Pitstop: Buckley bounces in with bike plan for Springs

By BOB PEARCE

Bill Buckley, the man behind the Auckland-built BSL 500cc racing bike, will return next season to his first love, speedway.

Buckley won the right to be promoter at Western Springs when the Auckland City Council contract came up for renewal.

His proposals were preferred over those of the present promoter, Willie Kay, and he is due to sign the new contract today.

Buckley, who has a successful electronics business, won the first speedway sidecar title back in 1963 and competed with success up to the 1980s.

He returned to the limelight three or four years ago when he unveiled his challenger for a place on the world 500cc grand prix grid. The BSL bike has shown potential, but has yet to deliver results.

Buckley was reluctant to discuss all his proposals for Western Springs, but has plans to upgrade the seating for spectators and to extend international links.

As a motorcycle enthusiast, he is keen to see the bikes back on a regular basis, but not at the expense of such venues as Rosebank Park.

"I want to work with them so that they can continue to expand and supply riders so that we can offer the best ones greater exposure at the Springs," he said.

"The problem has been that the sticky clay at the Springs has been no good for the bikes, but I think I've got a way of overcoming that."

Buckley intends to employ a manager to ensure the venue is run properly to the benefit of all competitors. There will also be fresh promotions to boost spectator numbers.

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More than 40 cars have entered the annual six-hour endurance race at Pukekohe on May 4.

Miles Pope, who won the event last year with Rhys McKay, is back in his Holden Commodore, with Bill Farmer sharing the driving.

They are joined in the biggest capacity class by five other Holdens and a Ford Falcon AU V8 to be driven by Jody Vincent and Andrew Fawcet.

Strong contenders from Christchurch include Bruce Miles and Murray Cleland in a BMW 320i and Grant Silvester, Mark Alexander and Peter Cunliffe in a Mazda RX7.

The smallest class includes Edgar Salwegter's sportscar and four Peugeot Rallyes.

There is an all-woman team of Linda Grey and Carol Liston in a Toyota Corolla.

The race will start at 2pm and finish at 8pm.

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Auckland teenager Fabian Coulthard is a finalist in two of the four categories of the annual motorsport awards to be announced in Wellington on May 18.

The winner of the Formula Ford championship is grouped with Team Kiwi driver Jason Richards and V8 tourer champion Ashley Stichbury for the premier award, the Jim Clark Trophy.

The trophy is still missing after being stolen this year. A new one has been commissioned, but will not be ready for awards night.

Coulthard is also a finalist in the under-21 category for the Steel Trophy. The other finalists are fellow Fordster 16-year-old Nelson Hartley and 14-year-old Christina Orr, who was second in the Formula First class.

Finalists for the Rally Founders' Trophy are perennial Australian champion Possum Bourne, national champion Bruce Herbert and Wellingtonian Deborah Kibble, who won the Group N national title.

Rod Corbett (Wellington), Bill Cottle (Otaki) and Keith Cowan (Christchurch) are finalists in the classic and historic category.

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Jason Bargwanna is giving thanks in an original way for his good fortune in surviving unscathed from the crash which destroyed his Holden Commodore V8 Supercar at Phillip Island this month.

The car barrel-rolled soon after the start after a coming together with New Zealander Greg Murphy's Holden.

Murphy was controversially disqualified from the race.

Bargwanna's team have decided to hold an auction of bits from the wreckage during the next round at Eastern Creek, near Sydney. Proceeds will go to the Salvation Army.

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The Champ car racing officials are rather more forgiving than their Formula One counterparts.

Veteran Michael Andretti won the last round against all the odds at Long Beach, but after the race his Reynard-Honda was found to have an illegal underbody.

Rather than disqualify him, officials fined the team US$20,000 ($44,000), but allowed him to keep the win and the points.

The Champ drivers, including Scott Dixon, compete at Montegi, Japan, at the weekend. The Formula One circus will be in Barcelona for the Spanish Grand Prix, where last year - surprise, surprise - Michael Schumacher started from pole and won the race.

Dixon returns to Twin Ring Montegi oval for his second competitive visit in a Champ car. Last year, he qualified 20th and finished ninth.

"Racing at Montegi as a rookie last year was a great experience," he said. "The fans enjoy motor racing and it really adds to your motivation.

"It's a tough race and even though I had a good car there last year, I didn't qualify so well and had to work hard for every position. I finished the race in ninth position thanks to fuel conservation and a great pit strategy."

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The Rally of Rotorua, which will start on June 27, will be part of a day-long festival in the city streets. The rally, which is the third round of the Asia Pacific championship, begins its competitive stages next day and will end on June 30 on the Rotorua Lakefront.

* Pitstop will be back on June 5.