Visiting Riders Determined To Avenge Defeat

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30937, 18 December 1965, Page 24

Visiting Riders Determined To Avenge Defeat

The six international riders entered for the New Zealand Gold Leaf moto-cross series are determined to repair the damage to their badly-dented reputations, caused by the shock win of the young Palmerston North mechanic, A. Collison, in the second meeting at Kaiapoi last week-end.

They have intensified their preparations for the third meeting of the series, to be held at Lyalldale, near Timaru, on Sunday, and rivalry is expected to be at an extremely high pitch. “We certainly want to get our revenge,” the Australian representative, Tim Gibbes, said before leaving Christchurch. And Collison is just as determined to prove that his fine performance was not just an isolated one. The general consensus of opinion after the race was that he had been rather lucky. He certainly would not

have won had the Swedish international Bert Lundin, not crashed after leading comfortably for 14 of the 15 laps. But Collison was even luckier than many persons were aware. In the closing laps he heard a noise from his gearbox and after the race he took his 500 c.c. MetiSse to the home of a prominent Christchurch rider, N. Curr e. Together they stripped the gearbox and discovered a broken cog which would have jammed the gears if the race had not finished when it did.

The damage has now been repaired and Collison is preparing to meet the internationals on level terms on the vastly different Timaru circuit in an effort to increase his points lead for the series. However, he will not start as favourite. Lundin has now taken possession of his 500 c.c. Lito, the same machine on which his brother, Sten, won the world championship, and it is generally expected that he will outclass the other internationals. New Zealand’s world road racing champion, Hugh Anderson, is keen to improve on his third position at Kala-

poi, for his future plans depend greatly on his rate of improvement. The other New Zealand representative, Ken Cleghorn, is also hoping for a good performance, having crashed in the first race and been forced to withdraw from the second because of illness.

The American, Paul Hunt, has not yet proved to be up to the standard of the other internationals on his twincylinder Metisse. If he again fails to take a major placing it will be a minor disaster for him; one which, as a professional, he cannot afford. Frank Underwood (England), the winner of the first event at Woodville, is perhaps second favourite for Sunday’s big race, in spite of the handicap of using borrowed machinery. Gibbs has again loaned him his 500 c.c. A.J.S. as his own motor-cycle has not yet arrived.