Aust. races for Fangio

Press, 17 August 1978, Page 20

Aust. races for Fangio

Juan Manuel Fangio, five times world motorracing champion, is at last to race in Australasia. Fangio will drive one of the famous Mercedes-Benz W196 “Silver Arrow” cars at the Australian Grand Prix at Sandown, Melbourne, on September 10. The champion of the fifties will lend a nostalgic note to the fiftieth Australian G. P. as he races in two events for classic racing cars. Fangio is third on the list of all-time motor* racing greats with 24 wins, behind Jackie Stewart (27) and the late Jim Clark (25). The Maestro, now aged 67 and president of Mer-cedes-Benz Argentina, says he "likes to get on a racing circuit from time to time”. "Mercedes-Benz and the Sandown organisers, the Light Car Club of Australia. have arranged for me to drive a Mercedes W196 grand prix car — one of the famous silver arrows that gave me two of my five world championships. The car is being prepared by MercedesBenz in Stuttgart, Germany, and will be

flown to Melbourne,” he eaid. Fangio was 40 when he won his first world chamionship in 1951 — just two years after completing his first full season of grand prix racing in Europe. He won the championship in 1954 and 1955 — both times in the Mercedes W196 — and again in 1956 and 1957. Fangio retired from racing in July 1958, having won every world-ranking grand prix. In a 200-race career spanning events from South American road racing in souped-up stock cars over roads no better than mule tracks to the heady, razor-edge world of grand prix single-seaters, Fangio won 78 times, was placed 69 times and retired 53 times. He set lap records at every track on which he raced. * * • New car club A Canterbury branch has been formed of the New Zealand Post Vintage Car Club. Meetings will be held at the Heathcote Valley Scout Hall on the second Monday of every month at 8 pun.