American duo beaten again

Press, 2 March 1981, Page 21

American duo beaten again

The Christchurch saloon team of Doug Smith and Tony Cardwell gave the American drivers Billy Clarkson and Dave Skaggs, '.their second loss in a s many weeks when they won the Hurst Car Wreckers sprint series by 25 points to 16 at Woodford Glen Speedway on Saturday evening. In spite of the loss, Clarkson emerged as top points scorer with 14, after winning two of the he .is and recording a second and a third in the others. However the Americans downfall in the match races was again caused by the mechanical problems which have plagued Skaggs’ borrowed Toraha. After the second heat, .’won by Smith, Skaggs was forced to retire with clutch problems. In the Coca-Cola saloon feature the last race of the night, Clarkson went out. with the obvious Intention of saying goodbye to the South Island on a victorious note. This he;.-almost accomplished after a;race packed with incident I'wKeriS-’he and Jumbo Berryman charged through the field from ‘the rear. They swapped position■ several times' In their quest for the lead until they, reached the race leader, Brian I 'Tizzard, where Berryman found the gap,-passed Tizzard before Clarkson, and so went on to win; " ■ Clarkson tried desperately hard to catch Berryman and in doing sp recorded a 21.8 s lap, the fastest for saloons of the night. Because of the industrial problems, the advertised appearance of-the". Wellington stock car team did not eventuate. However, the action provided by the local “stockies” was -incident-filled in ell races. A record number of 15 cars appeared, and all were obviously intent on destroying their bnposition. By the completion of the last race, only five cars ' remained mobile after some fierce action which had out Peter Field ' through the air in a spectacular' roll; Bod Beckett being slammed 1

into the fence, which resulted in his having to be cut from the car and taken to hospital suffering from a broken collarbone. An advertising hoarding on the infield was demolished by Bruce Annan. Results.— Super Saloons Hurst C’r Wreckers International Sprint Series.—Race 1: W. Clarkson (U.S.A.) 1, D. Smith (N.Z.) 2, A. Cadwell (N.Z.) 3. Race 2: Smith 1, Cardwell 2, Clarkson 3. Ra-.z 3: Cardwell 1, Clarkson 2, Smith 3. Race 4: Clarkson 1, Smith 2, Cardwell 3. Radio Avon Scratch— J. Berrvman 1, Cardwell 2, A. Dingwall 3. I 3ZM Scratch.— Clarkson 1, Berryman 2, Cardwell 3. » • Coca Cola Feature.—Berryman 1, Clarkson 2. B. Tizzad '3.- ' Stock Cars Goodyear Scratch. —G. Griffiths 1, T. Hern 2, J. Beachamp 3. Fletcher. Merchants Scratch.Griffiths'!. J. Mooar 2,’Herrir3. Hurst car Wreckers Teams' Race.—Griffiths 1, Beachamp 2, E. Hurst 3. • , , > "The Star" Feature.—Hurst 1, Beacbamp 2, Mooar 3. 6 to 8 cylinder Saloons Bndrust Scratch.— Race 1: Tizzard 1. K. Miller 2, D. . Senior 3. Race 2: Miller 1, Tizzard 2, G: Sim 3. Race 3: Tizzard 1, M. Bradford 2, Senior 3. 4 cylinder Saloons Papanui Tavern Scratch.— Race one: P. Brain 1, Mrs S. Lamoffi 2, P. French 3/ Race 2: Brain .1, A. Hyde 2, French 3. Sportsman Hertz Truck Rental Scratch. —Race 1: J- Annan-1, A. Lunn 2, N. McKenzie 3. Race 2: M. Allan 1, Lunn 2, A. Birrell 3. Race 3: Allan 1, Lunn 2, McKenzie 3- i Rookie Saloons Race 1: N. Graham 1. S. Childs 2. D. Jones 3. Race 2: Childs 1, P. Williams 2, B. Burgess 3. Race 3: B. Uden 1, M. McSaveney 2, Williams 3. ' I '•