Hobbs dominates sprint-cars

Press, 16 December 1985, Page 28

Hobbs dominates sprint-cars

For the second successive meeting, the sprint-car driver, Bruce Hobbs, was the star of the racing at Handy Hire International speedway at Ruapuna, winning all four races and collecting another track record on Saturday ingHobbs again showed that his 800 h.p. Donivan had too much firepower for his rivals. As expected, his main opposition came from the national titleholder, Noel Goodwin, of Auckland. From the opening event the two drivers cleared away from the remainder of the field, and with Hobbs’ car handling a lot better he was untroubled to win the first tussle. Goodwin’s car had too much weight put on to the left rear wheel and this left him fighting to keep the car under control on the turns. Mike Allan finished third but was awarded second place after the referee disqualified Goodwin for racing inside the poleline. Although making some adjustment to the rear of his car, Goodwin still drifted wide on the turns to again give Hobbs an easy win in the second race,

with Allan again third. The final race in the series resulted in both Goodwin and Hobbs starting a full lap behind the rest of the field, Hobbs again taking the chequered flag, lapping the entire field except Goodwin who was again second. The Aucklander looked to have Hobbs under control at the start of the feature, bursting through the pack to take the lead. However, the race had to be restarted because of a spun car. Hobbs made no mistakes at the restart and, after trailing Allan for the first lap, quickly took the lead. Although Goodwin kept the pressure on in second place, Hobbs was never pushed to lose the lead. Hobbs collected the six-lan record, breaking the old mark by three seconds, to add to his one-lap and ten-lap records alreaay set this season. Alan Palmer was just as dominant in the midget section, taking his McVicar Hardware Denco to three wins from three starts. Gordon Roxburgh and Bob Denson both managed several minor placings. The former national T.Q. midget champion, Chris Beach,

returned to the track in - a borrowed car and collected two wins, winning the feature in the fastest time of the season. There was plenty of drama in the three races with two cars rolling after tangling with another car. Both drivers were unhurt. Both the solo and side-car racing was reduced after the track continued to move in the early part of the meeting. The side-car section elected not to race with most of the solo riders also watching from the pits. An English rider, Ban-y Ayres, had a good return with two wins and a second and third, with the Hornby league star, Steve Hann, producing a great ride to dive under Ayres on the last bend for victory. Results:— Sprint cars.— Viking Pies and Savouries handicap: B. Hobbs 1, M. Allan 2, B. Todd 3. No time. Latimer Lodge handicap: Hobbs 1, N. Goodwin (Auckland), 2, Allan 3. Time: 77.75. CRC Chemicals Indian File: Hobbs 1, Goodwin 2, Allan 3. Time: 2:58.8. Ambassador LPG feature: Hobbs 1, Allan 2, O. Davies 3. Time: 96.9 (record).

Midget cars.— Tait Two Way Radios handicap: A. Palmer 1, G. Fineran 2, B. Denson 3. Time: 3:02.4. Cody Jeans Indian File: Palmer 1, G. Roxburgh 2, Denson 3. Time: 1:49.1. LPG Centre feature: Palmer 1, Denson 2, Roxburgh 3. Time: 1:49.9.

Three-quarter midget cars.— Acme Auto Dismantles handicap: S. Button 1, L. Begbie 2, D. Webb 3. Time: 3:09.7. Shands Road Mover Service handicap: C. Beach 1, D. Webb 2, T. Davis 3. Time: 57.0. Townshend Gray, Ltd, feature: Beach 1, W. Watson 2, Button 3. Time: 75.3.

Solo bikes.— Salts Earthmoving qualifying heat: S. Gunn 1, A. Papageorge 2, B. Snarks 3. Time: 84.8. Uniweld Mufflers qualifying heat: D. Sullivan (Auckland! 1, Gunn 2, Papageorge 3. Time: 80.2. Week-end Star scratch: B. Ayres (U.K.), 1, T. Chapman 2, J. Martin 3. Time: 79.0. Autolodge scratch: Ayres 1, Chapman 2, S. Hann 3. Time: 76.4. Lemon and Paeroa scratch: Hann 1, Ayres 2, Chapman 3. Time: 78.0. Building Removals, Ltd, final: Chapman 1, Hann 2, Ayres 3. Time: 58.6.