Chch Contender For Speed-car Title

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31586, 25 January 1968, Page 9

Chch Contender For Speed-car Title

(By Our Speedway Reporter) The New Zealand midget car championship will be held at the Templeton Speedway on Saturday night and for the first time in more than a decade a Christchurch driver, the former multiple South Island speed-car champion, R. T. Hall, stands a chance of winning the major prize. Although Hall has had only a minimum of top-level racing in the last few years, he has used the time well, developing his home-built Repco-Holden powered midget to the point where it is now a serious championship contender. If the time and effort spent in preparing the car is any criterion, he must at least be in the running. Also, Hall’s great knowledge of local track conditions should stand him in good stead. Last winter Hall and his

associates re-built the car, a Taubmans Special, around a new chassis. Since then its performance has been phenominal. Not even E. Murray, another leading Christchurch driver, has been able to match it with his fast Zephyrpowered car; even at this stage of the season Hall has a commanding lead in the

South Island championship series. The championship has not been held in the South Island for more than 10 years, and if a Christchurch driver wins it on Saturday it should not be quite so long before the next one is held here. However, much will depend on the draw for grid positions

in the 12-lap final. If Hall draws a spot at the rear of the grid his task will be hopeless. Murray could also provide the prominent visiting drivers with unexpectedly strong opposition. He has proved himself to be just as fast as Hall but has lacked the consistency of his more experienced rival. Auckland Entries The $lOOO prize money has drawn six of the leading drivers from the Western Springs stadium in Auckland, including B. Tracy, who was runner-up in the 1968 world championship in his special fuel-injection Coventry Climax midget. Tracy is a driver of much experience. He was runner-up in the 1966-Brisbane midget car championship and the same season was second in the Australian stock car championship. His racing has not been confined to midgets and stock cars—in 1959 he won the Northland racing car hill climb championship. The present Auckland champion, R. Ross, has entered in his Australian-made McGee Holden. He won the New Zealand championship in 1965 and

was runner-up the next year. Last year he won the Brisbane 100-lap championship and the South Pacific championship.

Second In 1967 L. Vercoe, another strong challenger, driving a McGee Holden, will be hoping to improve on his second placing in the national championship last season. He was fifth in the recent world championship and holds the lap record at Western Springs stadium at 18sec. W. Jarden, a veteran from the Aranui days, will be driving his well-known Holden car. He is recovering from a serious crash less than a fortnight ago and may have the edge taken off his driving. He was third in the last two New Zealand championships and was runner-up in the 1967 South Pacific championship. Other drivers include W. Reid and B. Yates, who have both raced at Templeton nefore. Reid will drive his Con-sul-powered midget and Yates will appear in an unusual Daimler machine. The photograph shows Hall cornering on full power in his Immaculate midget