Ohau trout safe after saloon crash

Press, 27 November 1982, Page 64

Ohau trout safe after saloon crash

By

JOHN FRIDD

The national Shellsport saloon champion, Roy Harrrington, yesterday finished a frantic rebuild of his Escort which should see him take his place in the field for the second Shellsport round at Ruapuna tomorrow. The Aucklander had earmarked this week for a spot of fishing at Lake Ohau after contesting the first ■Shellsport round at Tjmaru, but his plan went horribly wrong last Sunday morning when he hit a' patch of oil on the Levels track during prac-

tice and rocketed off into a bank, demolishing the rear of his car. This week has been spent rebuilding the car, which involved welding oil a complete new rear section and doing extensive panel work, and the job was finished yesterday, allowing a lateafternoon practice session at Ruapuna to sort out the car’s handling. Harrington’s absence at Levels gave his. arch-rival, Reg Cook, also of Auckland, ' the chance, to. score maximum points despite a hurry-

up from two talented Timaru drivers, Warren Burt (Starlet) and Wayne Murdoch (Avenger). However, Harrington is keen to strike back at Ruapuna this weekend. Several other North Island drivers have also made the trip south, including tony Marsh (Datsun), Greg lancaster (Datsun); Kirk Stoneman (Escort) and Larry Taylor (Datsun). Mark Rutherford is expected to be the top Christchurch driver if he can get his Escort’s motor running properly after problem at Levels last Week-end.

The Ruapuna meeting will also see the second round of the Motorcraft national For, ■ mula Ford championship, this is the class that will produce any future world driving champion and there will be no lack of keen young bloods trying to take the chequered flag first. Last .week-end at Levels Steve Richards (Hamilton, Titan), Kevin Ingram (Feilding, Eutectic) and John Crawford (Christchurch, Valour) fought out two close races and tomorrow Crawford will be keen to impress his home crowd. At least 15 starters

are expected in the Formula Ford races, the largest field for some years. In the Open Saloon Car Association races at least seven VB-powered cars are expected. Trevor Crowe (Zap Starlet), Avon Hyde (Capri Chev), lan Munt (Capri Chev) and Rod McElrea (Cortina Chev) should all be close. Other starters will be Steve Vigors (Cortina Chev), lan Shrimpton (Capri Chev) and, possibly, John Osborne (Capri Chev), and Kelvin Cameron may debut his exciting new Datsun 1808 VB.

In addition, Don Grindley had installed a more powerful motor in his Mazda RX3 and will push the slower VBs. A huge field will contest the South Island production saloon car races, and interest will centre on whether Barry Dryden (Commodore V 8) can again topple Jim Little, who has had things his own way for many seasons in his Charger E 49. The popular pre-65 saloon races will also see large fields, and there will aslb be races for motor-cycles and karts.