The third round of the 2017 Historic Tour took place at the Red Star Raceway on Saturday 3 June.
An exciting race day would once again see a few more new entrants join the ranks of this popular tour.
Charlies SuperSpar Historic Pursuit Racing
The days racing was kicked off by the Charlies SuperSpar Historic Pursuit Racing. Once again the pursuers delivered exciting racing throughout the field. Johan Swanepoel (1971 Fiat 124 Sport Coupe) would take the win in the first race followed by season newcomer Richard Tudor-Owen (1993 Mercedes-Benz 190E). A gutsy performance saw Henk de Klerk (1993 Honda Civic) take third.
The second race would however see a completely different result as the win was taken this time by Darrell Cramer (1972 Mercedes-Benz 280E). A satisfying second place went to Stan Stacey (1982 Alfa Romeo GTV 2.5) and Andre Hattingh (1983 Mercedes-Benz 190E) would take third.
Overall results for the day:
- Johan Swanepoel (T), 2. Werner Hartzenberg (T) and 3. Frans Venter (F)
Over all Classification – Fine Cars (F):
- Frans Venter, 2. Henk de Klerk and 3. Andre Hattingh
Over all Classification – Trophy Cars (T):
- Johan Swanepoel, 2. Werner Hartzenberg and 3. Darrell Cramer
Marlboro Crane Hire Pre-1980 Historic Saloons classes ABCDE
A myriad of beautiful Porsches would line up on the grid behind the Chevron B19 of international guest Greg Thornton for the first combined race of the Pre-90 Sports & GT and Marlboro Crane Hire Pre-1980 Historic Saloons classes A to E. From the start it would be Thornton to take the lead into turn 1. Peter Jenkins (Porsche 911 RSR) slotted into second chasing after Thornton followed by Peter Bailey (Porsche 911), George Avvakoumides (Porsche 911 RSR) and Fred Konig (Porsche 911 RSR). Paige Lindenberg (1968 Ford Fairlane) took the lead for the saloon cars and held onto the lead up to the last lap when she had to retire without brakes. Thornton fell back to third on the first lap which saw Jenkins and Bailey taking the lead. Thornton would retake the lead a lap later and not look back again.
Behind Lindenberg a battle of epic proportions erupted between Miguel Ribiero (Alfa Romeo GTAM), Gerhard Henning (VW Scirocco) and Jannie van Rooyen (VW Scirocco). When the flag dropped it would be Thornton in first followed by Jenkins and Bailey in third. Henning would take his first win in class D and Neil Lobb (Fiat 131) the win in class E. Dewald Nel (Datsun 1600J) took the win in the Classic Thoroughbreds class E.
The second race would see Thornton take another comfortable win. Second over the line this time was Wynand van der Merwe (Porsche RSR) who had to start from the back of the grid after missing the first race. This after Jenkins retired from second 5 laps into the race. Third to cross the line was Avvakoumides after a long days battle with Konig that simply never gave up. After a hard fought battle Henning took his second win for the day in class D. Lob would once again take the win in class E. Nel also got the double win in the Classic Thoroughbreds class E.
Overall results for the day:
Class Pre90 A: 1. Greg Thornton, 2. Peter Jenkins, 3. Wynand van der Merwe
Class Pre90 C: 1. Peter Bailey, 2. George Avvakoumides and 3. Fred Konig
Class Pre90 E: 1. Fritz Kleynhans
Class Pre80 D: 1. Gerhard Henning, 2. Jannie van Rooyen and 3. Johann Smith
Class Pre80 E: 1. Neil Lobb 2. Rene van Rensburg and 3. Frank Davis
Class CTE: 1. Dewald Nel
Marlboro Crane Hire Pre-1980 Historic Saloons classes FGH
Some of the closest racing took place in the two Marlboro Crane Hire Pre-1980 Historic Saloons classes F to H combined with the Classic Thoroughbreds class F. In a hard fought battle Deon van Vuuren (Ford Escort Mk1) took the win in class F followed closely by Jan Jacobs (Alfa Romeo GT Junior) in second and Djurk Venter (Ford Escort) crossing the line in third.
Marco Verwey (Datsun 1200 GX) took the win in class G and Arthur Eggar (Renault R8) the class H win.
Season newcomer Stewart McLarty (Mazda 323) won his debut race in the Classic Thoroughbreds.
Another epic battle would see Dave Leyshon (VW Scirocco) pip Van Vuuren to the line for the win with but 0.046 of a second separating the pair across the line in the second race!
Kyle Murray (Nissan Sentra) who had to retire from the first race with mechanical issues would cross the line in third overall and winning the second Classic Thoroughbreds overall after starting from the back of the grid.
This time round Harry Lombard (VW Beetle) got the better of Verwey to take the class G win. Eggar repeated his first race performance taking his second win for the day in class H.
Overall results for the day:
Class F: 1. Deon van Vuuren, 2. Dave Leyshon and 3. Djurk Venter
Class G: 1. Marco Verwey, 2. Harry Lombard and 3. Fanie Kloppers
Class H: 1. Arthur Eggar and 2. Steven Neofitou
Class CTF: 1. Stewart McLarty, 2. Colin Green and 3. Kyle Murray
Class CTG: Stan Stacey
Hamptons Historic Endurance Series
Starting the race Peter Jenkins (Porsche 911 RSR) took an early lead in the day’s premier race of the Hamptons 1 Hour Endurance Race. Greg Thornton (Chevron B19) slotted into second followed by Fritz Kleynhans (Porsche 911) in third. Ben Knights (Locost Rocam) took the lead in the Lotus class with Jeff Gable (Birkin 7 Toyota) and Mackie Adlem (Locost Rocam) in toe. Hubi von Moltke (Mercedes-Benz 280CE) would take the initial lead of the saloon cars.
Unfortunately after their first pit stop and driver change would see Colin Ellison retire the Chevron next to the track after completing only two laps. Jenkins would go on to win the overall race ahead of Kleynhans in second and Dewald Nel (Datsun 1600J) taking a well-deserved third.
Gable would pass Knights for the lead on the first lap in the Lotus class and not look back again to take the win ahead of David Jermy (Birkin 7 Toyota) leaving Knights finishing in third. Index of performance however went to Knights in the Lotus class. Djurk Venter (Ford Escort) won the coveted Index of Performance in the saloon car class.
Overall results for the day:
Historic Cars:
- Peter Jenkins (Pre90 A)
- Fritz Kleynhans (Pre90 E)
- Dewald Nel (Pre80 F)
Lotus Cars:
- Jeff Gable (Class B)
- David Jermy (Class B)
- Ben Knights (Class L)
Index of Performance (Saloons)
- Djurk Venter (Pre80 H)
- Hubi von Moltke (Pre80 F)
- Harry Lombard (Pre80 G)
Index of Performance (Lotus)
- Ben Knights (Class L)
- Jeff Gable (Class B)
- David Jermy (Class B)
Full Race Results and Lap Times by ZA Timing
The next round will see the Historic Tour visit the coastal town of Port Shepstone and the Dezzi Raceway on the 5th of August for round 4 of the championship.
Cars in the Park 2017
HRSA has secured space for 30 cars at Cars in the Park on 6 August 2017 at Zwartkops.
Any members interested in displaying their vehicles, contact Nick Van Wyk on 0835871433.
