Reliability key to Ryan’s O.S.C.A. win

Press, 1 May 1978, Page 3

Reliability key to Ryan’s O.S.C.A. win

By

JOHN FRIDD

A big car with lots of horsepower is no substitute for reliability. This was illustrated at Levels, Timaru, yesterday when Kevin Ryan, of Timaru, won the Open Saloon Car Association’s championship in his Californian Chicken Escort BDD, which is powered by a 1600 cu cm twin-cam motor.

Dave Baker, of Christchurch, appeared the man to beat at the start of the season when he resurrected the spectacular PDL Mustang I, but Baker failed to finish in one race, whereas Ryan finished every race, and was usually in the top three.

Even more surprising was the fact that Trevor Crowe, of Christchurch, ended the season in second place. His little Lichfield Motors Datsun 1300 coupe was badly underpowered compared with the cars of Baker and Ryan, but he kept plugging away at the big cars all season, forcing them into error with his brilliant style and finishing highly in manyraces.

Ryan won the championship with 145 points, Crowe was second with 138 and Baker third with 136. The feature race at Levels yesterday, the 15-lap O.S.C.A. final, was the highlight of the day. Alec Dickie (Christchurch, Victor Chev) got the jump in the first corner and led Baker, Ryan, Inky Tullock (Mataura, Camaro), Frank Ryan (Te Anau, Capri V 8), Barry , Vuyk (Dunedin, Sunbeam Stiletto) and Crowe for the first two laps. By lap three Baker was pushing Dickie to the limit, with Kevin Ryan sitting safely in third place, and Crowe had finally got past Vuyk after a bit of panel contact.

Crowe flung his Datsun around the tight circuit’s corners with abandon to close right up on Frank Ryan and Tulloch, but their superior V 8 power told on the straight and they held him out for the time being. On lap five Baker swept past Dickie on the back straight and took a lead he was never to relinquish. Meanwhile, Crowe had outbraked Tulloch and slipped past. On the eighth lap-Crowe brilliantly outbraked Frank Ryan into the start-finish

corner and kept ahead into the Castrol sweeper, and then set out after Kevin Ryan, who was nervously holding third, hoping to finish and wrap up the championship. On lap nine Dickie suddenly slowed and stopped, as the timing chain on his car’s engine had broken, and a grateful Kevin Ryan inherited second place. By lap 10 Baker was seven seconds ahead of Ryan.l with Crowe closing fast in third place. Baker won the race by 10s from Ryan, with Crowe third, Frank Ryan fourth and Tulloch fifth; Tulloch crossed the line in a spectacular sideways slide, after trying desperately to pass Frank Ryan on the last corner.

Baker made no bones about the O.S.C.A. A and B ciass race, winning comfortably from Kevin Ryan and Dickie, Tulloch and Frank Ryan. Christy Morris (Christchurch, Chilli Bags Mustang) held fourth place for a time but his motor erupted in a cloud of smoke on the back straight during the race.

Crowe, as expected, romped away with the C class race, although Vuyk led for two laps before succumbing to the little yellow Datsun. John Dymand (Christchurch, Motormarket Datsun (Coupe) and Bamie Poschich (Chch, Capri Motors Corolla) had a grand battle for third, and this suddenly became a battle for second on lap four when Vuyk retired with broken points. Crowe won the race by 12s from Dymand and Poschich, with Gary Love (Christchurch, Escort 2000) fourth and Austin Prattley (Pro-ski Mini) fifth. The first race in the South Island production saloons produced plenty of drama. Jim Little, of St Andrews,

making a comeback in his Charger E 49, took a good lead from the start, but had to pit for a few seconds halfway through to have a new fuel-tank cap fitted. This let Barry Lloyd (Ashburton, Falcon XA GT) through to the lead, with John Stuthridge (Christchurch, Torana XUI) second. On the last lap Little had come right back up through the field and was pressuring Stuthridge. On the Rothmans sweeper he edged around the outside of the Torana, and the pressure was too much for .Stuthridge, and he slid off the track on to the inside. However, Stuthridge roared back' on to the track to take third place. Lloyd won the race, with Little second.

Little comfortably won the second heat, from Lloyd and Stuthridge. Barrv Dryden (Wanaka, Datsun 120 Y SSS) won the small-car class in both heats. Final O.S.C.A. points:— Over-all.—K. Ryan 145, Crowe 138, Baker 136, Vuyk 110, J. Mclntyre (Gore, Cortina V 8) 109, D. Waldron (Christchurch, Escort 2000 turbo) 81. Tulloch 72, Dymand and B. Heasy (Christchurch. Stud Escort) 69, Poschich 63.

Classes.—A (4500-6000 cu cm): Baker 57, Mclntyre 31. Morris 19. B (2000-4500): K. Ryan 72 (maximum), Waldron 42, J. Haszard (Dunedin, Raro Mazda RX3) 26. C (up to 2000): Crowe 69, Vuyk 45, Dymand 23.