driver yet. Piper entered this second car of his at Ardmore and it was to be driven by Frank Shuter, of Christchurch. Shuter was unlucky to be taken ill with appendicitis before the race, and the car was taken over by Arnold Stafford. Three Maseratis, four Ferraris—including the powerful Monza sports model—and five specials are the strongest other representatives.

Only six of the total entry in the international race are from the South Island.

The largest capacity cars are those of M. F. Stanton (4640 c.c. Stanton Special), A. T. Freeman (4485 c.c. Lago Talbot), W. M. Gill (4733 c.c. Lycoming), Ted Gray (4600 c.c. Tornado) and R. J. Roycroft (4500 c.c. Ferrari). Each of these cars develops tremendous power, but on a circuit such as Wigram, the smaller capacity Coopers, with their outstanding cornering ability, have the advantage. To gain better acceleration, most of these large capacity cars have to be geared down, and in addition, their weight is a telling factor in their speed around the corners.

The following was the list of drivers entered for the international race when entries closed last week (car numbers in parenthesis)—

(3) I. Burgess (4) J. Brabham (8) M. F. Stanton (9) A. Mcßeath (10) A. T. Freeman (11) W. M. Gill (12) L. C. Moore (13) L. F. Bulcraig (14) L. Lukey (15) J. M. Windelburn (16) F. Shuter (17) J. Mansel (18) D. Piper (19) P. Hoare (22) R. H. Smith (23) R. Jensen (26) H. Green (27) A. Moffatt (29) W. J. Thomasen (33) L. R. Gilbert (38) D. C. Hulme (39) T. Gray (41) J. Palmer (47) B. McLaren (51) J. A. Malcolm (54) G. Lawton (88) R. J. Roycroft (97) B. R. Webster

(England) (Australia) (Christchurch) (Otaki) (Wellington) (Auckland) (Christchurch) (Kawakawa) (Australia) (Maungaturoto) (Christchurch) (Glen Murray) (England) (Christchurch) (Waitakaruru) (Auckland) (Christchurch) (Ashburton) (Huntly) (Hamilton) (Te Puke) (Australia) (Hamilton) (Auckland) (Huntly) (Whangarei) (Glen Murray) (Havelock North)

Cooper Cooper Stanton Corvette Normae Special Lago Talbot Lycoming R.A. Vanguard Cooper Cooper Lotus Maserati Maserati Lotus Ferrari Ferrari Maserati R.A. Tojeiro Jaguar Monza Ferrari Cooper Bristol Cooper Tornado Lotus Cooper Cooper Repco Cooper Ferrari Cooper Porsche