Southland pair wins endurance car race

Press, 15 February 1982, Page 4

Southland pair wins endurance car race

By JOHN FRIDD Driving a car that their rivals I thought would never last the i distance, the Southland pair of Derek .McCrae and Jack Mcln- ! tyre, won the Southern 200, eni durance saloon-car race at Ruai puna yesterday.' • The’ Gore pair shared the ; highly modified Torana. powered i by a 5.7 litre Chev V 8 motor, 1 which McCrae drives in Open .! Saloon Car Association racing / and many people thought that it would fly to bits in the gruelling 200km’ Sydenham Park Car Sales sponsored race. However, at the massed start. McCrae roared off into the lead and hefd it for most of the race, only losing it at one point when he made one of his two compulsory pit-stops for tyres and fuel. i During this stop Barry Lloyd, of Ashburton, took the lead in his i big. green Falcon XA GT. but he i had been lapped twice by ' McCrae and when he made his ■ two stops the Southland car went : back into the lead. McCrae had a dramatic second pit-stop: he pulled into pit-road only to find a stalled car bloCk- ■ ing it, and lost valuable seconds while the other car was pushed out of the way. As it turned out. when the lap- ; charts were finally tallied last evening it was discovered that Lloyd was less than a lap behind at the finish, as Lloyd’s very i slick pit-crew had taken only I'lmin 2t)s to service the Falcon. ■ while the McCrae Mclntyre To-

rana had spent 4mm 50s in pit row. Last year’s winners. Pat Monaghan and Inky Tulloch (Southland), drove steadily in their Charger E 49 to finish third, one lap down, and fourth was another O.S.C.A. "big-banger." the Capri Chev of Steve Vigurs (Christchurch) and Rod McElrea (Ashburton). The Capri drivers had their share of problems despite having the fastest car on the track — it stalled at the start and got away one lap behind. Vigurs spun off the track on lap five and then they had a third, unscheduled pit stop when Vigurs got cramp in the closing stages of the marathon race, which was the equivalent of driving from Christchurch to Waimate at top speed, and had to stop to hand over to McElrea. At the finish, after just over two hours of driving. 19 of the 33 starters were still running. Results.-D. McCrae J. Mclntyre (Gore. Torana V 8) 1. B. J Lloyd (Ashburton. Falcon XA GT) 2. P. Monaghan I. Tulloch (Mataura. Charger E 49) 3. S. Vigurs (Chch) R. McElrea (Ashburton. Capri Chev V 8) 4. R. Driver (Timaru. Datsun 1.8 turbo) 5. R. Greer J. Wadsworth (Blenheim. Charger E 49) 6. T McLean J. McLean (Auckland. Holden Commodore V 8) 7. G. Duff G. Jenkins (Dunedin. Torana XL'l) 8. T. Cardwell (Chch. Falcon Shaker) 9. D. McCahon/ Dianne Wills (Escort 1600) 10.