Williams snatches sprintcar victory

Press, 5 December 1988, Page 32

Williams snatches sprintcar victory

By

JOHN HAWKINS

A beautifully executed swoop-and-dive passing manoeuvre coming out of the prison bend on the last lap enabled Mark Williams to snatch victory from Bruce Hobbs in the eight-lap sprintcar feature race at the Ruapuna Speedway on Saturday night.

Williams, who has been in dominant form with the Phillip Mills Ozcar during the early meetings, faced Hobbs, returning after an absence racing in Australia with his Pepsi Gambler, for the first time on Saturday, and from the first race both drivers had a wary eye on each other.

The feature race, the final event on the programme, produced the long-awaited clash. Both drivers started from the back mark.

Wayne Pierson led out early, from Brent Leversedge. Pierson held sway until Hobbs, who had cut through the traffic slightly better than Williams, snatched the lead on lap five. With his rear outside tyre smoking out of the turns, Williams set out in pursuit after demoting Pierson, but Hobbs looked safe until Williams swept past in a withering burst of speed on the last lap. The earlier sprintcar han-

dicap had been abandoned after Kevin Clive rolled his car into the wall after clipping a slower car. The New Zealand champion. Larry Ross, returned to his best form in the solo section. being unbeaten throughout the night. His rival from the previous meeting. Alan Mason, seemed to be unsettled by an incident in the first race which resulted from confusion over the starting lights. In his following race he fell while in pursuit of Ross, thus being eliminated from the feature events.

In the flying four solo event. Mark Lyndon made a gallant attempt to head off Ross into the first corner, but while his bike snaked away from the line, Ross gained perfect traction and was never headed.

Graham Fineran led every lap of the midget car feature race, but behind him there was some hectic racing in the early laps as Selwyn Everett strove to pass Wayne Denovan. This he achieved round the outside on the town bend on the third lap, leaving Denovan to fend off the attentions of Bob Denson.

Chris Beach once again proved too fast for the rest of the TQ events, slicing through from large handicaps with contemptuous ease to go through the night's racing

unbeaten. In the sidechair class the visitor. A. Livingstone, from Motueka, was the best of the small field. Results: Solo divison 1: Race 1: M. Lyndon I. J. Monk 2, M. Richards 3. 72.6. Race 2: L. Ross 1. M. Lyndon 2. D. Hopewell 3. 67.6. Race 3: Ross 1, Monk 2. Richards 3. 68.5. Final: Ross I. Lyndon 2, Monk 3. 74.1. Flying four: Ross 1. Lyndon 2. Monk 3. 70.9. Division 2.— Race 1: M. Jamieson 1, J. Tuffley 2. T. Richards 3. 72.6. Race 2: Jamieson 1, Tuffley 2, S. Mitchell 3. 75.4. Consolation: Richards 1, R. McKinnon 2. 77.5. Division 2 final: Jamieson 1. A. Fisher 2. Richards 3. 74.7. Super six: Tuffley 1, M. Richards 2, T. Richards 3.

TQ midgets.— Race I: C. Beach 1, D. Webb 2. D. Frazer 3. Race 2: Beach 1. B. Watson 2, B. France 3. Feature: Beach 1, Frazer 2. France 3.

Midget cars.— Race 1: S. Everett 1, B. Denson 2, G. Fineran 3. Race 2: Everett 1. W. Denovan 2. G. Roxburough 3. Race 3 feature: Fineran 1, Everett 2, Denovan 3.

Sprintcars.— Race 1 (handicap): M. Allan 1, K. Clive 2, B. Hobbs 3. Race 2 abandoned. Race 3 feature: M. Williams 1, B. Hobbs 2, B. Leversedge 3.