Big pile-up at Manfeild

Press, 28 November 1977, Page 32

Big pile-up at Manfeild

PA Wellington The Castrol six-hour production motor-cycle race began with a spectacular pile-up and ended with an angry protest at Manfeild yesterday. Between times Graeme Crosby once again proved

i himself the top New Zealand ■ production racer, riding his : Kawasaki ZlOOO, to his third • successive victory in the i race. I Crosby and his Australian co-rider, Tony Hattan, led: i from the start and were I headed only once, when they

made their first stop for fuel. Crosby broke the lap record and won by a lap from the Lower Hutt rider, Dave Hiscock, who rode the ' marathon alone on his Suzuki GS7SO. As the 65 machines in the race dragged off from the start line, a dozen riders tangled and fell. A fire began but was quickly put out. The race was stopped while ambulance men tended to hurt riders. One of the favourites, Peter Stark, had his shoulder

dislocated in the pile up, but no other rider suffered) serious injury. The Austra-i lian, Rick Walden, who was also eliminated, said that too many riders had been allowed to start the race. Kawasaki representatives later lodged a protest against Hiscock’s bike. Bitterness apparently developed between the Kawasaki and Suzuki camps, as Kawasaki earlier protested Hiscock’s bike after his victories at New Lynn. The bike was then found to be standard.