Burt and Murray share midget-car title

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33154, 19 February 1973, Page 11

Burt and Murray share midget-car title

.. D t .'Y > l e * din 8 Christchurch drivers. E. A. Murray and M. nurt. nnisned first equal on points in the South Island midgetcar championship at the 1 empleton Speedway on Saturday night.

It was a fitting con-' elusion to the most t stimulating and enter- j taining island champion- * ship contest held for the i car class since races be- J gan at Templeton more ; than a decade ago. ■ : i The outcome was in doubt ' until the final heat had been J concluded, and even then only two penalty points i covered the first tour plac- ; tngs < 'there was a different winner i la each of the three eight-lap ; heats, and the leading contenders ( uere rarely more than a few'l feet apart Had a count-back been conducted, the title would have gone to Burt, who was the runner-up in the first race and finished on a particularly high < note, with a fine win in the final ( heat. But this would have been an unjust penalty to Murray, uho failed to win a single race, ■< but showed the benefits of consistency with a second and two'i thirds. Both Burt and Murray ended • the contest with eight points— . the aim being to score the least possible penalty points. Third place went to R. Clive, who lost . nine points after winning the first heat, and fourth went to , R. Mead, who lost 10. The other driver to win a heat was L. • Millar, who finally finished fifth i over-all. t TITLB NOT DEFENDED Unfortunately, the 1972 champion, J. McKitterick. did not defend his title ihe is at present ; in Australia*, and the driver who has won more south Island titles than anybody else. R. T. Hall,

uas also unexpectedly missing from the field. However, Hall at least bad some contribution to make towards the outcome of thei championship. The RepcoHolden power unit in Burt’s racer was the one which Hall I used for so long when he was the South Island champion. Hall’ sold the engine to Burt at the beginning of this season, and is now developing a Chevvy 11 unit. Both Burt and Murray have previously made an impression on the national speedway scene. Burt is a former New Zealand motor-cycle champion and Murray is a former winner of the national midget-car title. Both drivers will certainly be to the fore when the 1973 New’ Zealand title is decided at Templeton next Saturday night. SOUTH WINS The Cameron Motor Court: three-quarter midget-car interisland challenge match resulted' in an overwhelming win for the South, made up entirely of Templeton drivers. At the conclusion of the three eight-lap heats, the South Island had 183 points to the North’s 99. Generally, the Southern drivers were so superior that the contest could have only one possible outcome. The only North Island driver to be placed was G. Spargo- * Hauke’s Bay*. He was third in the second heat. The contest was a personal triumph for K. Stephens, who won all three of the eight-lap heats by convincing margins. However, he was one of the few Templeton drivers with excellent grid positions, and it was a disapointment to see the fastest of the South Island drivers, M. Williams. having to force his way through heavy traffic in each of the heats. 1

SHUTER WINS not chosen for the’< third test between New Zealand * , Great Britain at Auckland, : the former New’ Zealand repre- i sentatne motor-cyclist, F. : Shuter. displayed some of his 1 best form of the season to win:; tlie two main scratch races in h exceptionally fast times. In the!’ super-six event, he completely i■ out-paced his rivals to win in 7i.4sec—a time which is normally’ reserved for winners of world championsliips—and later had an ■ equally impressive win in the i Coca Cola invitation in 77.8 sec. regained his lead in the South Island super modified! sprint car championship when he!' won the 12 lap points race in! convincing fashion. P. Annan, i the pre-race leader, had to usei a borrowed machine after his 1 own had broken down and failed ■to finish in the first three. Results were:— CARS Cameron Motor Court threequarter midget car inter-island challenge ‘each heat eight laps). ;— F *rst beat: K. Stephens (£l.I k G- P»rr <S.I.) 2, M. Williams 'b.IA 3. Second heat: Stephens ■k-P- i ones lS I > 2 - G - Sparge 3. Time: 2:42.3. Third J‘ e < a ,-i,, stepl \ en \. R Burt <s.i.) 2. W lUiams 3. Time: 2:42.8. Final points: South Island 183. North Island 99. Three-quarter midget car feature scratch (10 laps).—R. Burt! 1, G. Spargo 2, K. Stephens 3. Time. 3:42.2 (record). South Island midget car cham-l pionship (each heat 8 laps).— ! First heat: R. Clive 1, M. Burr 2. E. Murray 3. Time, 2:41. Sec-1 ond heat: L. Millar 1, Murray 2,1 R. Mead 3. Time. 2:34.2. Third i heat: Burt, 1, Mead 2, Murray 3. Time, 2:33. Final placing*: Burt ■ and Murray 1 (equal), Clive 3,! Mead 4.

Supermodified sprint car! events. —Raceway Spares handicap (8 laps): J. Erikson (70yd) 1, D. Smith (90yd) 2, S. Everett (110 yd 3. Time, 2:46.2. Ferry Road Service Station feature (10 laps): B. Tulett 1, S. Everett 2, M. Allan’ i 3. Time, 3:22. South Island championship points race (12 laps): i Tulett 1. Everett 2. M. Bellan 3. Time, 4:1.7. MOTOR-CYCLES Novice solo handicap events (4laps).—First race: N. Stackhouse; (20yd) 1, B. Weastell (50yd) 2, G. Humphries (10yd) 3. Time. 1:50.1. Second race: R. Brown (go) 1, Weastell (50yd) 2, N. Smith (40yd) ;3. Time, 1:46.7. B grade solo handicap events (4 laps'.—First race: S. Woods (50yd) 1, E. Bryan (50yd) 2, T. Jemmett (30yd) 3. Time, 92.0. Second race: P. Ewings (40yd) 1, B. Read (40yd) 2. Time, 97.0. Third race: R. Austin (50yd) 1, E. Bry an (40yd) 2, M. Ritchie (20yd) 3. Time. 92.2, Fourth race: B. Read (40yd) 1, S. Woods (60yd) 2. G. Omsby (40yd) 3. Time. 36.2. B grade solo scratch events (4 laps).—First race: M. Richie 1, G. Ornsby 2, T. Jemmett 3. Time, 92.0. Second race: B. Read 1, E. Bryan 2, T. Jemmett 3. Time, 90.6. A grade solo handicap events (4 laps*.—First race: L. Ross (go) 1, S. Foster (70yd) 2, R. Austin (20yd) 3. Time, 87.3. Second race: G. Stew’art (30yd) 1, P. Fewings (go) 2, F. Shuter (90yd) 3. Time, 88.6. Third race: M. Brown (40yd) 1. Foster (80yd) 2, Austin (20yd) 3. Time, 83.5. Fourth race: Shuter !(90yd) 1, P. Fewings (go) 2, G. Rhodes (70yd) 3. Time, 81.0. i A grade solo scratch events (4 ■ laps).—First race: G. Stewart 1, P. Fewings 2. M. Brown 3. Time. 84.6. Super six: F. Shuter 1, S’. Foster 2. G. Rhodes 3. Time, 77.4. :Coca Cola invitation: Shuter 1, D. Sincock 2. G. Rhodes 3. Time, 77.8.