Evapco SA (Pty) Ltd Historic Racing South Africa at Zwartkop Raceway 24 August 2024.

Article by Stuart Konig.

Evapco SA (Pty) Ltd Historic Racing South Africa (HRSA) did not disappoint with the most exciting racing seen all season!

In Class A we had Nicky Dicks in his Curvent Racing Porsche 993 GT2R. With this particular 993 GT2R being one of only a few ever produced globally we were treated to not only seeing such a special car but also got to see it in its natural habitat – on a race track. Dicks won the first race overall, unfortunately in the second race he picked up some mechanical issues with the car forcing him to limp the car home to end of the race. We are hoping to see this car on track again soon!

Class B was contested by Andre van der Merwe in his Evapco SA (Pty) Ltd Porsche 911 RSR. As always van der Merwe put on quite the spectacle and a strong display of pace, keeping Dicks in the Class A 993 GT2R honest in the first race and the second race right up until Dicks suffered a mechanical fault with his car.

Class C saw a strong battle between Andre ten Napel in his TNMC Medical Devices VW Scirocco and Stuart Konig in his Northern Bolt & Tool VW Scirocco. The two were inseparable until the boot lid on ten Napel’s car came loose. The distraction caused him to lose time until the body work broke free a few laps from the end at turn 3. After this mishap Konig had created a gap large enough to secure the victory with ten Napel showing strong lap times in the latter stages of the race despite the missing body work. In Race 2 ten Napel managed to squeeze past Konig off the start, despite this the two were once again bumper to bumper. On lap 3 Konig managed to squeeze back past ten Napel who sadly suffered a mechanical failure forcing him to retire from the race and gifting Konig a double victory on the day.

Class D saw the resumption of the epic tussle from the previous round in the Championship between Gavin Lundin in his The Lube Guys Datsun 1200 GX and Jonathan Konig in his Northern Bolt & Tool VW Scirocco. In Race 1 the pair broke away from the rest of the class with Lundin managing to overtake Konig off the start. The pair went wheel to wheel but, in the end, it was Konig that took the victory in Race 1 followed by Lundin. Taking 3^rd in Race 1 was Travis Jensen in his Hamilton’s Racing Datsun 1200 GX, Johan Gouws in his Keller Williams Realty VW Scirocco and John McLachlan in his Hamilton’s Racing Datsun 1200 GX. In Race 2 Konig and Lundin were at it again, until the latter stages of the race when an unfortunate incident with a backmarker resulted in Lundins retirement from the race. This left Konig to take victory in Race 2 with Nigel Townshend in his MK1 Ford Escort, who was promoted to Class D in Race 1, to take a well-deserved 2^nd place extremely closely followed by Jensen and McLachlan.

Class E, the class with the greatest number of entries within HRSA was once again the battle to watch. With so many competitors with nothing between them in terms of pace made for some exciting racing to say the least.  In Race 1, a mere 2 seconds covered the top four positions in this class. When the chequered flag came out at the end of the first race it was Sean Hepburn in his AA Datsun 1200DL in 1^st position followed by Terence Ladner in his Hamilton’s Racing VW Scirocco, Ian Odendaal in his AIM Precision Engineering MK1 Ford Escort and Nigel Townshend in his MK1 Ford Escort whose fastest lap of the race resulted in him being promoted to Class D. The battle for 5^th place was also super close with Grant Cramer in his Jensen’s Towing Datsun 1200 GX taking 5^th place followed by Cameron Foster in his Jensen Towing Datsun 1200 GX, Franz Jensen in his Hamilton’s Racing Datsun 1200 GX, Michael Lundin in his The Lube Guys Datsun 1200 GX, Sophos Pantazis in his Datsun 240Z and Peder Jensen in his Hamilton’s Racing Datsun 1200 GX who struggled with a gearbox issue a few laps into the race. Unfortunately, Daniel Lotter SNR in his GlobeLotter Industries Ford Escort MK1 suffered a mechanical failure and was not able to complete the first race. After the excitement from the first race, Race 2 was poised to be spectacular – and it did not disappoint. After 10 laps of extremely close racing, this time 4 seconds covering the top 8 positions when the chequered flag came out, it was Ladner who took the win, followed by Odendaal, Hepburn, Gouws, Peder Jensen, Cramer, Franz Jensen, Foster and Lundin. Unfortunately, Pantazis suffered some issues with his car, and nursed the car home to record a finish in Race 2.

Class F was once again one to watch out for with some great action between the competitors. After Race 1 it was George Eysselein in his VW Scirocco who took 1^st place after not being able to qualify and being placed at the back of his class for Race 1. Eysselein was closely followed by Craig Harris in his Audiobility Datsun 1200 GX, and Cor Kraamwinkel in his BMW 2002. Unfortunately, Daniel Lotter JNR in his GlobeLotter Industries Ford Escort suffered a mechanical failure forcing him to retire from the race. Race 2 was equally as exciting as the first heat with Eysselein once again keeping his rivals at bay to take a double victory on the day, he was closely followed by Kraamwinkel, Harris and Lotter JNR.

Class G saw heartbreak for Championship contender Mike Bishop in his Gasoline Denim Co. Renault Gordini as he suffered a gearbox failure as he was leaving the Pre-Race Paddock. This failure sadly led to his retirement for the day. This opened the door for his competitors to battle it out for victory. When the Chequered flag came out it was Riaan de Ru in his Ford Prefect in 1^st place, followed by Johann van der Walt in his Star Mining Supplies Mercedes 280E and Harm Beens JNR in his H3 Generator Works Ford Escort. In Race 2 it was once again de Ru who took 1^st place followed by van der Walt and Beens JNR. Hennie van der Merwe in his Ford Escort who unfortunately was not able to make it to qualifying or Race 1 and unfortunately suffered an accident in Race 2 after completing only 6 laps of the race – a tough weekend indeed.

With the growth of HRSA invitational drivers join in on some of the race meetings from time to time. On this occasion we had Hennie Groenewald in his Kameeldoring Motorsport Ford Escort mixing it up with the top competitors in Class C, Meredith Willis in his Ford Escort was involved with the massive Class E battle and Reg Sutton in his Rob Steel Ford Escort in amongst the top competitors of Class F.

The sizeable 40 car field for HRSA was a spectacle of pure adrenaline-fueled racing. The variety of cars coupled with the number of entries and quality of racing once again proves that HRSA is the pinnacle of historic motorsport in South Africa. Please reach out to our club should you wish to participate in our racing formulas – see link to the website below.