Dull day, bright racing

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33538, 20 May 1974, Page 3

Dull day, bright racing

The Sct;.'i Canterbury [Car Club meeting ai Tirnaru produced some of the most interesting racing of the season in I cold threatening weai ther.

The club ran two races foi its own championship, and [although members drove cars [of varying capability with 'various degrees of skill these proved to be the most popular races of the day. [ W. Murdoch (Tirnaru) [showed it was the driver and I not the car that wins races when, in a Datsun 1200. he was second to A. Farr (Fiat 124) in the scratch event and then fought his way through a field of 14 cars to win the 10-lap handicap event after starting more than half a lap behind the first cars. | Although 13 cars started in the sports-car events the I only drivers to make races lof it were F. Bray (Auckland) in his 1764 c.c. Bray, IM. Baker (Christchurch, 1 Heron 1600 c.c.), and R. I Noble (Christchurch, 1600 c.c. :Noble). Unfortunately N. Bisi man’s Begg suffered a broken I oil pump in practice and did [not start. But the racing beI tween the first three was ex- [ tremely close, and Noble,' particularly, was tenacious. Bray won the Brent Hawes Memorial Trophy. FINE DRIVING In the Ace-O.S.C.A. races [the present champion. C. Col-' tins (Christchurch, Cortina- ! Mustang) won a five-lap heat [and the 15-lap final, and drove brilliantly for third in i a farewell race of five laps in which the fastest cars ■ started from the back of the [grid. I A. Woolf (Auckland) in the I Halliday Escort, drove as fast as expected and headed off Collins and L. Bruce (Tirnaru,! Mustang) for the first few laps of the 15-lap race. He was fourth, but only two sec-, onds separated the first four cars at the finish.

O. Galbraith recovered from a bad start to beat more than 30 riders in the halfhour production motor-cycle race.