Five Overseas Drivers To Compete At Wigram

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30937, 18 December 1965, Page 23

Five Overseas Drivers To Compete At Wigram

F ,v * overseas drivers, including the present world champion, Jim Clark, are expected to race in the Lady Wigram Trophy Race on January 22. Entries for the meeting close today.

Clark will drive a special 2.5 litre Lotus Climax at Wigram. and works B.R.M.S, powered by 2-litre engines, will be raced by Jackie Stewart and R. Attwood, both of England. The Australian. Spencer Martin, will drive a Repco Brabham Climax in the main race and a 25OLM Fer-rari-similar to the cars which won at Le Mans—in some of the supporting races. Another Australian, Frank Gardner, who competed at Wigram last year, will drive a Brabham powered by a Maserati engine. Spencer Martin, aged 25, had his first racing successes in 1962, when the Australian driver and patron, David McKay, noticed him. At the end of 1963. McKay offered him drives in a Repco Brabham. He has won the 1965 New South Wales road-racing championship and several major Australian races. The Ferrari which Martin will drive in supporting races is likely to be the glamour car of the New Zealand season. It is owned by McKay’s Scuderia Veloce team, and has a Vl2 3285 c.c. rear-mounted engine producing 320 b.h.p. Its top speed is 186 miles an hour.

Jackie Stewart, aged 25, is an official B.R.M. works driver. He is regarded as the most promising young driver on the circuits today, and is one of the few who can stay close to Clark and occasionally beat him.’ In the last season in Europe, his first season of G.P. racing, he gained a first place at Monza in the Italian Grand Prix, and several other good places. He finished the season third on the world championship table.

Richard Attwood, who may drive for Coopers next year, has had occasional drives for the B.R.M. team and has a steadily-improving reputation. Last season he raced with the Parnell Lotus-B.R.M. team, but the cars were not competitive. Aged 25, he has had several wins in formula two and saloon races. Last year he was sixth at Monza and in the Mexican Grand Prix. Frank Gardner, who raced at Wigram last year, is an Australian who has gained an excellent reputation as a driver in European races. His car will be fitted with a Vl2 Maserati engine. The most prominent of the New Zealand drivers competing will be Jim Palmer (Lotus Climax), the present New Zealand champion. Palmer’s car is the Lotus with which Jim Clark won the Tasman championship last year. D. Marwood will drive the Rothmans Cooper Climax, and J. Riley will drive a Lotus Climax. A. A. Buchanan, who last year drove a 1.5-litre Brabham, will this year drive a 2.5-litre Repco Brabham Climax. The present New Zealand 1.5-litre champion, R. Levis, will again drive a Brabham Ford 1.5-litre, and W. Caldwell will drive a similar car.

G. Lawrence (Brabham 1.5litre). who won the 1.5-litre championship race at Ruapuna Park recently, is also expected to enter for the main race. Mr D. Southward, the patron of the Lesco Racing Team, has entered his 2.5 litre Repco Brabham Climax, but has not yet nominated a driver. K. Grant, who drove the car last season, is concen-

trating on saloon-car racing this season. A possible entry for the race is the 1960 national champion, Syd Jensen, of Palmerston North, who is making a comeback to singleseater racing after five years. If Jensen competes, he is expected to drive a 2.5 litre Brabham Climax previously owned by W. Thomasen. Because of its large engine capacity, Martin’s Ferarri may be the fastest car on the circuit, and could break the present Wigram lap record of Imin 25.95ec, held jointly by Jim Clark and Bruce McLaren. McLaren will not compete in New Zealand this year. However, it is expected the 2.5 litre single-seaters may themselves break the record, for the cars have been further developed since last year.