The Star: February 08, 2024

The Star Thursday February 8 2024
26
SPORT
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Lady Wigram
back on track
ON THE 30th anniversary
of the famed Lady Wigram
Trophy race last being held
around the airbase circuit, the
silverware will be polished up for
presentation again to coincide
with a motorsport series debut in
Christchurch.
The iconic trophy will be
awarded for the first time since
Marcus Armstrong took the
chequered flag at what is now
known as Euromarche Motorsport
Park at Ruapuna in 2018.
Australian Paul Stokell won
the last trophy race around Wigram
in 1994, preventing a three
-peat for New Zealand’s former
Supercars driver Craig Baird.
Sunday’s trophy race is a fitting
finale for Christchurch’s inaugural
hosting of a Super Sprint
Motorsport New Zealand championship
round from tomorrow.
Another focal point will
be Christchurch hosting the
first-ever trans-Tasman V8 TA2
muscle car challenge as part of
the fifth of seven Super Sprint
rounds scheduled nationwide.
“It’s an honour and a privilege
to hold our first Christchurch
race meet and bring our NZ
Championship to Euromarque
Raceway for the city’s first ever
Super Sprint series,” said Super
Sprint NZ director Brendon
White.
“Motorsport has an incredibly
rich history in Christchurch over
the past century and the legacy
of racing endures long after this
weekend’s event.”
While the focus will be on
racing, the high octane duels of
yesteryear at Wigram will be
RACE READY:
Christchurch
Mayor Phil Mauger
is braced for a
ride with Steve
Brooks (Wolfbrook
Motoracing
Team) ahead of
the 5th round of
the Super Sprint
New Zealand
motorsport
championship.
FLYING BY: Ron Roycroft leads eventual winner Morrie
Proctor, on the left of the track, in the inaugural New
Zealand championship road race in 1949.
remembered with a memorial
lap of the remnants of the former
defence facility today, the track
where Formula 1 legends Jim
Clark, Jackie Stewart, Jack Brabham
and New Zealand’s Bruce
McLaren all reigned supreme.
Drivers will honour the past
with a motorcade through
residential development, while
a commemorative tree will be
planted at the Lady Wigram
Retirement Village, where a
number of residents recalled the
early races.
The New Zealand championship
road race was first held in
1949, covered 50-laps (169km)
and was won by Morrie Proctor
in a Riley.
The race name changed to the
Lady Wigram Trophy, in honour
of Agnes, the wife of former
Christchurch mayor Sir Henry
Wigram, in 1951.
Sir Henry, who died in 1934,
made significant contributions to
the city’s aviation and car racing
history when he played a key
role in the establishment of the
Wigram Aerodrome.
Following the tree planting
drivers will be welcomed onto
the Tuahiwi marae, south of
Rangiora, before making school
visits to Te Kura o Huriawa
Thorrington school, Waitakiri
Primary School and Templeton
School.
A meet and greet was also
scheduled between 6.30-7.30pm
outside Te Pae Christchurch
Convention Centre on
Oxford Tce.
ChristchurchNZ head of
major events Karena Finnie
welcomed Christchurch’s debut
as a Super Sprint series host from
an entertainment and financial
perspective.
“Over and above all the great
activity around the city and
the legacy left for the people of
Christchurch, ChristchurchNZ
invests in major events like Super
Sprint to generate significant
positive economic impact,” she
said.
Finnie estimated more than
8000 racegoers, including 2500
from outside the region, would
attend the racing daily.
She added the visitors would
generate more than $750,000 of
visitor expenditure across the
weekend.”
• Details on the racing
schedule and ticketing can
be found at www.supersprint.co.nz
Walk, Run, Fun!
6km and 12km options
17 th March 2024
Supporting
charity
www.city2surf.co.nz