P.D.L TEAM CONFIDENT

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33046, 13 October 1972, Page 16

P.D.L TEAM CONFIDENT

The 1972-73 motorracing season will be the most important to date for the PJ).L. racing team. In addition to defending the Bank of New South Wales saloon car champion-: ship, the Christchurchbased team has entered a car in the highly competitive national Formula Ford series. The cars entered are the! P.D.L. Ford Mustang driven by Aucklander P. Fahey, outright winner of last year’s, championship, and the Titan! under the control of the experienced Christchurch: driver G. Baker. Team manager, Mr R. H. Stewart and chief mechanic L. Williamson are both confident that the entries will be hard to beat. “Our experience with the P.D.L. Mustang, both here in New Zealand and in Australia, gives us an edge over any other competitor and with the championship to defend we will be trying just that little harder. But we have also amassed a great deal of experience with other cars and we believe we can put this to good use when racing the Titan,” said Mr Stewart. Although the Mustang will look the same to spectators, it has undergone a complete overhaul since last season. Three new engines have been built tenuse in the car and greater attention has been paid to its handling qualities. P.D.L. chief mechanic, L. Williamson already has the Mustang in top condition. Fahey, who travelled from Auckland last week-end to test the car, was well satisfied with its performance. It will receive a further test at Ruapuna this Saturday prior to the first race of the series on Sunday. The Titan too is in good condition for the coming season. In the first of the thirteen race series, which began at Pukekohe last Sunday, Baker set a new lap record and with two third places he finished second over-all. The 10-race Bank of New South Wales saloon car championship will be conducted along similar lines to last year. The series will end with a race at Pukekohe on Sunday, April 29. The Formula Ford championship will end with a race at Bay Park on Sunday, April 22. During the season the P.D.L. Mustang is expected to face a further challenge to its supremacy when international saloon car champions from America, England and Australia bring their cars to New Zealand for a special series of races. TOP RIGHT.—The P.D.L. Mustang as it appeared last week in a city garage.