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23 Sep 2011, 14:11 (Ref:2959965) | #1 | ||
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South African Drivers in Europe
There have been many but not many of them progressed beyond either F3 or F2/F3000 level. This can't have been because they weren't good enough?
Off the top of my head: Basil & Trevor Van Rooyen (Basil did some F1 iirc?) Ian Scheckter Rad Dougall Mike White Hilton Cowie Chad Wentzel Stephen Watson Toby Scheckter Thomas Scheckter Etienne Van Der Linde Garth Waberski Christiano Morgado Adrian Zaugg Does anyone have any favourites? Would any of them have made an impression had they reached the pinnacle? Where are they now? |
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"Double Kidney Guv'nah?" "No thanks George they're still wavin a white flag!" |
23 Sep 2011, 14:32 (Ref:2959970) | #2 | ||
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Jody Scheckter you've obviously taken as read!
Desire Wilson? |
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23 Sep 2011, 15:20 (Ref:2959988) | #3 | ||
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Graham Duxbury, the 1980 FF2000 Reynard SF80 did't help his career in UK.
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John Saunders..... There are people who drive racing cars and there are Racing Drivers. Gilles Villenuve |
23 Sep 2011, 18:17 (Ref:2960063) | #4 | ||||
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Desire was pretty good actually, you're not plugging her book are you Clive? Quote:
For me White's possibly the biggest SA talent that got away, but why he couldn't have carried on after the March 81 problems I don't know. Were his drives works supported or something because he must have had financial troubles as people couldn't have thought he was the reason for the 81 failure surely? The car couldn't compete with the Ralt in the UK. I think i remember that if March had complete control on the drivers for the BMW F2 programme they would've signed him for 1980 but they didn't have. Things might have turned out very differently for him. Van der Linde was mega quick as well, but he might have been one of those natural talents that lack the application? |
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"Double Kidney Guv'nah?" "No thanks George they're still wavin a white flag!" |
23 Sep 2011, 21:07 (Ref:2960156) | #5 | ||
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M.G. (Mike) de Udy; raced Group 4/5/6 sports cars in the late sixties/early seventies. Porsche 906 and Lola T70 Mk.3 spring to mind....
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23 Sep 2011, 21:37 (Ref:2960170) | #6 | ||
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There's a name to conjour with!
My old man mentioned him in the past. As a relative youngster he used to watch local Sports GT races at Combe and there was local ace; Ron Fry with his GT40 who used to dominate until one weekend De Udy turned up with his Porsche (908?) as a runout and blew hmi into the weeds! I guess that's the difference between enthusiastic amateur and half decent pro! Got to say Rad Dougall was bloody good as well, such a shame his early season F2 form in 1979 couldn't last the season. He had been quick in FF, F3 and F2. |
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23 Sep 2011, 21:52 (Ref:2960182) | #7 | |
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I had been looking at doing some 4x4 driving in southern Africa and came across this:
http://www.southernafrica4x4.com/# Rad Dougall is in the rental business of land rover 4x4's in Joburg. |
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Wolverines! |
23 Sep 2011, 23:06 (Ref:2960216) | #8 | ||
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Was this a South African team competing in the US and Europe? IIRC, the money was certainly from South Africa (pool-cleaning equipment wasn't it?) http://datsun510.com/photopost/data/...epy_Krauly.jpg There were a few South Africans who appeared periodically in Europe in Group C- Duxbury, Sarel van der Merwe (occasional works Porsche drives), George Fouche (usually in Kremer 956s with 'Pretoria Brick' sponsorship http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3533/...6aae90bac0.jpg ) and Wayne Taylor all come to mind, although I guess Taylor is better-known these days for his subsequent career in the US. |
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24 Sep 2011, 07:52 (Ref:2960298) | #9 | ||
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Yes that's right there was quite a few guys out in Group C and IMSA. Van der Merwe was possibly the most famous and successful South African driver after Jody Scheckter retired, and he was a bit of an all rounder to boot taking in rallying as well.
Wayne Taylor's an interesting one as he kind of became synonymous with Spice in Group C but I seem to recall there was a strong possibility that he was going to do F3000 in the late 80's. I think he may well have tested but never actually entered? His sometime teammate Fermin Velez did take the plunge that but without any success. |
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24 Sep 2011, 19:19 (Ref:2960465) | #10 | ||
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Two pre-war voiturette drivers of no mean ability: Pat Fairfield (killed at Le Mans in 1937) and Norman Wilson (subject of a wonderful Klemantaski photo, died in an air crash 1942).
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24 Sep 2011, 19:35 (Ref:2960470) | #11 | |||
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He had a lot of potential, shame his single seater career stopped and the touring car one also hardly got off the ground. |
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4 Oct 2011, 16:42 (Ref:2965628) | #12 | |||
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Can you tell us some more about them please? |
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"Double Kidney Guv'nah?" "No thanks George they're still wavin a white flag!" |
6 Oct 2011, 07:54 (Ref:2966512) | #13 | ||
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Hi Guys, Also Tony Martin, partnered with Sarel vd Merwe and Graham Duxbury to win the 1984 Daytona 24 hours.
I know Tony very well, he shared my Lotus 7 in a 3 hour endurance event in 2007. I was running in the rain for at least 20min then came in for a driver change, Tony took over from me and his lap times in the wet were quicker than my dry lap times. he now builds Cobra race cars (BACKDRAFT) and has probably the quickest car on track in the country. |
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6 Oct 2011, 08:38 (Ref:2966521) | #14 | ||
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I think Tony Martin might have visited these shores in the ETC at one point, does that sound about right?
Or am I getting confused with Tony Viana? |
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6 Oct 2011, 09:13 (Ref:2966545) | #15 | |
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I think that it would have been Viana. Shaun v.d. Linde did a few touring car races, as did Mike Briggs (runs some petrol garages in PE, I think).
Hennie Groenewald was quite quick in F3 back in 93. Marco dos Santos did a one off for Goddard in F3 as well. Mike Bryan did a one off in F3000 in the late 80's, I think. Various drivers lower down in F/Ford (me!), mainly at the Festival. I think the reason why there were more drivers back in the early 80's was due to the strength of the Rand. I believe that at one point it was stronger than the Pound. Now it's between R10 - R15, depending on what's going on in ZA. There's very little point in ZA companies pumping money into international race series when there will be no return on their investment. Most decent ZA drivers go back and race Modified Saloons or Group N type touring cars. Stephen Watson was heavily involved in the soccer world cup, I believe that Cowie is in Scandinavia now. |
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11 Oct 2011, 11:17 (Ref:2969214) | #16 | |
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I forgot to mention Werner Lupberger who raced in F3 and F3000. I think that he's back in SA working for his dad's AMG concern
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11 Oct 2011, 15:38 (Ref:2969370) | #17 | ||
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I certainly remember van der Linde coming over for the Touring Car World Cup at Donington in '94, and Mike Briggs stood in for James Thompson at Vauxhall for the last few rounds of part of the '95 season after Thommo was sidelined by a big shunt in the 1995 BTCC. I saw him race a couple of times that year, and was impressed. I remember Watson in F3- later moved to sportscars, IIRC driving Hugh Chamberlain's Vipers in British and FIA GT. Werner Lupberger is one I'd forgotten- I don't remember much about him in single-seaters (F3 & F3000 IIRC), but he was another who crossed over to sportscars- As I remember he was always quick in Klaas Zwart's Ascari LMP in the early 2000s... http://www.racingsportscars.com/phot...-08-27-017.jpg |
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12 Oct 2011, 15:02 (Ref:2969957) | #18 | |||
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Wilson had raced in South Africa before coming to Europe, his first race north of the Equator being in Cork in 1938. Another ERA privateer, who had bought Fairfield's old car, he raced in Europe in both 1938 and 1939, although his results don't really reflect his talent. During WW2 he served in the RAF (not the SAAF as some sources state) and was killed when an early prototype Lancaster crashed on Salisbury Plain in 1942. For reasons I haven't yet discovered, he was buried in Edinburgh, even though he was based at Boscombe Down. For copyright reasons I can't hotlink the picture of Wilson that I mentioned, but you can find it here: http://www.klemcoll.com/image/203L-38.aspx?page= Last edited by Vitesse; 12 Oct 2011 at 15:11. |
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13 Oct 2011, 08:55 (Ref:2970335) | #19 | ||
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Thankyou for the further very interesting contribution Vitesse
Without wishing to stray too far off topic, the Lancaster tragedy must be a fairly big piece of RAF history in itself? |
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"Double Kidney Guv'nah?" "No thanks George they're still wavin a white flag!" |
13 Oct 2011, 15:31 (Ref:2970556) | #20 | |||
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http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_...sualty=2451987 As Vitesse said, at first sight it's curious that a South African killed in a crash on Salisbury Plain should be buried in Edinburgh, but a quick check for the rest of the crew (I found an account of the incident on an aviation forum) on the CWGC website suggests that none of the others were buried locally to Boscombe Down either, but presumably were returned 'home' to their local areas: W/Cdr P.S. Salter AFC, commemorated at Southampton Crematorium S/Ldr J.D. Harris DFC, buried in Cheam F/Lt (Observer) P.F. Wakelin, buried at Brookwood Military Cemetary Sgt (Pilot) R.L. Bilton, buried in Newcastle Aircraftman (1st class) A.N. Tracey, buried in Morden Lancaster R5539 crashed at Charlton, near Malmesbury on 18 April 1942, while undertaking diving trials with a simulated bombload, from the RAF's Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment, at Boscombe Down- cause of crash appears to have been a failure of the tailplane structure I had a further search around, and there's another reference on a WW2 forum to Wilson's burial in Edinburgh, which says that the gravestone also commemorates his father, who died in 1915, so perhaps a family connection to Edinburgh? IN AFFECTIONATE REMEMBRANCE OF MY HUSBAND JAMES ANDERSON WILSON OF WILSON & CO LTD EAST LONDON SOUTH AFRICA WHO DIED 31ST JULY 1915 AGED 49 YEARS ALSO IN MEMORY OF OUR BELOVED SON NORMAN GLADSWOOD, FLIGHT LT., R.A.F., V.R., KILLED IN ENGLAND 18TH APRIL 1942. HIS DUTY NOBLY DONE FATHER IN THY TENDER KEEPING LEAVE WE NOW OUR DEAR ONE SLEEPING (from a post on the WW2 Talk forum. The same thread mentions Wilson's racing career, and links to a thread about drivers killed in air crashes on the Autosport Nostalgia forum) Last edited by KA; 13 Oct 2011 at 15:41. |
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13 Oct 2011, 20:15 (Ref:2970681) | #21 | ||
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Wayne Taylor had one DNQ in F3k.
Back in the sixties John Love of course came over from Rhodesia, he had a repeated Rhodesian flag as a band on his helmet. Trevor Blokdyk came over for some F Junior and Bruce Johnstone was being groomed as a possible BRM driver, but never quite made it. |
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31 Jul 2013, 13:40 (Ref:3284230) | #22 | ||
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M.G. (Mike) de Udy
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31 Jul 2013, 16:46 (Ref:3284310) | #23 | |||
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Since we have strayed off topic already, how about Gary Hocking? He was born in Wales, and grew up in Rhodesia. He was killed in a Lotus 24 at Westmead, near Durban in 1962. He was entered for the SA Grand Prix a week later at East London. My dad was telling me about it last weekend. Prior to his car racing career he was a successful motorcycle racer, winning the 1961 350cc and 500cc world championships for MV Agusta, essentially taking the retired John Surtees' ride. He also competed in the Isle of Man TT with some success. Ironically he moved from bikes to cars because of safety concerns. |
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