As a motoring enthusiast with a keen sense of history, I have come to regard old racing circuits as hallowed ground. Every time I attend a race meeting, or have the privilege of driving around a track, I tend to cast my mind back to great deeds and dramatic happenings that have contributed to the site’s racing heritage. Some of these are personal recollections, such as the awesome sound and fury of the 800+ kW turbocharged Williams- Hondas of Keke Rosberg and Nigel Mansell, and the similarly powerful Brabham-BMW of Nelson Piquet, as they flew through Kyalami’s Barbecue-Jukskei complex on full qualifying boost in 1985, during what was to be the last ever Formula One qualifying session on the majestic old circuit. Others are more formal pieces of motorsport history, such as when Jimmy Clark’s Lotus 25-Climax slowed trailing a smoky plume, handing the race lead and the title to Graham Hill and the BRM P57 in South Africa’s very first world championship grand prix, run at East London in 1962.
South Africa has played an important part in world motorsports history, but its heritage sites are under threat. Way back we lost Roy Hesketh, the classic version of Kyalami is no more, and now it’s the turn of East London, miraculously spared until now, to face the threat of closure by modern officialdom with no appreciation of its heritage. (The petition to save the track, at http://www.petitiononline.com/ELGP2008/petition.html is still “live” if you’d like to add your voice.)
All of this has further heightened my appreciation of Cape Town’s Killarney circuit, where the CAR team gathered with two guest racing drivers to conduct the now traditional annual performance shootout for this issue. Run by the Western Province Motor Club, the track continues to prosper, the addition of the new pit complex having dramatically improved its user-friendliness. But, best of all, despite resurfacing and a degree of widening over the years, the corners are pretty much the same as they were almost five decades ago, evoking memories of Stirling Moss, Jimmy Clark, the Scheckters, Gilles Villeneuve, John Love, Sam Tingle, Doug Serrurier, Bill Jennings, Peter Gough, Koos Swanepoel and countless other heroes who have plied their trade there.
Our two guest shootout drivers, Phillip Kekana and Hennie Groenewald, are legends in their own right, we had assembled 18 worthy performance cars, and the Cape produced its very best weather. But a highlight of the occasion was the attendance of 25 enthusiastic CAR readers and their partners, chosen from those who had submitted their names to an on-line competition on CARtoday.com. They were an appreciative group, keenly interested in what we were doing, yet with the maturity to allow us get through all the tasks unhindered. Ladies and gentlemen, the CAR team salutes you! To all of you, and our thousands of other faithful readers, our very best wishes for the year ahead…
