Famous Drivers For Wigram Car Races

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31151, 30 August 1966, Page 11

Famous Drivers For Wigram Car Races

Five of the world’s leading racing drivers will compete in the Lady Wigram Trophy Race on January 21 next year, the president of the Motor Racing Club (Mr J. Brewer) announced yesterday.

They are J. Clark (Lotus), R. Attwood (8.R.M.), J. Stewart (8.R.M.), J. Brabham (Repco-Brabham) and D. Huhne (Rep-co-Brabham). The five will also compete at other international race meetings in New Zealand during the season.

Stewart won the 2.5-litre Tasman championship—the series of international races held in New Zealand and Australia —last year, and B.R.M.’s filled the first two

places in the championship. This year B.R.M. will be fielding what are basically the same 2-litre VB-engined cars, but modifications have been made to the gearbox, which gave trouble last year. The cars are also lighter than before and the engines are producing more power. Brabham and Hulme will be using 2.5-litre Repco V 8 engines in their Brabham cars—the car and the engine combination which has this year carried Brabham to an almost unbeatable lead in the international 3-litre formula one series overseas. This Australian-designed and built engine has been winning this year because of its reliability rather than very high power output, but it was designed especially with the Tasman formula in mind, and in the capable hands of drivers like Brabham and Hulme will be a strong contender for the 1967 title.

At present it is not known what type of engine will power Clark’s Lotus. There is a possibility a 2.5-litre Cosworth Ford V 8 engine will be prepared in time, but it seems more likely the Lotus will be powered by either a 2.5-litre Repco unit or a 2litre B.R.M.

Clark, who won the Tasman championship the year before last, is regarded by many as the world’s leading driver, and at 29 he can look back on numerous Grand Prix wins, a win in the American Indianapolis 500 classic, and winning the world championship. The Scottish farmer has had most of his big successes with Lotus cars, and this will be his fourth appearance at Wigram. Last year he was eliminated by a crash when amongst the leaders when F. Gardner’s Brabham had brake failure and slid into Clark’s car.

Stewart, number two driver in the B.R.M. formula one team, is regarded as the man most likely to challenge Clark, given near-equal cars. This year Stewart has won the first Grand Prix of the European season, at Monaco, in a 2-litre V 8 B.R.M. similar to the one he will race here.

Stewart easily won the Tasman championship last year, and the 26-year-old Scot will undoubtedly be prominent in this year’s Tasman formula events.

Attwood is another rising young British star, who raced here last year in B.R.M.’s and

was often placed second behind Stewart. In Europe Attwood has done comparatively little formula one racing, concentrating on formula two and sports cars, making a name for himself in both. A steady, reliable and determined driver, he is a strong second man in the B.R.M. team.

Brabham, now aged 40, leads both the world drivers’ championship and the world constructors’ championship at the present time, and seems unlikely to be beaten in either. Twice a world champion, Brabham will almost certainly be world champion for the third time when he appears at Wigram. He will be the first driver to become world champion in a car of his own construction, and renowed as he is for wily tactics bred of long experience, will be a real threat in formula Tasman events. Hulme, number two man in the Brabham team, is a New Zealander who has gained an enviable reputation overseas as a fast, cool and dedicated driver. In recent months he has been virtually unbeatable in formula two races, in which he drives a Brabham, and in “big-banger” sports car races, in which cars powered by vast American V 8 engines are raced. These cars have so far proved faster on many circuits than the Grand Prix machines. Hulme has also appeared at Wigram before, and in the reliable Repco-Brabham is almost cartain to be well up amongst the leaders in international events here.