Over 12 000 spectators basked in blazing heat to witness the thrills of the Ford Performance/Goodyear “Golden Age of Motor Racing” at Zwartkops Raceway, West of Pretoria, yesterday (31 January). –
– Amongst the many feature-events on the programme, the two Goodyear International Sports Prototypes (ISP) races, the one-hour S.A. Tourist Trophy endurance and the Bosal Legends of the Nine Hour, for pre-1966 Production Saloons, were the true crowd-pleasers. –
– The much-awaited appearance of Spaniard Juan Baratzi’s colourful 1971 Porsche 917 sadly only lasted for the out lap in the first ISP 12-lapper, gearbox maladies the cause. –
– England’s Jan Brunstedt’s Chevron B19 held off fellow countryman, Glen Price (Class B McLaren MIC) to win by just 4 seconds. Local hero Jonathan du Toit drove a brilliant tactical race, slipping his Chevron B8 passed the Lola T70GT of Nigel Hulme (UK) in the final moments to claim the last podium spot. Later in the day, it was the Hulme Lola that took the laurels in the second Goodyear ISP, winning by 9 seconds from Brunstedt. The younger du Toit was again 3rd, 21 seconds clear of 4th-placed Baratzi, who nevertheless awoke many nostalgic memories for Porsche and Le Mans 24 Hour fans. –
– The Porsche RSR of South African saloon car legend of yonder years, Peter Gough took fifth. –
– South Africa beat England in the S.A. Tourist Trophy one hour, where a compulsory pit stop and some driver-swapping was the order of the day, and the awesome 1966 Ford GT40’s dominated. –
– East Rand-domiciled, Peter Bailey, took his all-blue replica to just a 2 second victory over the red-liveried original Le Mans class version of Chris Chiles and Paul Ingram. –
– Also completing 44 laps over the 60 minute haul in the heat were Francois Pretorius (Porsche 911) and the UK’s Martin Brewer in his Class B Grand Touring Car Aston Martin DB4GT, finishing 3rd and 4th respectively. –
– The searing heat did take its toll in this unique event with 17 of the 33 starters seeing the chequered flag. Noteable retirements included David Piper (Ferrari 330 P, Roger Dean (McLaren MIC) and David Yates’ Chevron B16. –
– Although classified 7th and 3 laps down at the end of the hour, Chris O’Neill (1964 AC Cobra Ford) took the S.A. Tourist Trophy Index of Performance. –
– Brewer was second, while the 1959 Protea Triumph (Class C) of Alan Grant was third on index. –
– Saturday, saw the launch of a new series in South Africa, the Bosal ”Legends of the Nine Hour” – for pre-1966 Saloon and pre-1973 Sports and GT cars. –
– In the two 8 lap races, England got their revenge when Alan Minshaw twice comfortably outpaced S.A.’s Brian Rawlings, both in modified 1965 Ford Mustangs. Peter Grove (1963 Jaguar MKII) was third both times out. With over 20 of these “rock ‘n roll era” cars completing the Legends races, this new series is set for great things in the months to come. –
– A further memorable moment at the “Golden Age of Motor Racing” was a demonstration parade of nearly 40 Historic motorcycles, led by the great Jim Redman on a 1975 Yamaha TZ. –
– The festival of motor racing history was completed by action-packed racing in the Volkspares Fine Cars, Historic National Formula Cars, Volkspares Historic Touring Cars and Lotus Challenge. –
– For full results of all events visit: http://tmrt.mylaps.com or www.zwartkops.co.za. –
– A one-hour documentary on the Zwartkops International event will be broadcast on Supersport, commencing on 12 February at 18h00 (Supersport 2). –
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