Surprise Appearance By Midget-Car Champion

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31222, 21 November 1966, Page 15

Surprise Appearance By Midget-Car Champion

The surprise return to competition of the South Island midget car champion, R. T. Hall, in his rebuilt Taubmans Special created considerable interest at the Templeton Speedway on Saturday night and introduced a welcome note of uncertainty into the present championship series.

The car, which has been substantially altered since it won the title last season, was not expected to be ready for racing for about another month and its arrival in the pits, complete with a gleaming new coat of blue and white paint, was unheralded.

Its appearance was the result of many sleepless nights in the last week for its driver-con-structor and his assistants. They stopped work on the car at 3 a.m. on Saturday and were still applying the finishing touches at home when the meeting got under way. However, the effort was worthwhile. Hall had time only for a few practice laps before the main eight-lap feature race for South Island championship points—-insufficient really to get the feel of the car. However, he quickly settled into second place after skilfully threading his way through a mix-up on the first bend and retained his position with ease until the finish.

He was never a threat to the winner, R. Clive, who now has 14 points in the championship, 11 ahead of his nearest challenger, but the potential he showed in the car placed a new complexion on the title series. Although Hall has missed four meetings, he could still overtake Clive if he gets the “bugs” sorted out quickly. Considering that the RepcoHolden motor was not run in, his performance on Saturday was very satisfactory. “It was very tight and overheating badly,” Hall said after the race. “I did not know whether to bring it or not, but I thought if I could gather in a few championship points while I am running the car in so much the better,” he said. The car no longer has the independent suspension which made it unique in the Southern Hemisphere. Brown Wins A highlight of the motorcycle racing was the brilliant form of A. Brown, who clearly demonstrated that his fine win in the feature scratch race the previous week had been no isolated performance. He again won the feature scratch race in the outstanding time of 80.9 sec, only a fraction of a second slower than his time the previous week. A former New Zealand champion, M. Burt, tried hard to force Brown into error. He made ground on the flying leader in the opening laps but a tremendous third lap of 19.6 sec by Brown put the issue beyond doubt. Burt, riding to the limit of his ability, struck trouble in a wet patch on the north bend and the valuable yards he lost

extricating himself aggravated his position. In a second four-lap scratch race, the English rider, H. Cole, was beaten out of the first bend by two local riders, T. Black and W. Moulin, and never looked like regaining the lead. He slowed right down half-way through the race with motor trouble and cruised at a walking pace to the finish for third place. He showed his disgust to the crowd by parking the troublesome machine across the start-finish and walking off.

It was later reported to the control box that the motor had started to seize. The race was won by Moulin in 82.4 sec.

One of the most disappointed competitors in the threequarter midget class must have been J. McKitterick. He led the eight-lap scratch race for South Island championship points for almost seven laps before his gearbox exploded, peppering his legs with red-hot metal.

The car ran to a stop at the start-finish and he had to be helped out of the car by St. John Ambulance men. Fortunately, his overalls had prevented serious injury and he was able to walk away after treatment. Had he finished the race he would have gained maximum points and been level with D. Richens at the head of the table. J. Annan won the stock rod feature with relative ease. His brother, P. Annan, held off the South Island champion, D. Cameron, until it was too late for him to make any impression on the leader. Results were: MOTOR-CYCLES

Solo Handicap Events (four laps).—Opening race: I. Begbie (40yd) 1, T. Black (120 yd 2, W. Moulin (110 yd 3. Time, 91.0. Second race: H. Cole (150 yd 1, T. Shearer (80yd) 2, M. Burt (130 yd 3. Time, 91.2. Third race: G. Ray (80yd) 1, R. Wright (110 yd 2, .R. Marks (go) 3. Time, 91.5. Fourth race: W. Moulin (110 yd 1, H. Cole (150 yd 2, M. Burt (130 yd 3. Time, 89.6. Fifth race: G. Ray (80yd) 1, R. Marks (go) 2, C. Glasson (40yd) 3. Time, 90.7. Sixth race: A. Brown (130 yd 1, H. Cole (150 yd 2, T. Mauger (120 yd 3. Time, 87.5. Solo Scratch Race (four laps).—First event: A. Brown 1, M. Burt 2, R. Wright 3. Time, 80.9. Second event: W. Moulin I, T. Black 2, H. Cole 3. Time, 84.4.

S-idecar Combinations.—Opening handicap (three laps): R. Winstone (rider) and K. Perkins (passenger (go), 1; W. Philp and B. Savage (60yd) 2; I. Begbie and D. Harper (60yd) 3. Second handicap (three laps): Philp and Savage (20yd) 1; Begbie and Harper (go) 2; Winstone and Perkins (go) 3. Time, 74.0. Third handicap (three laps): Philp and Savage (40yd) 1; Winsitone and Perkins (go) 2; Begbie and Harper (10yd). 3. Time, 74.8. MIDGET CARS

Three-quarter Midget Racing Cars.—Opening handicap (four laps): D. Harper (130 yd 1, D.

Jones (80yd) 2, J. McKitterick (140 yd 3. Time, 92.4. Second handicap (six laps): D. Jones (90yd) 1, J. McKitterick (160 yd 2, G. Roxburgh (160 yd 3. Time, 2:17.4. Feature scratch race for South Island championship points (eight laps): D. Jones 1, D. Harper 2. Time, 3:8. Progress points: D. Richens 8, D. Harper 6, J. McKitterick 5, D. Jones 4. , Full-size Midget Cars.—Opening handicap (four laps): R. Clive (150 yd 1, G. Tiekink (130 yd 2, R. Mead (150 yd 3. Time, 90.2. Second handicap (six laps): R. Clive (160 yd 1, G. Roxburgh (60yd) 2, G. Tiekink (130 yd 3. Time, 2:13.6. Feature scratch race for South Island championship points (eight laps): R. Clive 1, R. T. Hall 2, G. , Tiekink 3. Time, 2:53.3. Progress points: R. Clive 14, G. Tiekink 3, N. Hawkins 3. R. Mead 3, G. Roxburgh 3, R. T. Hall 2. STOCK RODS Stock Rod Events.—First handicap (four laps): D. Cameron (120 yd 1, P. Annan (120 yd 2, W. Rusbridge (120 yd 3. Time, 99.4. Second handicap (six laps): D. Cameron (130 yd 1, J. Annan (150 yd 2, W. Rusbridge (130 yd 3. Time, 2:24.5. Feature scratch race for South Island championship points (eight laps): J. Annan 1, D. Cameron 2, P. Annan 3. Time, 2:58.6. Progress points: D. Cameron 9, J. Annan 9, P. Annan 7. HAGLEY.— Bisque bogey A grade: H. D. McGregor, 3 up: M. K. Russell, all square. B grade: A. Praed, 8 up; G. D. Bradley, 6 up; H. B. Bull, 6 up; D. W. Rowe, 6 up; K. Smith, 5 up; C. B. Cocks, 5 up; G. F. Ball, 5 up.