Second round set for close racing

Press, 26 December 1985, Page 24

Second round set for close racing

The New Zealand Formula Ford champion, John Crawford, at work in his Christchurch workshop on the Formula Pacific Dart racing car he will drive in the New Zealand international car racing series, which begins at Bay Park on Sunday. Crawford, who finished a worthy seventh in the World Formula Ford Championship in Europe last (northern) season, is confident of doing well in the international events. The Dart, a 1983 model, has been brought up to 1985 specifications and, he says, will be “very competitive.” Crawford’s campaign received a boost recently with the provision of a truck by Team Hutchinson Ford. He plans to contest all four rounds of the international series, at Bay Park, Pukekohe on January 5, Manfeild on January 12, and in the Lady Wigram Trophy race at Wigram on January 19. He will also contest two New Zealand Formula Pacific rounds, at Wellington and Pukekohe, at the end of the international series.

Top Formula Ford drivers from the South Island will contest the second round of the Motorcraft national Formula Ford championship at Bay Park, Tauranga, this Sunday. The Formula Ford events will be part of the support programme to the international Formula Mondial races.

Phillip Butcher and Peter McEwan, both Christchurch drivers, will join Ashburton’s Andrew McElrea at the remaining nine rounds of the series. Earlier this month, McElrea finished third in the opening round of the series at Pukekohe. McElrea must be rated as among the South Island’s best hopes in the championship. Aged 20, after only three full seasons’ racing, he already has a South Island Formula Ford and sports car championship title to his credit.

His car is the 1984 model Reynard, which carried John Crawford to last season’s national championship victory, but faces a host of modern machinery, imported to contest the series.

Butcher, aged 22, has been McElrea’s most consistent opposition in the South Island series for the past two seasons. His car has been rebuilt after a heavy shunt at Levels Raceway in November, and if he can adapt to the North Island circuits quickly, Butcher could gain useful results. Both McElrea and Butcher are hopeful of travelling to Britain to further their motor racing careers, following their national championship cam-

paign. The third South Island driver, McEwan, is the most experienced of the three. McEwan was at one stage

tipped for success along with Joh Crawford, but his career received a setback with a series of confidence sapping accidents. At the age of 24, McEwan will be looking for some good results in the national championship series to give his career momentum. With seven of the ten championship rounds being run at North Island circuits, the championship is somewhat weighted against South Island drivers.

The competition is likely to be tough, and will include the former national champions, Kevin Ingram and Steve Richards, as well as the seasoned Formula Ford drivers, Glen Clark, Kim Crocker and Craig Coleman. With the prize of a trip to England to contest the world Formula Ford final as New Zealand’s representative, McElrea, Butcher and McEwan will not lack an incentive.