Top drivers vie for sedan supremacy

Press, 11 March 1985, Page 3

Top drivers vie for sedan supremacy

PA Palmerston North The South Island comprehensively beat the North Island in the inaugural sports sedan test match at Manfield yesterday. The unavailability and non-appearance of several of the top North Island cars turned the three six-lap races into a battle between two of New Zealand’s top drivers, Trevor Crowe, of Christchurch, and Wayne Huxford, of Wellington. The two started the third race with one win apiece and for three laps had the crowd on its feet as they

threw their VB-powered machines round the track. Neither driver gave an inch as they often slid sideways through the esses and hairpins. The battle only came to an end when Crowe punctured. The big sedans suffered a high attrition rate with the Christchurch driver, lan Shrimpton, blowing his engine on the first lap of the first race. Rod McElrea (Ashburton) found his big Cortina Chev suffering oil pumps problems, and Ralph Mossman also had his share of problems, blowing a dif--j ferential in the second race. Glenn Clark won the annual 20 lap Dan Higgins Trophy race for Formula Fords after a battle with a former Formula Pacific driver, Charlie Thomasen, before the latter spun out on the fourteenth lap. Clark eventually won the race by more than seven seconds, with Robbie Rodgers second and Shane Higgins third. Palmerston North’s Warren Steel made certain of the national Shellsport title

with a win and a second place while in Formula Vee, Ross Symon drew closer to the series leader, Rob Lester, with two wins.

Results: North Island v South Island sports sedans. — Race one: Wayne Huxford (Wgtn) 1, Trevor Crowe (Chch) 2, lan Munt (Chch) 3, John Osborne (Chch) 4. Race Two: Crowe, Huxford 2, Osborne 3, Munt 4. Race Three: Huxford 1, Osborne 2, Bob Homewood (Whakatane) 3, Munt 4. Formula Ford (Dan Higgins Trophy Race): Glenn Clark 1, Robbie Rodgers 2, Shane Higgins 3, Steve Richards 4. Shellsport: Race One: Geoff Burrows 1, Warren Steel 2, Phil Henley 3, Malcolm Webb 4. Race Two: Steel 1, Burrows 2, Webb 3, Henley 4. Formula Vee: Race One: Ross Symon 1, Warwick Maclachlan 2, Rob Lester 3, Frank Bullock 4. Race Two: Symon 1, Lester 2, Bullock 3, lan Christie 4

Mini Us: Race One: Sei Melville 1, Warren Heron 2, Richard Gilliers 3, Brian Audas 4. Race Two: Sei Melville 1, Richard Gillies 2. Chris Heron 3, Neville Whitaker 4. Club And Rally: Steve Bond 1, John Allen 2, Mike Hourigan 3, lain Mollison 4.