Brilliant N.Z. driver to race at Templeton on Saturday

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32783, 7 December 1971, Page 30

Brilliant N.Z. driver to race at Templeton on Saturday

A New Zealander who has established himself overseas as one of the world’s leading midget-car drivers, B. Butterworth, is to make a surprise appearance at the Templeton Speedway on Saturday night.

Now living in Sydney, where he has a thriving car sales business, Butterworth has returned to New Zealand for the speedway season because of a drivers’ strike in Queensland and New South Wales.

Temporarily based at the Western Springs speedway in

Auckland, he has been in tremendous form.

Next Saturday, he will be matched against the Templeton midget car drivers in the normal handicap and scratch events. But one extra feature —an eight-lap invitation scratch race—has been added to the programme. In this, Butterworth will meet the leading five Christchurch drivers. In Australia, Butterworth is one of the biggest drawcards in the sport His forceful driving over the years has earned him the nicknames of “Buttercrunch” and "Barry the Barger.” However, this is no reflection on his driving skill, which is unequalled in this country.

Butterworth began racing at the Western Springs Stadium in 1955, and before he moved to Australia he won the New Zealand midget car championship twice. He has now been racing in Australia for six years, and among the major events he has won are the South Australian championship, the

West Australian championship, and the New South Wales championship. He still holds the latter title and this year, before coming to New Zealand, he won the Jeff Freeman Memorial event—one of the big features on the midget car racing calender, and a major 50-lap race at the Liverpool Speedway. Only six weeks ago, he broke two track records at the Virginia Speedway in South Australia, and won the feature race. “No driver in Australia or New Zealand is in greater demand than Butterworth," the president of the Christchurch Speedway Association (Mr D. Richens), said yesterday after returning from a visit to Auckland where he had talks with the Western Springs promoter (Mr H. Arthur). “He is one of the greatest wheel twisters I have ever seen.”

Butterworth will be driving an American Offenhauser racer, built to the latest international specifications, on Saturday night

U.K. Rugby—Remit* of Rugby union matches In Britain were: Saracens 34, International XV 34. Knock-out competition: London Scottish 4, Harlequins 13.