Bryce Platt on top at Ruapuna

Press, 24 November 1980, Page 3

Bryce Platt on top at Ruapuna

Brvce Platt, of Auckland, dominated the first round of the New Zealand Shellsport 2-litre saloon! championship series yesterdaj - at I Ruapuna. , I His immaculately prepared Fountain Escort 1600 was unbea-! table in both races. The expected, strong competition from the Sanyo Datsun Sunny, of another I Auckland driver, Reg Coon, did! not happen. , . , , Instead, Platt’s closest rivals were Rov Harrington (Auckland, Escort 1600) and Grant Aitken (Dunedin. Datsun) who duelled for second and third places in both events. , , , The two Christchurch drivers, Brvan Hessey (Datsun 1300) and .Mark Rutherford (Escort 1600) enjoved moderate success in the 10-car field before a small crowd and ended in fifth and sixth places respectively over all On points. In both of the 10-lap races Platt had the pole position, having clocked an extremely fast 46.6 s in practice. . > In race one Platt made a great start from the flag-fall into the strong nor-westerly and reached the hairpin tailed so closely by Rutherford that they touched and Rutherford lost control for a moment, allowing Harrington to slip into second place. It was at the hairpin, too, that Reg Cook and John Armstrong (Dunedin, Escort) had a more serious collision. The Escort had panel damage, and four laps later CoOk retired with gearbox trouble. . Platt had by then established a 100-metre lead from Harrington and drove faultlessly throughout. Interest centred on the battle for third and fourth between Rutherford and Aitken. By lap seven Aitken was on Rutherford’s bumper and managed to slip past him by lap eight for third place, a second behind Harrington. Further down the field, Armstrong and Ken Sager (Palmerston North, Datsun' 120 Y), interchanged sixth and seventh places freely. \ But with only a lap to go Armstrong jammed his gearbox into neutral and coasted to a stop. In race two Platt was fortunate to clear the hairpin after he tangled with Rutherford in the first lap. Rutherford spun, and lost his chance of a good placing, but Platt recovered quickly anti was never passed. At that corner Sager struck the concrete wall, and had to retire with damaged suspension. This time, interest centred on the struggle for second place between the Datsuns of Ryan and Aitken. Aitken stayed on Ryan’s tail for most of the race, with Cook 100 metres or so behind and Harrington just behind him. With only a lap to go, and Platt with a commanding three second lead, Aitken and Ryan touched on the sweeping 3ZM curve and Ryan was knocked back from second to fifth. Aitken took second place, followed closely by Cook. Points after the first two heats of the SheUsport series: Platt 18, Harrington and Aitken 10, Ryan 4, Cook and Rutherford 3, Sager and Hessey 1. , , The next round of the Shellsport series will be held at the Levels raceway, Timaru, next week-end. Platt is cautious about the outcome,' because although his car is in top order the tighter track at Timaru could well even out the odds. Ten cars took part In the Formula Ford events, which were dominated by Jeff Pascoe ■ and Ross Noble, who won a race apiece. Keith • Laney, last year’s national winner, could manage only a fourth and a fifth in the closely-contested races.

In the production saloon races Jiin Little’s Len Clark Panelbeater’s E 49 Charger (4300 cu cm) made easy work of the other 19 competitors. Bryan Prestridge tXU Torana 3.100) and Gary Hartstongc (RX3, 1100) were the run-ners-up. and did well to hold off the XU Torana of Graham Jenkins. who finished third in both races.