Cars hold promise

Press, 4 March 1978, Page 6

Cars hold promise

By

JOHN FRIDD

Trevor Crowe, of Christchurch, would probably have won the 1977-78 Shellsport two-litre saloon series if he had raced in every round — and he will have another chance to prove this tomorrow in the two Shellsport races at Ruapuna. Crowe has raced in only one North Island round, but has had so much success in his little Chung Wah Datsun coupe that he is third equal on the points table with Grant Aitken (Dunedin), in a similar car.

Reg Cook, of Auckland, dominated the series in his Datsun Cherry early in the season and now has 89 points, 10 ahead of the hard-charging Bryce Platt (Auckland, Skerry (Escort 1600 TC). Crowe and I Aitken have 46 each. ( With nine points going to | the winner of each heat. {Crowe has the chance of edging ahead of Aitken tomorrow, and Platt has a chance to get ahead of Cook if the talkative Aucklander has trouble with his car. Cook had flywheel trouble in the last round, at Timaru, and scored only a fourth in two heats. But he has done a lot of work on the car and hopes to be very competitive at Ruapuna. Platt, if any, will have the advantage on the fast Ruapuna circuit, as his Escort has a little more power than the Datsuns. However, both Crowe and Aitken know the circuit intimately, which could make up for this. Crowe knew he was going to win at Timaru, but he is not making any predictions about Ruapuna. “If I finish in the first four I’ll be happy,” he said, conjuring up visions of two frantic four-car battles tomorrow.

Big-car action will be provided by the first meeting this season of Leo Leonard (Torro Toys PDL Mustang II) and Jack Nazer (Auckland, [Cossack Victor) in two sixilap handicap races. Leonard, [who has just discarded his [crutches after a hunting ac-

cident, will probably be given a stiffer handicap than Nazer and will have to go under the lap record to make it to the finish before the volatile Aucklander. Another PDL-built car. the PDL Mustang of Christchurch’s Dave Baker, will probably have an interesting race with Bill Leckie (Sleepyhead Capri), who now has a five-litre motor and could even push Nazer and Leonard. A third North Islander appearing is Kevin McNamara (Cologne Capri), who ; has proved very fast in a

GTX Camaro. Lawrie Bruce, of Christchurch, has just finished improving his brutish Camaro and should not be discounted. Neither should Alex Dickie, if he appears in his Victor Chev. A special feature of the meeting will be a vintage car race, which is expected to draw about 12 entries. The scheduled Foiroula Ve« round at Ruapuna has been cancelled, as the Vee association felt that insufficient cars would be brought down from the North Island.