Halswell 100 Largest, Toughest S.I. Scramble

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30406, 3 April 1964, Page 13

Halswell 100 Largest, Toughest S.I. Scramble

The fourth Halswell 100 Grand National Moto-Cross, to be held by the Tai Tapu Motor Club on the notorious Findlay’s Farm circuit at Halswell on Sunday, will be the largest and toughest motor-cycle scramble meeting ever held in the South Island.

The top class riders in the record entry of 72 include six members of the North Island representative team which recently overwhelmed the South Island.

The fields for the three main races—the New Zealand 250 c.c. scramble championship, the 350 c.c. New Zealand championship and the 500 c.c. D.R. Filter Trophy race—are the most representative ever to contest national titles. Two of the most outstanding riders at present in the Dominion, K. Cleghorn (Palmerston North) and A. T. Gibbes, are expected to take a major share of the honours.

Cleghorn is almost certain to win the 500 c.c. event, the only race he has entered. He is the current New Zealand 500 c.c. miniature T.T. champion and has won every scramble title open to him in the country. His machine, a 500 c.c. A.J.S.-8.5.A., is the one on which he won the event last year. Gibbes, an Australian now living in Palmerston North, is

the most talented rider competing on Sunday. He is entered in the three major 30lap events on his small 250 c.c. Greeves and, barring mechanical troubles, is expected to tike both the 250 c.c. and 350 c.c. titles. He may also have a good chance of defeating Cleghorn, his brother-in-law, in the 500 c.c. trophy race, making up for the loss in power with his great skill and experience. Rode For A.J.S. At 30, Gibbes is regarded as one of the top scrambles riders in the world. Until last year, he was a works rider for the A.J.S. factory and represented Great Britain five times. Recently, he won two gold medals in the international six-day trial in Europe. As a tribute to the great service he had given, the A.J.S. factory presented him with the A.J.S. Southerner machine on which he won so many events when he left for New Zealand. In the 250 c.c. class, Gibbes’s closest competition should come from the present 250 c.c. New Zealand scrambles champion, G. Terry (Palmerston North), the North Island representatives, A. Collinson (Palmerston North), J. Bullock (Wanganui) and B. Pink

(Palmerston North) and the leading South Island points scorer in the recent North versus South match, D. Burns (Christchurch). Collinson, Terry and Pink will all be mounted on B.S.A. scramblers, while Bullock and Burns will be riding the popular Greeves machine. Burns, the present South Island 250 c.c. miniature T.T. title-holder, is likely to lead the South Island aspirants in this event but is not in the same class as Gibbes. Dirt Track Champion A particularly interesting entry in the 250 c.c. class is G. Mardon (Christchurch), the present New Zealand speedway dirt track champion. Mardon usually contains his motor sport strictly to speedway racing but on Sunday will mount a 250 c.c. Triumph. In the 500 c.c. trophy race. Cleghorn will be hard pressed by such outstanding riders as R. Johnston (Timaru, 8.5. A.), N. Mcllwain (Blenheim, Tribsa), M. Butler (Christchurch, 8.5. A.), and possibly W. Veitch (Dunedin). Butler is probably one of the most outstanding riders at present in the South Island and is the current South Island 500 c.c. miniature T.T. champion.