Lively racing in prospect

Press, 25 September 1987, Page 21

Lively racing in prospect

By JOHN HAWKINS Competition at the South Island off-road motor-racing championships on Sunday is expected to be tough. Seventy drivers will converge on the Canterbury Off-Road Club’s Ruapuna circuit. The championship titles wi’! be decided in 12H cu cm, 1400 cu cm, IMO cu cm and open divisions. The over-all champion will be decided on aggregate points. The 20-race programme includes events for trikes, Odysseys and home-builts. The Ruapuna off-road circuit has been specially lengthened and widened for the event, in compliance with the wishes of the majority of drivers after a club-race

meeting at the venue in July. The modifications to the circuit are expected to result in faster racing and more passing manoeuvres. Drivers will have no chance to practice before racing starts. Although the robust Volkswagen engine .is still the mainstay of offroad racing power-plants more and more power is being extracted in the battle for engine supremacy, and chassis technology is advancing rapidly. In the open class, Russell Byfield’s fuel-in-jected machine will be hard to beat. His strongest challenge is likely to come from Mark Brown or Russell Thompson. Perhaps the most fiercely contested cate-

gory will be the 1600 cu cm class, where there should be little to choose between Oamaru’s Dave Clucas and Anthony Harrison and Robin Sladen, of Christchurch. Any one of six other drivers could also cause a surprise in this class. Katie Knowles, of Levin, one of two woman drivers entered for the meeting, is the sole North Island representative. She has entered in the 1600 cu cm class. In the 1400 cu cm class, Mark Gross, of Nelson, is expected to enjoy a tussle with the Christchurch drivers. The top four drivers from each class will qualify for an all-in race at the end of the day, a non-championship event with $lOOO at stake.