33 FAVOURITES FOR “INDY”

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31383, 31 May 1967, Page 17

33 FAVOURITES FOR “INDY”

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter —Copyright) INDIANAPOLIS. Any one of the 33 starters, five of them international grand prix drivers, who can stay out of trouble and keep his car going for the 200 laps, can win the fifty-first Indianapolis 500-mile race today. This is the opinion among the Indianapolis experts, the people who spend an entire year and millions of dollars

preparing for the American classic. , They say that pickings a ■ favourite is next to impossible because never before in • Indianapolis history has a 1 faster field assembled to meet the starter’s green flag on the i 2j-mile oval. , The average speed of the ! 33 cars in qualifying races 1 was a record-breaking 164.173 1 miles an hour—almost 4 m.p.h. faster than last year’s t 160.251 m.p.h. ( Fastest was the Italian- ‘ born M. Andretti, who won the 1 pole position in his Ford- s powered Brawner by averag- t ing 168.982 m.p.h. in his 10- ' mile qualification run. t

The field includes four former winners—G. Hill, of England (1966), J. Clark, of Scotland (1965), and Americans A. J. Foyt (1961 and 1964) and P. Jones (1963). Adding international flavour to the event are the grand prix drivers—Hill, Clark, J. Stewart (Scotland), D. Hulme (New Zealand), and J. Rindt (Austria). But for the first time in three years the grand prix drivers appear to be at a disadvantage. Clark, who qualified his Lotus-powered Ford i at 163.213 m.p.h., is in six- ' teenth position in the sixth row—the best starting spot of I the five.

Adding additional zest to the race is the revolutionary STP Prat and Whitney turbine car driven by Jones. Last Friday, in the final practice session, Jones effortlessly drove the fiery orangered turbocar past Andretti and J. Leonard on the same lap and caused consternation among the other drivers. It was the first time that all of the qualifying drivers had been on the track running at racing speed with the turbocar, and many of them complained that the heat from its exhaust caused visibility problems. The race is the richest in the world and the winner is likely to earn $150,000.