Sprintcar driver put in mileage

Press, 25 July 1986, Page 26

Sprintcar driver put in mileage

By

JOHN HAWKINS

Christchurch has a long tradition of success at both national and international level in the motor-cycle divisions of speedway racing. With a few notable exceptions, however, champions among the car competitors have been few and far between.

One of the exceptions is the 34-year-old Bruce Hobbs whose long dedication to the sport finally reaped dividends with a win in the New Zealand sprintcar championships held on his home Ruapuna circuit toward the end of last season. For Hobbs the New Zealand title must seem a long way from his humble beginnings in the sport at the wheel of a threequarter midget which he bought from a workmate in 1969 for $125. But if there is one thing to which Hobbs attributes his championship success it is experience. He says that there is no substitute for race mileage, especially when it comes down to making up the last split second on a perfect lap. “I would strongly advise any young competitor starting out today to take every opportunity to get out on the track and practise under racing conditions,” Hobbs said. "You can have the best car and all the money in the world but you still have to drive it.” After his apprenticeship in TQs, Hobbs visited Australia where he watched a lot of speedway racing but did not actually race. On his return he soon picked up a home-built sprintcar as part of a deal and it was not long before he was getting some useful results. One of Hobbs’ rivals was Roger Gleeson whose imported Gambler chassis was the quickest car in New Zealand and it was not long before Hobbs realised that his home-

built car stood little chance of beating the Gambler without drastic modification. While Hobbs was formulating plans to build a new car Gleeson’s Gambler came on the market, and in a case of "if you can’t beat them join them” Hobbs bought the car with the help of his crew member, Clive Beardsley.

Hobbs is critical of the prize money structures and feels that there would be a lot more incentive for Christchurch competitors to upgrade their machinery if there was better prize money on offer.

As an example, Hobbs cites his New Zealand championship win, where he received $BOO for winning. He estimates his bill for starting at the meeting to be about $2500, including $lOOO for a new differential and $lOOO for tyres. In the transition from TQs to sprintcars, Hobbs found that the racing techniques learned in the smaller cars applied in the big VBs although obviously with the sprintcars, he was immediately aware of the tremendous power. In

ing there is little opportunity to practise on a racing surface. Although there are practice nights held during the summer, the cost of preparing the surface means that the track is usually rough on practice nights and vastly different to the slick, racing night surface. After the Ruapuna season, Hobbs took his car to Auckland to race against the top competitors on the newly completed Western Springs track. Hobbs found the track surface to be “much grippier” than that at the Christchurch circuit and he experienced severe handling problems. A telephone call to the Gambler agent in Australia helped sort the problem and Hobbs was most competitive on his last appearance in Auckland. Next season his aim is to retain the New Zealand title and he hopes to take in a number of meetings at Western Springs. ; Although he -received financial assistance from the Auckland firm of Mainline cars last season as well as support from Mainfreight and other Christchurch companies he estimates that if he is to retain the New Zealand title he will need cash sponsorship of about $lO,OOO.

At the end of the coming season Hobbs may take another break from the sport to buy a new home and to devote some time to his family who he says have suffered a bit in the interests of his chase of the New Zealand title. • It Hobbs’ record of success at the Ruapuna speedway over the past two seasons is anything to go by his competitors might well breathe a sigh of relief.