XIII LADY WIGRAM TROPHY
 Location - Wigram Aerodrome NZ  Laps - 44  Distance - 162.87 km  Date - 21/01/67  Weather - Fine
ENTRY LIST
No. DRIVER ENTRANT MAKE ENGINE
4 Jack Brabham Brabham Racing Org. Brabham BT23A Repco V8 2.5
3 Denis Hulme Brabham Racing Org. Brabham BT22 Climax FPF
5 Red Dawson Red Dawson Brabham BT7A Climax FPF
7 Frank Gardner Alec Mildren Racing Brabham BT23B Climax FPF
8 Kevin Bartlett Alec Mildren Racing Brabham BT11A Climax FPF
? Paul Bolton Rorstan Motor Racing Brabham BT7A Climax FPF
12 Roly Levis Roly Levis Brabham BT18 Ford 1.5
14 Graeme Lawrence Graeme Lawrence Brabham BT18 Ford 1.5
15 Ken Sager J.H. Sager Brabham BT16 Ford 1.5
16 Grahame Harvey Grahame Harvey Brabham BT9 Ford 1.5
20 Laurence Brownlie Laurence Brownlie Brabham BT6 Ford 1.5
24 Bill Stone Roly Levis Brabham BT6 Ford 1.5
27 Kerry Grant Kerry Grant Brabham BT11A Climax FPF
29 Don McDonald Don McDonald Brabham BT10 Ford 1.5
36 John Weston John Weston Brabham BT2 Ford 1.5
41 Jim Palmer Jim Palmer Racing Brabham BT22 Climax FPF
? Jim Boyd Syd Jensen Brabham BT4 Climax FPF
63 Peter Yock Peter Yock Brabham BT6 Ford 1.5
1 Richard Attwood R.H.H. Parnell BRM P261 BRM V8 2.1
2 Jackie Stewart R.H.H. Parnell BRM P261 BRM V8 2.1
18 Dennis Marwood Ecurie Rothmans Cooper T66 Climax FPF
6 Jim Clark Team Lotus Lotus 33 Climax V8 2.0
11 Ken Smith Ken Smith Lotus 22 Ford 1.5
19 Dene Hollier Dene Hollier Lotus 27 Ford 1.5
Team Lotus and Jim Clark could hardly claim the 1966 Tasman series as a bright affair, but this year's Championship was considerably more satisfactory from their point of view, and the Lady Wigram Trophy at Christchurch on January 21 gave the Scot his second victory on the local international calendar. Holding the Bourne flag after the retirement of Jackie Stewart in the early stages of the 100-mile race was the second placed BRM V8 of Richard Attwood, which took the chequered flat 20 seconds after the winning Lotus Climax V8. Denis Hulme, in a very sick sounding Brabham Repco V8, was third, one lap in arrears, followed by the two Alec Mildren team Brabham Climaxes of Frank Gardner and Kevin Bartlett. First resident New Zealand driver home was sixth placed Roly Levis, who also took the 1%-litre category in his Brabham Ford. The race suffered from numerous retirements, many due to overheating misdemeanors in the hot, windy conditions.

There can be no doubt that the Tasman Championship is being used by many teams as a valuable test bed for European formula events. Jack Brabham's brand spanker lightweight Brabham Repco V8 2.5 litre arrived by plane from England only days before the Trophy meeting. It is a beautifully built little car being virtually a Formula 2 Brabham utilising Formula 1 suspension and, of course, the big Repco motor. Brabham says that the car is in many respects a prototype for the next F2 machine.

After the tight, twisty Levin meeting the week before, everyone was concerned in fitting higher gear ratios for the long Wigram circuit, which as an airfield venue is rated high by the overseas visitors. Although some sections of the 2.3-mile course are bumpy, the circuit is wide and in most places there is plenty of room for error.

Manchester Car Sales has been offering a prize for the first car to break 100 m.p.h. average lap for the past few years, adding to the total each meeting. So far no one had achieved the magic "ton up" lap and this year the jackpot amounted to £400. In practice it was quickly evident that everyone was chasing that remunerative time of 1m 22.8s, or 100 m.p.h. However, the time had to be recorded in a race, and not on practice day. First session saw Stewart heading the list on 1m.23.1s, and then Clark (1m.24s). Other good times were recorded by Attwood in 1m 24.6s and Brabham (1m.26s). Jim Palmer's Brabham Climax clocked 1m 28s but then broke a rosejoint on the rear suspension, which put paid to him doing any more practice.

Officials had some sort of rough time keeping system in operation but would not issue a full set of practice lap times to anyone, so most of the accurate lap times were being maintained by individual pit crews. The tyre camps were kept busy with continual changes. Different sized Firestones were being tried on Clark's Lotus, and Brabhams were also swapping wheel sizes on their team cars. Activity was rife in the BRM team as Stewart ran on Dunlop and Goodyear in the first session and the new R125 Firestones during the afternoon session.
Following testing of the Firestones Stewart said he found them better than the other two brands. Team manager Tim Parnell agreed but permission had to be sought from Sir Alfred Owen and BRM chief Tony Rudd. Numerous phone calls between Christchurch, London and Bourne were made on Friday night and permission to use the tyres in the race was finally obtained in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Attwood gets a bit light on one of Wigrams many bumpsIn the second and final session Stewart's BRM clocked 1m 22.6s, just over the 100 m.p.h. mark, but just before practice concluded, Jim Clark turned the tables by recording 1m 21.8 (101.2 m.p.h.) which was easily the best lap. Equal third fastest times were made by the two Brabham Repco V8s of Brabham and Hulme (1m 23.8s). Although Denny's car was considerably heavier than his team mate's, the world champion was naturally experiencing some teething troubles on his all-new car. Number two BRM driver Attwood recorded 1m 24.6s, and Frank Gardner did 1m 26.6s. Fastest 1500 cc driver was Graeme Lawrence (1m 30.1s), but on the very last practice lap he collapsed a piston in his twin-cam Ford powered Brabham and his team had an all-night job fitting a new block.

Paul Bolton was having his first drive outside Australia in Feo Stanton's 2.5 Brabham Climax. The Sydney driver, had shown promise in Formula 2 racing across the Tasman and the Wigram meeting was his first in a "big banger." However, distributor problems stopped him from doing much concrete practice.

Race day and the weather was again fine, but windy. Levis (Brabham) took the lead at the start of the first preliminary from Dene Hollier's 1.5 Lotus 27, Bill Stone and Grahame Harvey (both 1.5 Brabhams) and Graeme Lawrence, the last named experiencing missing in his Brabham. Hollier attacked Levis for the lead and pulled out a 2.5-second margin over Stone and Paul Bolton, who was settling down in the Brabham Climax.

Laurence Brownlie came into the pits as the clutch had blown on his 1.5 Brabham, and other visitors included Lawrence and Don Macdonald (Brabham). Oil was pouring from Bolton's Brabham, which moved into third place on lap 4 and second on the fifth lap. Bolton's car, the only 2.5-litre machine in the preliminary, took command from Levis on lap 6, quickly pulling a lead of five seconds. Meantime Hollier had slowed and Stone displaced the Lotus for third spot.

At the end of nine laps, Bolton raced 12 seconds clear of Levis, Stone and a 10-second gap to Hollier and John Weston (Brabham). Bolton looked all set to easily win the preliminary when, with just one lap to go, he pulled into the pits. A piston had collapsed in the Climax motor and the Aussie was out for the rest of the day, allowing Levis an easy win from his team mate Stone.

The big boys came out for the second preliminary, which turned out a much more exciting affair. Clark, Stewart, Brabham, Gardner and Palmer thundered away at the fall of the flag. The leading Lotus clocked 141 m.p.h. down the long back straight, which was almost 20 m.p.h. less than speeds recorded in the practice sessions the day before, due to strong head winds. Clark, Stewart and Brabham were neck and neck as they completed the first lap, already clear of Gardner, Attwood, Hulme and Palmer.

Hulme closed in on Attwood's BRM and on lap three moved his Brabham into fourth place. The leading trio, lapping at about 1m 24.6s, occupied most interest, but eyes turned to Kiwi Jim Palmer as he tackled Frank Gardner for sixth position. However, on lap 5 it was Bartlett who took Palmer and one lap later passed his team mate Gardner. After seven laps Clark and Stewart were glued together and the world champion watched on closely. In an excellent piece of driving Stewart took Clark at Club Curve and at the Loop Jim retook the lead just for a fraction. Then Brabham snipped past Clark on the ninth lap to make the order Stewart, Brabham, Clark, and 15 seconds to Attwood and Hulme, who had swapped places twice during their battle. Some 27 seconds later came Bartlett, Palmer, Gardner and Dennis Marwood (Cooper).

The leading BRM took first place in the 11-lap heat by just 0.6 of a second from Brabham, who finished little more than a second ahead of Clark. In doing so, Jackie Stewart set the fastest lap of 1m 23.8s, which was the nearest anyone got to the 100 m.p.h. average, although a new outright record. On the very last lap Palmer drove splendidly to wrest sixth position from Bartlett, while it was Attwood who won the toss for fourth place from Hulme.

Activity was rife in the pits prior to the start of the Lady Wigram Trophy. Laurence Brownlie worked hard to replace the clutch which he had blown in the preliminary, only to have the gear selector break when his Brabham was being positioned on the dummy grid. Only minutes before the start a fracture in the exhaust system on the Levis Brabham necessitated a quick welding job. Many drivers expressed concern at the slippery nature of the track, and earlier races had shown the escape road at the end of the main straight to be in constant use.

This time it was Stewart who made best of the start, and his BRM V8 screamed into the lead from Clark, Brabham, Attwood, Hulme, Palmer, Bartlett and Gardner at the first corner. On the tricky and bumpy Control Tower bend the green Lotus hit the front, and Clark and Stewart ran almost side by side past the long air force hangars, which line part of the circuit. At the end of lap one the order remained the same but on the next round Denny Hulme assumed fourth position from Attwood. Then followed a gap to Palmer, Gardner and Bartlett, with a further delay to Dawson, Levis, Lawrence and Hollier.

The scene looked set for another race-long duel between the two Scots - and Brabham lay only a second behind - Stewart was very lucky to avoid serious injury when a dramatic change occurred as the leaders commenced their fifth circulation. Clark struck a rubber tyre marker at Hangar Bend, which was flicked into the path of the BRM. The marker broke an oil line on the BRM after smashing the windscreen and instruments, spraying hot oil over Stewart's face as he negotiated Control Tower bend at more than 100 m.p.h. Fortunately Stewart, in his very thorough manner, was wearing a fireproof face covering, which protected him from what could have been serious burns, and the Scot pulled to a halt unhurt but very much out of the race. This removed much interest from the day for Stewart had been providing the biggest challenge to Clark.

Now Clark lay just over two seconds clear of Jack Brabham, Hulme, Attwood, Palmer, Gardner and Bartlett followed by a 23-second gap to Dawson and Levis. Lawrence called at the pits suffering from overheating, and Macdonald's Brabham retired with similar troubles. Marwood was losing ground in his Cooper Climax, which was obviously using considerable oil.

A pattern had been established after ten laps. Clark, driving as immaculately as ever, lay nine seconds in front of the close Brabham, Attwood and Hulme, followed by a gap to Palmer and Gardner, who were having their own private battle. Levis and Hollier led the 1.5-litre class between the Brabham Climaxes of Kevin Bartlett and Red Dawson.

Jack Brabham's car began overheating and he eased up, allowing Attwood through to second place on the 12th lap, while Hulme moved up close behind his boss. Palmer, in fifth place, was 35 seconds behind Hulme. One lap later-Denny moved into third position and Brabham looked as though he was taking things easy. On lap 15, Jim Palmer, who had been driving well in front of Gardner, pitted as a front crankshaft seal had blown and too much oil was being lost, relegating another retirement and lowering N.Z. hopes.

The seventh placed Brabham Climax of Dawson was the next visitor to the pits. His temperature gauge had gone on the blink and he thought that his motor was overheating when, in fact, it was running normally. The stop, however, had put him back to tenth position. Dene Hollier's Lotus 27, which was lying second in the 1.5-litre class behind Levis, ground to a halt on lap 18 when an ignition wire fell off, further diminishing the field.

After 20 of the 44 laps, Jim Clark led Attwood, followed by a six-second delay to Hulme, Brabham, Gardner, Bartlett, Levis, Stone and Jim Boyd's Brabham Climax. The leader maintained about an 18-second lead over the works BRM which, unlike the Firestone shod Stewart BRM, was running the usual Goodyears. Now Hulme's Brabham Repco V8 started missing, and Brabham moved back into third place on lap 21 for three laps before stopping at the pits with a boiling motor.

An 18-second gap existed between the leading Lotus and BRM, Clark having lapped all but Attwood and Hulme. Denny lay 39 seconds behind Attwood and his car didn't sound at all well, but the New Zealander was still a comfortable 65 seconds ahead of Gardner, who in turn was well clear of Bartlett, Levis and Boyd. On lap 34 Jack Brabham came out again and set off in earnest, with the £400 prize for the first driver to achieve the 100 m.p.h. average lap obviously in his mind. However, the nearest he got to the ton was 1m 25s, the fastest lap of the day. The race trickled on to the end, Gardner lapping Bartlett on lap 37, and Hulme content to maintain his third place if the car would hold out. Clark's winning time was precisely ten seconds faster than Stewart's race time for the 1966 Wigram Trophy.
 
RACE RESULTS
POSITION LAPS TIME
1. Clark 44 1:03'34.1
2. Attwood 44 1:03'51.0
3. Hulme 43 .
4. Gardner 42 .
5. Bartlett 41 .
    Palmer 41 Crankshaft Seal
6. Levis 40 .
7. Boyd 40 .
8. Stone 39 .
9. Dawson 39 .
10. Harvey 38 .
11. Weston 36 .
12. Lawrence 36 .
13. Brabham 34 FL:1'24.0
Hollier 18 DNF:Ignition
Marwood 13 DNF:Oil
McDonald 08 DNF:Overheating
Stewart 05 DNF:Hit By Course Marker
Smith ? DNF:?
Yock ? DNF:?
Brownlie 0 DNS:?
Written by Donn Anderson for Motorman Magazine. Article submitted by Milan Fistonic

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