Silver Fern Crash Eliminates McRae
A crash on the final stage of the first half of the eight-day New Zealand Silver Fern Rally has forced the rally leader Scottish driver Jimmy McRae into retirement. His Ford Escort RS1800 went off the road and impacted a fence post, smashing the radiator, as a result of which the engine was destroyed beyond immediate repair. He had just taken over the lead from the Mazda RX7 of Andrew Grundy who had punctured and who now starts the second half of the event from Invercargill back in the lead. The bi-annual event is run in the South Island of New Zealand, open to two-wheel drive rally cars, starting from Christchurch. The event is due to finish at Blenheim on 23rd October.

Pat Moss Carlsson has Died
A generation before the French lady driver Michele Mouton helped popularize rally sport through her man killing exploits behind the wheel, Pat Moss had already broken the ground. Pat came to motorsport from two different directions, as a secondary passion after her first love, horses, and as sister to her elder brother Sir Stirling Moss. A lot of her rallying was done in the realm of chasing Ladies' Prizes, which in earlier times carried a lot of promotional importance, winning the category at Monte Carlo eight times and five times becoming the European ladies champion. But far more impressive, she achieved outstanding success in events outright, not the least the 1960 Liege-Rome-Liege high speed cross-Europe endurance marathon. One of the most endearing features of her life, however, was her life with the Swedish driver Erik Carlsson, the winner of the Monte Carlo and RAC rallies. Erik was rated one of the fastest rally drivers in the world, notwithstanding his success were gained at the wheel of Saab 93 and 96 cars, two-stroke cars which were some of the smallest cars in the sport. In 1963 Erik and Pat were married and had one daughter Suzy, who went on to pursue her mother's first passion, horses.

Pat, and her brother Stirling were born into motorsport. Their father Alfred Moss was a dentist by profession but raced before WW2 at Brooklands and Indianapolis. Legend says that Pat was taught to drive by Stirling and competition on local club rallies set her off on her four wheel career, and before long she was invited to drive for the fledgling BMC team. She came to drive cars of all shapes and sizes, but none so spectacular as the Austin Healey cars. It was in one of these that her victory in the Liege-Rome-Liege event was achieved. In 1963 she moved from MC to Ford, but her friendship with Erik Carlsson led to her moving to Saabs, where the husband and wife team gained consideration publicity and no little success. Many other drives followed, with teams such as Lancia, Toyota and Renault Alpine. Pat left the rally scene in the early seventies, just as the world rally championship got off the ground.

Pat died on 14 October at the age of 73 after a long illness, survived by Erik and Suzy

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photo 1: Jimmy McRae in action
photo 2: Erik Carlsson and Pat Moss in 2003 Greece