A WEEKEND AT THE RACES

This was THE weekend I had been waiting for … It was the motor racing event of the year, ... certainly in my callender and I was not going to miss it this year. I do not believe there is anything like it out there…certainly nothing like it here in the good old South Africa. 

To actually see, hear and smell all those magnificent racing cars from all over the world together in one spot, over two whole days of racing was just too much to contemplate. I was there at 6.00am on Friday morning with my video camera……and on Saturday.

- ( Unfortunately my dear old Jaguar XJ6 historic racer blew a water hose on the pit apron after qualifying well, prior to my first race of the day, so I was out and could concentrate on shooting footage of the weekends events……

My mouth agape, - here all together were the cars of my dreams; the greatest and fastest sports racing cars which graced Le Mans in the 1960’s and 1970’s. No doubt the Ferrari P3 of David Piper and Richard Attwood would be the favorite, but they would have to contend with the Le Mans winning Ford GT40 of Leo Voyazides, the AC Cobra of Graham Bryant and the Ferrari 250GT SWB certainly one of the most beautiful Ferrari’s ever made.

Others to be seen on the Wheelnuts website with DVD (video/audio) footage of over 3 hours, which will be available on this website shortly; Lola Mk1, the first mid–engine Ferrari LM, Aston Martin DB4, Alfa T33, Brabham BT8, a Ferrari P1, two P2’s, a Corvette, three LolaT70’s, several Chevrons, more GT40’s and the absolutely awesome Porsche 917 and the monster Can-Am McLaren M8E.

For the Bike Freaks out there, there are lots of wonderful old racing bikes on view as well……… and for the real oldies out there, there will be a 30’s real supercharged MG Magnette and various other Coopers, three MG single seater racers to name a few……..



“I absolutely refuse to drive this car !”……Porsche Factory driver.

P.S. :- The ruby-red Alfa Romeo 'Monza' on the right is the home-built, recreation of the fabulous racer using a '70's Alfa 2600 as a donor car by master restorer Roy Watson.... Just perfect. The 2600cc, 6 cylinder, all ally., twin-cam motor and gearbox, drive-line and finned ally. drum brakes all round complement the car totally. More about this and the other cars in Mr Watson's stable to come..

The Star Motoring of January 25 had this to say:


“Le Mans Winning 917 Returns To SA”

“The 430kw flat-12 is still among the most awesome-and scary-race cars ever built.”



“Richard Attwood, who gave Porsche their first win at the Le Mans 24-Hour Race and who won five 9-Hour events at Kyalami, returns to South Africa for the International Sports Racing Prototype race at Zwartkops.
Attwood, the former Grand prix driver, who raced for BRM, Cooper, Lotus and Williams, is best known for his very brave performance in the highly fragile, and at stages dangerous, but simply awesome Porsche 917.
The Porsche 917’s were the most terrifying cars to race at Le Mans. Those who raced them and lived to tell the tale, will re-count the glory, speed, noise and sheer terror of the Porsche 917.

Initially the Porsche factory drivers all refused to drive it. As David Piper put it; …….. “they called in mercenaries (privateers) like myself and Frank Gardiner to drive it.”

By 1970, the Porsche 917 was a bit more sorted and it gave Porsche their first Le Mans 24-hour win in the hands of Richard Attwood and Hans Herman.

Says Attwood;
“It was, however, still a terrifying car to drive and at over 300kl/m the car started to take off down the Mulsanne straight. You would look in your rearview mirror and all you would see is blue sky.”

This car is one of the fastest Porsches ever built. With a lightweight chassis/body and a 4,5 litre flat 12 engine pushing more than 430kW ( about 580bhp).
It is an incredible piece of engineering in a car that had minimal aerodynamic aids.”

Motoring Correspondent.

David Piper “LEGENDS” Day at ZWARTKOPS Raceway. (article by Star Motoring correspondent; Mike Winfield )

“The 20 000- strong crowd that jammed into Zwartkops Raceway on Saturday had mostly come to see David Piper and his contingent of exotic overseas cars, but in the end it was the local stars in home-built cars that stole the show.
Biggest hero of the day was Sarel van der Merve in the giant seven-litre Ford Galaxie. Powersliding a car that’s more akin to an aircraft carrier than a racing car, Supervan took the growling Ford to victory in both heats of the pre-1966 Bosal Legends saloon-car series. It was a virtuoso performance from the 60- something showboating superstar and proved that, no matter how old they get, the really fast guys stay fast.
Behind Sarel, local driver Brian Rowlings ( Basil van Rooyen Ford Mustang ) and British star Graham Bryant in the huge Pylmouth Barracuda V8 shared the day’s respective second and third places.
American V8’s also stole the show in another event that had the crowd on its feet, the TransAm series. And yet again the hero was an experienced local veteran, the always charming Ben Morgenrood. He stormed to two heat victories in his home-built Ford Mustang, winning the first heat from Zwartkops circuit owner Peter du Toit in his Chev Camaro. The second heat also provided drama as Michele Lupini’s Penske-replica Chev Camaro came from behind to challenge Morganrood. The former Wesbank V8 ace was too wily for Lupini, however, and took the race by a cars length.
The two races for the pre-1772 Sports Prototypes saw some great performances from two vastly powerful cars, the mighty V8-powered Lola T70 of Peter Horsman, standing in for owner Nigel Hume, and the awesomely powerful Mclaren M8F of French racer Michael Champagne. Horsman roared to victory in heat one, but the Lola, now driven by Hulme, had a tyre blow out during heat two, handing victory to the aptly named Mr Champagne.
Historic racing always seems to bring the best out in people and perhaps the most generous gesture of the day was when Pretoria driver Marck Viljoen gave up the seat of his Mercedes-Benz 230S so that the UK’s Max Wakefield, whose own Ferrari P4 couldn’t be prepared in time for Zwartkops, could take part in the historic category heats.
The Springbok series now heads to Killarney racetrack in Cape Town on Saturday.”

TO VIEW :- "What Are Classic Cars?" - "Lola T70" and "Wheelnuts Introduction" click on small 'News' window directly below the Wheelnuts logo at the top of the page.

Video and more stills will be up on the website shortly. We have over 50 hours of DVD footage of  – (Editor)