McMillan triumphs in second-choice car

Press, 12 January 1981, Page 16

McMillan triumphs in second-choice car

By

THEO VAN DONGEN

David McMillan, driving his second-choice car with an engine that had not been raced in for almost a year, won the New Zealand Grand Prix at Pukekohe on Saturday.

It was 36-year-old McMillan’s first Grand Prix win at Pukekohe, although he is the defending Aurora A.F.X. Formula Pacific champion. His first and third placirigs in the two neats gave him 16 points, one ahead of a very consistent David Oxton, whose Ralt RT4 took him to second place twice. Steve Millen, last year’s winner, whose Ralt RT4 was the fastest car on Saturday, was rewarded in part after suffering a victory-robbing broken oil line in the first heat. He was able to scorch to victory in the second heat, four seconds r* Oxton, and 20 seconds ahead (representing a third o< „, e 2.Bkm circuit) of McMillan. But it was definitely McMillan’s day after difficulties last week, including a

crash during practiced on Friday. He lost control of his Ralt RT4 at the bend before the back straight and struck a bank. He was forced to “blow off the cobwebs” from his old Ralt RTI, which had not been raced since March, and his decision to use his old car proved crucial to his success in the first heat„ The first 30-lap heat began spectacularly, when seconds after the start, Dave Saunders’ March 778 rode up over the Surtees TSIS of Rex Hart. Fortunately, the cars were at the back of the grid, because Saunders’ car cartwheeled along the track in front of the packed grandstands, and skidded about 30m upside down, dragging Saunders’ helmeted head along the tarmac. Hart’s Surtees was catapulted into the crash barrier, and became wedged.

Bdth drivers were virtually . unscathed. Saunders cut his hand and suffered a sore neck, arid Hart was merely shaken.

The race was delayed for 20 minutes, and when the

flag fell-.again Oxton got off to a.flying start. Millen soon overtook him and started to increase his lead ‘ from McMillan, who had also slipped by Oxton. A broken oil line on lap 17, however, put Millen out of contention, in spite of his flying lap times up to then, one of which — 58.8 seconds— was only 0.2 s outside the lap record. McMillan and Oxton, meanwhile, fought closely . for second place. Both spun out briery in lap nine near the hairpin when McMillan lost control and Oxton had to brake hard. McMillan’s older Ralt had a tighter turning circle than Oxton’s RT 4, arid he was able to get his car back on the circuit sooner. ■

i Oxton -had to drop to fifth, behind Rob Wilson (Britain, March 80A) and Charlie . O’Brien (Australia, Ralt RT4,) but he took up the pursuit again aggressively.

By lap 16 Oxton had pushed past O’Brien and was hard on Wilson’s car’s tail. Lap 17 was ; crucial, with Millen’s unfortunate retirement, and Oxton’s passing of Wilson., Oxtori had only McMillah to catch, and he tried . hard. He closed relentlessly, from being six seconds down when Millen retired to only two seconds at the finish. .

McMillan discovered at the end of the race that he had lost his engine cover somewhere along, the track, and this did not help his car’s handling capabilities.

For Wilson it was an unfortunate race. With, three laps to go and in third place, he had to stop with an electrical fault. He missed a gear at the beginning of the race, and lost a lot of ground. His March 80A did not have the power to make up the distance; “It’s a bit slow down the straight,” he said after the race, “but it’s handling nicely.” The rest of the field, including John Smith (Australia, Match 778), O’Brien and Adrian Reynard (Britain, Budas) were well spread by the leader. O’Brien’s fourth place was a creditable effort in view of his inexperience. He also managed fifth in the second heat. Ken Smith (March 798) was less fortunate; he dropped out of fourth position early in the first race with carburettor trouble and blew his engine head gasket in the second heat.

In heat two, Millen scorched from the grid, chased by. Oxton, who spent the next 30 mlnutns and 84 kilometres keeping the distinctive orange and black Rail in sight. But he cOuld not catch

Millen who had no other real competition. . Even. -. McMillan could not find form, -and trailed Millen by 20 seconds; and Oxton by 16. ■ , ' • Interest in that heat centred on the battle for minor placings involving John Smith, • O’Brien, Wilson, Grant Campbell (Chevron 839). and Reynard. Reynard and Campbell spent most of. the : race-fighting for sixth place, with, Campbell having the -upper. hand except for lap 27 When Reynard slipped by on the -main' straight. Reynard was just-in time because his rear suspension collapsed as •he crossed the line.

Millen, a clear winner, was hot crenelated after the race. He said he was dissatisfied that riot enough overseas. .drivers had competed. He wanted his own driving to have been tested properly; the competition had not been hard enough, he. said. . Points to the end of. the New Zealand Grand Prix in the Aurora ■ A.F.X. series: Millen 30, Oxtori 28L McMillan 26, K. Smith 14.- Reynard . 12, J, . Smith 11, O’Brien and Campbell 9J. In the two Shellsport saloon races, Bryce Platt (Fountain Escort)- and Reg Cook (Sanyo Sunny) had a . win apiece. Cook won ; the first race from Don Hallidayl (Escort) by a bumper, after Platt hit a bank near , the back straight. . In the Formula Ford events Jeff Pascoe (Swift), of Blenheim, set a new lap record of Imin B.ls for the class, being beaten narrowly by Walter York. He was again beaten Only fractionally in the second race by Lou Scholium (Van Diemen).

Trevor Crowe, of Christchurch, put on a one-man show for the crowd, and won the prize for the most entertaining drive of the day when his little Toyota Starlet, although handicapped by 90 seconds, managed to power through a mixed field of much bigger saloons in six laps. He managed the feat again in the second race, due to his expert driving and the car’s outsize power plant — a four litre V 8 engine. Results:

Aurora A.F.X. New Zealand Grand Prix, heat one. — McMillan 1, (elapsed time 30:06.4), Oxton 2 (30:07.4), J. Smith 3 (30:22.0), O’Brien 4 (30:25.3), Reynard 5 (30:39.3) Campbell 6 (30:45.4). Heat two.— Millen 1 (29:38.6). Oxton 2 (29:42.4), McMillan 3 (29:59.6), J. Smith 4 (30:05.9'. O’Brien 5 (30:24.9), Wilson 6 (31:00.1).

' Points at Pukekohe: McMillan 16, Oxton 15, J. Smith 11, Millen 10, C. O’Brien 9, Reynard 6, Campbell, Wilson 4. Shellsport saloons, race one.— R. Cook (Datsun Sunny) 1, D. Halliday (Escort) 2, K. Ryan (Dat : sun 160 J) 3, G. Aiken (Datsun Sunny) 4, M. Moore (Escort) 5, J. Armstrong (Escort) 6. Race two.— Platt 1, Halliday 2, Aiken 3, S. Lush (Datsun) 4, Cook 5, W. Steel (Datsun) 6.

Shellsport points: Cook 50, Platt 37. Ryan 30, Aiken 24, R. Harrington 20, Halliday 18. Formula Ford, race one.— W. York (Titan) 1, J. Pascoe (Swift) 2, W. Galloway (Lola) 3, L. Scholium (Van Diemen) 4. B. Airey 5, L. Vandermeer 6. Race two.— Scholium t, Pascoe 2, York 3, I Vandermeer 4, S. Cameron I (Titan) 5, Galloway 6.