VII TERETONGA INTERNATIONAL
 Location - Teretonga Park NZ  Laps - 50  Distance - 120.69 km  Date - 25/01/64  Weather - Fine
ENTRY LIST
NO. DRIVER ENTRANT MAKE ENGINE
5 Denis Hulme Brabham Racing Org. Brabham BT4 Climax FPF
12 Andy Buchanan Wilson Motors Brabham BT6 Ford 1.6
47 Bruce McLaren Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Cooper T70 Climax FPF
2 Timmy Mayer Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Cooper T70 Climax FPF
6 David Young David Young Cooper T65 Ford 1.5
8 John Youl John Youl Cooper T55 Climax FPF
9 Bill Thomasen Corsair Racing Team Cooper T53 Climax FPF 2.0
41 Jim Palmer Jim Palmer Cooper T53 Climax FPF
1 Chris Amon Reg Parnell Racing Lola T4 Climax FPF
7 Ken Sager J.H. Sager Lotus 20 Ford 1.5
17 Tony Shelly Shelly Motors Ltd. Lotus 18/21 Climax FPF
19 Frank Turpie Frank Turpie Lotus 20 Ford 1.5
22 Roly Levis Roly Levis Lotus 22 Ford 1.6
25 Rex Flowers Flowers Transport Lotus 20B Ford 1.5
40 Barry Porter Barry Porter Lotus 15 Climax 2.0
16 Jim Boyd Jack Malcolm Valour Ford 1.5
John Youl being pushed hard by a young Chris AmonBruce McLaren and Timmy Mayer had an easy one-two victory driving their lightweight Coopers in the 50-lap Teretonga International race at Invercargill on January 25. After the elimination of the most powerful opponent, Denis Hulme, on lap eight the team cars had no trouble in winning and flashed over the finish line almost side by side. But at Hulme's retirement after a spin, the Te Puke driver had been pulling away from the field at a second a lap, his Brabham obviously more suited to the testing circuit.

Third man home in the race, the fourth round in the 1964 Tasman Championship series, was Jim Palmer followed by Tony Shelly, Bill Thomasen and Roly Levis. It was McLaren's fourth Teretonga victory - he won in 1959, '62 and '63 - on a circuit which suffered in 84 degrees of heat.
The circuit had been re-sealed with a tar mix over the, old rubber-consuming chip-seal. Unfortunately it was only a light application and several corners cut up, drivers finding things very slippery in practice.

Tony Shelly said after a few laps that he had never worked so hard to go so slow. Denny tried using the "slick" tyres in practice, the same as he used in the big race but not in the heat, unbeknown to all. He was easily quickest with a 1m 6.3s time (80.5 m.p.h.) with Mayer next best at 1m 7.5s. Other fast times were recorded by Youl (1m 8s), McLaren (1m 8.2s), Shelly (1m 9.2s) and Thomasen (1m 9.4s). Jim Palmer was unable to practice because a half-shaft yoke which he had borrowed from McLaren after his own broke at Wigram was needed by Bruce when his also broke at Tere. Rather complicated. George Palmer was able to scout around Invercargill and have the car going on race day for Jim. Chris Amon had braking troubles and did a spin-up, although he managed to clock a Im 9.8s time.

Mayer led from start to finish in the first heat for the big race with Chris Amon second and Bill Thomasen a creditable third in a new car, the ex Amon 2.5 Cooper. Thomasen put in a lap of 1m 8s and finished ahead of Palmer. Heat two saw more competition as Youl took the lead at the start to be passed on the start-finish line on completion of the first lap by McLaren. Denny tucked in behind Youl and soon passed the Australian. He couldn't quite Pass McLaren but made determined efforts on the last lap. The gearbox on McLaren's car was locked in fourth on the final lap, and after the race mechanics removed cam covers and checked clearances to see if any high revs had bent something. Howcver, all was well.

Hulme had Goodyear "slick" tyres fitted for the big race while most other people took advantage of any shade they could find to catch forty winks. The tar had melted with the heat and tyres were sticky and covered in stones. Drivers found they were continually showered in stones in their cockpits and prepared to Protect themselves from the elements. A driveshaft yoke cracked on Shelly's Lotus during the heat and `Ginger" Grundell had to have a quick welding job done in Invercargill.

At the drop of the flag for the International Dcnny's Brabham leapt into the lead from McLaren. Amon, Palmer, Mayer and Thomasen. A union broke on the fuel pump of John Youl's Cooper just as the car was to take to the grid and the Tasmanian driver was unable to start, an unfortunate pre-race retirement.

By the end of the first lap the order was the same and Hulme had drawn out 1.2 seconds on McLaren. Mayer took Anion on lap 2, and by the nest lap the first five cars were evenly spaced.

The Goodyear tyres were obviously an advantage to Denny and coupled with the suitability of the heavier Brabham on the twisty circuit, the Te Puke driver was able to pull away from the field and he put in a lap at lm 5.7s, averaging 82 m.p.h. By the seventh circulation Thomasen and Shelly were close, but the Manurewa driver was performing well in his recently acquired 2.5 red Cooper. On lap 8 the race pattern changed when Hulme spun coming out of the Loop and swung backwards into a fence post, bending the car's suspension badly and bringing the Brabham assault to an end.

The two McLaren Coopers were now firmly in the lead, having 19 seconds on Amon who had a further 25 second lead over Palmer. Roly Levis was leading the one-and-a-halves from Rex Flowers, his Lotus performing better than ever before, perhaps spurred on by the recent addition of a Formula Junior to the Levis family. Chris Amon was out after his Lola went to play in the sand-dunes on the back of the circuit.

On lap 27 Shelly got by Thomasen who was feeling the effects of the heat. Meantime Rex Flowers had passed Levis for sixth position, but he was to lose much time when 2nd and 3rd gears jammed, and the Wellingtonian eventually finished the race using 4th and 5th.McLaren takes the win with Mayer close behind

The two leaders running together slowed down considerably and Timmy took the lead on lap 35, Bruce taking over some two laps later again. For ten laps the two Coopers swapped the lead sometimes twice a lap to make a race out of a procession. Levis led home the smaller cars from Jim Boyd (Valour) and Ken Sager (Lotus) in a rather uninteresting race with no records broken. Perhaps we were spoilt by Wigram the week before!
 
RACE RESULTS
POSITION LAPS TIME
1. Mclaren 50 0:58'24.5
2. Mayer 50 0:58'24.6
3. Palmer 50 0:58'36.0
4. Shelly 50 0:59'10.0
5. Thomasen 50 0:59'36.4
6. Levis 50 1:00'00.4
7. Boyd 47 .
8. Sager 47 .
9. Flowers 34 .
Amon 18 DNF:Accident
Hulme 8 DNF:Accident FL:1'05.7
Youl 0 DNS
Porter 0 DNS
Written by Donn Anderson for Motorman Magazine. Article submitted by Milan Fistonic

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