Top drivers at Ruapuna

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32838, 11 February 1972, Page 7

Top drivers at Ruapuna

Top saloon drivers from throughout New Zealand will race at the Canterbury Car Club’s Ruapuna Park circuit on Sunday when the Winfield national championship meeting is held.

Not only will the meeting include races counting towards the Bank of New South Wales national saloon championship, but also national Formula Ford championship races sponsored by Sockbum Motors, Ltd.

Motor-cycle enthusiasts will also be well catered for: there will be four 10lap motor-cycle events featuring such noted riders as G. Perry (T5OO Suzuki), T. Discombe (350 Yamaha) K. Turner (500 Suzuki), J. Landrebe (350 Yamaha), D. Wylie (500 Suzuki), B. Scully (750 Kawasaki), and W. Molloy (500 Kawasaki). The day’s racing will comprise 19 races for a total of more than $4600 in prize-money. There will be two 10-lap Formula Ford events, two 10-iap heats for each class of the Bank of New South Wales cars, plus races for sports-cars, openclass saloons, singleseaters, and the motorcycles.

The promoters report that entries for the meeting are particularly good, and those for the major saloon events include P.

Fahey (P.D.L. Mustang), R. Coppins (Camaro), . I. W. Dawson (Kensington Camaro), D. Dunlop (Mustang), J. Richards (Imp and Escort TC), D. Halliday (Escort TC), F. Fuller (Escort TC), the former South Islander R. Collingwood in his New Zealand-built and prepared Mini, B. Phillips and R. Cook (Minis), and A. Boyle in the Viva 2-litre.

The Formula Ford entry includes the championship leader and 1972 Gold Star champion D. Oxton, and B. Scobie, J. Murdoch, D. Teagle, D. Heney, and P. Sharp.

At the Timaru circuit last week-end the New South Wales saloon races and the Formula Ford events were the most exciting and spectacular on the programme, and on Sunday Christchurch enthusiasts

should see some first-class racing. The favourite in the Wales events is the former saloon champion P. Fahey, but he is likely to be strongly challenged on the tight Ruapuna circuit by the Camaro of D. Marwood, which should be repaired after its clutch failure last week-end. But all the big Camaros and Mustangs will have to watch the very fast and agile Escorts of Halliday and Richards, which gave

nothing away even on the fast Wigram circuit, and should have some advantage on Ruapuna. Oxton is likely to be a clear leader in the Formula Ford events, although there is no doubt Murdoch will be ready to assume the lead should Oxton make any errors. Much of the real competition is likely to be down in the field, and if the Timaru meeting is any guide, it could be very close.

There will be a full grid in the event for the openclass (0.5.C.A.) saloon cars, and in this race the favourites remain the tried and proven cars of A. Dickie (Anglia Corvette), R. McPhail (Lotus Farina), and L. Neilson (Mini S). But as the Timaru meeting last weekend showed, some of the newer cars are now reaching the stage of tune and reliability where they can hope to challenge the established leaders, and challenge them successfully.