Motor Racing Waimate 50 Won In Rain By P. M. Hoare

Press, Volume C, Issue 29437, 13 February 1961, Page 15

Motor Racing Waimate 50 Won In Rain By P. M. Hoare

For the second time in three years, it was wet for the Waimate 50 New Zealand championship road race on Saturday, but the drenching rain did not deter the Christchurch driver, P. M. Hoare, from driving his big V-12 Ferrari in tine style for an easy win, Hoare, who has been driving for more than ten years with moderate success, achieved his best win to date and gave a good display of fast driving on a greasy’ track.

Hoare’s time for the tortuous 70-mile race around the streets of Waimate was Ihr 7min 56.8 sec, and his fastest lap was t-med at Im in 19sec—compared with J. Manscl’s fastest lap of Imin 11.2 sec on a dry track last year. Hoare gave early indications of his form when he put in one lap at Imm 12sec during the practice when the track w*as dry. At the conclusion of the race, a good deal of confusion arose over the placings. In the provisional results, A. N. Hyslop, of Hastings, was placed second in his Cooper Climax, with A. Shelly, of Wellington, also driving a

Cooper Climax, third. This was the order in which the lap scorers considered the drivers finished, and the way in which they were introduced to the spectators in the short ceremony immediately after the race. J. Mansel, winner of the race last year, was unhappy with the placings, and indicated that he would protest once the results were posted as official. Mansel, who drove a steady race in his Tec Mec, was placed fourth in the provisional results, but considered he had finished at least third.

The fastest laps achieved during the race were almost directly related to the final placings. Hoare’s fastest of Imin 19sec was .6sec faster than Shelley’s fastest, with Hyslop recording Imin 20sec Mansel was timed at Imin 21.1 sec. R. Levis (Cooper Junior) at Imin 22sec. and D. Evans (Cooper Climax) at Imin 22.2 sec. Evans was placed fifth and Levis sixth.

Lead Established

Once he had established himself in the lead from the first corner, Hoare remained there to the finish. Hyslop made a very determined challenge early in the race to get close to the tail of the red Ferrari, but its superior acceleration from the tight corners was more than a match for the Cooper. Hoare handled the great power of his big car judiciously and did not make one mistake in the Whole race.

It w*as a race in which drivers could not afford to make mistakes. One of the unlucky competitors was the Auckland student, W. M. Gill, who had earlier won the sports car race and seemed set to fill a major placing in the big race. Gill is one of the contenders for the New Zealand Grand Prix “driver to Europe” scheme this year.

On the third lap. Gill found the terrific acceleration of his Lycoming aero-engined special to* much of a handful on the wet track, and his car slid off the track and rammed a power pole. The force of the impact hurled Gill under the dashboard, and he was fortunate to escape w’ith a bad cut on one arm and minor abrasions. The car was badly damaged. Consistent Lapping Half-way through the race Hoare led Hyslop by 17 seconds, and had settled down to consistent lapping at about Imin 22sec During the next 25 laps Hoare slowly increased his lead, and by the forty-fifth lap he had lapped the whole field with the exception of Hyslop. Further back in the field, the situation was more confusing, and gave rise to two different opinions of the results and caused Mansels protest.

Hyslop again demonstrated his ability in the wet. and his second placing was worthy of the same praise as his achievement in being the first New Zealander to finish in the Lady Wigram trophy race. Hyslop is another contender for the “driver to Europe” scheme, and seems to be ideal material for better things Shelly’s drive lacked the determination of Hoare and Hyslop. but no-one could be blamed for being over-cautious in the dangerous conditions. Mansel is always a tidy driver and with a car which was not suited to the circuit, he did well to finish high up Sports Car Race With a nigh-class entry and a dry track the sports car race provided some of the best racing of the day Gill and D. Lawrence (Cooper) were engaged in a keen struggle for the lead over the early laps before Gill drew away to a comfortable win. Gill's fastest lap of Imin 14.4 sec is a good indication of the pressure he was forced to apply to leave the Lawrences tiny Cooper behind

In the race for New Zealand specials and racing cars. Lawrence had a good win over D G Young (Jaguar C-type). R S Rutherford piloted his homebuilt special into third place, and his R A -Zephyr showed the way to several factory-built machines

The saloon car racing was a triumph for the former New Zealand racing drivers' champion. Ross Jensen But Jensen ha* never had to work harder for success His strongest opponent was F E Sprague, of Timaru whose highly-modified Ford Zephyr tailed Jensen’s Jaguar for the whole race Sprague made the fastest lap for saloons in Imin 30Jsec and Jensen was timed at Imin 30.5 sec. In the earlier race for smaller capacity .cars H. J. Heasley of Rangiora who was last year's saloon car champion, put in one lap at a .staggering Imin 30.6 sec in a small Humber 80

Provisional results are:—

Waimate 50 (50 laps, 70 miles) P. M. Hoare (Ferrari), Christchurch. Ihr 7min 56.8 sec. 1; A. N. Hyslop (Cooper Climax) Hastings, ihr &min 4sec, 2; A’. Shelly (Cooper Climax), Wellington. 49 laps, 3; J. Mansel (Tec Mec). Tuakau, 49 laps, 4: D. Evans (Cooper Climax), Wellington, 48 laps 5; R. Levis (Cooper Climax), Wellington, 48 laps. 6. Fastest lap: P. M. Hoare, Imin ISsec.

Sports Car Race (15 laps. 21 miles) Outright: M. Gill (Lycoming Special). Auckland. 19min 21.4 sec, 1; D. Lawrence (Cooper Monaco) Wanganui. 19min 23.65ec. 2; D. G. Young (Jaguar C-type), Timaru. 19min 32sec. 3. 1201-2000 c.c.: Lawrence 1. A. F Moffat (Lotus), Ashburton. 2. 2001 c.c. and over: Gill 1. Young 2. Fastest lap: M. Gill, Imin 14.4 sec. Saloon Car Races (10 laps. 14 miles) Up to 2000 c.c. (two classes).— H. J. Heasley (Humber 80;, Rangiora. 15min 29 6sec, 1; J. Mullins (Simca). Brookside. 16min 2.3 sec, 2; M. B. Elwood (Ford Anglia), Ashburton. 16min 18.5 sec, 3. Fastest lap: Heasley, Imin 30.6 sec. Over 2000 c.c. (fwo classes). — R. Jensen (Jaguar). Auckland. 15min 17sec. 1; F. E. Sprague (Ford Zephyr). Timaru, lamin 19.2 sec. 2; R. Sylvester (Chevrolet), Christchurch 16min, 34.1 sec 3. Fastest lap: Sprague. Imin 30.2 sec. N.Z. Specials and Racing Cars (15 laps. 21 miles) , D. Lawrence (Cooper), Wanganui. 20min. 32.25ec, 1; D. G. Young (Jaguar C-type) Timaru. 20min 42.95ec. 2; R. S. Rutherford (R.A. Zephyr). Christchurch. 21mm 43.1 sec. 3; E. D. Candy (Healey-Corvette). Timaru. 22mi'n 12sec. 4. Up to 1500 c.c.: Lawrence 1, R. J. Blackbum (Lotus). Christchurch. 2; B. Cottle (Buckler). Dunedin. 3. Over 1500 c.c.: Young 1, Rutherford 2. Candy 3. Fastest laps.* Young and Lawrence Imin 14.9 sec