Designed, built, and drove a winner

Press, 25 February 1983, Page 19

Designed, built, and drove a winner

By

ALISTAIR ARMSTRONG

Victory in the New Zealand three-quarter midget car championship at Invercargill last Sunday was especially satisfying for ChrisBeach, of Christchurch. The 25-year-old butcher drove a car he had largely designed and built himself to take the national title ahead > of 18 other hopefuls, including such prominent Canterbury performers as Geoff Stone, Darryl Smith, and John Taylor. Beach chalked up a fourth placing, a win and a second placing, in that order, in the three 10-lap heats to finish the championship with 51 points — two better than the runner-up. Ces Budd, of

Stratford. Invercargill’s < Sonny Diack was third. . . I Beach and Budd headed I into the deciding heat level i , on points with the Christ- i church man at a disadvantage through having to start < at the rear of the field. 1 However, Beach quickly i overcame the handicap and 1 by the fourth lap he had : passed his main rival. < Beach’s triumph capped a season of consistent perform- I ances. A couple of weeks i earlier he wrapped up the I Canterbury championship.

decided on points earned throughout the season at the Christchurch Speedway Association's weekly meetings- ~ . . , During his previous four seasons of racing. Beach’s best efforts had been a third in the South Island and Canterbury championships and a second in the Southland championship. His success this season has been partly a result of the reliability of his GSX 750 Suzuki-powered car, which features a rear torsion h ar

and front coil spring set-up of his own design. Beach began working on the car at the end of his third season and after hundreds of hours of toil over the winter period he launched it into competition in December, 1981. A recurring chain problem prevented the machine from achieving much success last season, but there have been few problems this year. The car’s axle was bent during the opening heat in Invercargill but some hasty work by the driver enabled him to continue successfully despite the damage. Beach puts his national ‘itle win down to things

simply going well for him "on the day." but he does

admit that his driving technique has improved since he began. "For a start I wasn't really good, but I have grown accustomed to it. With practice I have learned to handle situations better," he said.

"The car also goes well and the way it handles makes a big difference." Beach’s next major racing assignment is the South Island championship on the Beachlands circuit in Dunedin at Easter.

His enjoyment of the sport means he will continue to race for the foreseeable future. "It’s a lot of work, but it can be really rewarding"