Rain interrupted play from time to time, but that could not prevent the Historic Tour from delivering a fine day of racing at Zwartkops on Saturday. It would be a difficult task to determine the race of the day, but the purists may insist that the ’sixties Marlboro Crane Hire Le Mans Sports & GT contest did the job.
Peter Jenkins was back up to speed after a damp qualifying to take the first race aboard his nimble 1970 Nucleus Supply Chevron B19 from local hero Mark du Toit’s thundering ’66 Trans Africa Racing Lola T70. SGTA winner James Temple completed the first race podium in the Sabat Shelby Daytona Coupe from Peter Bailey’s Ford GT40 and Porsche RSR duo Andre van der Merwe and George Avvakoumides. Du Toit beat Jenkins in race 2 to take the day overall, with Temple third again from Bailey, van der Merwe and Avvakoumides.
Andre van der Merwe’s Porsche RSR pipped Peter Bailey’s similar machine to overall and Class B Ben Morgenrood HRSA Historic Sprint honours, with PE visitor Rudolf de Vos’ Chevy Can-Am in pursuit. Stuart Konig’s Pro Auto VW Scirocco took Class C, Andre ten Napel’s similar TNMC car won Class D, Neil Lobb’s Fiat 131 Class F, John Simpson’s Evoke Alfa GT Junior G and Henrich Norton’s Porsche 924 Class H. Bailey beat van der Merwe in race 2 with Konig third from Class D winner George Avvakoumides’ Porsche. Ten Napel won C, Sean Hepburn’s AA Datsun E, Simpson G and Norton H.
Petite lady racer Paige Lindenberg muscled her monster Sabat Road to Race 1968 Ford Fairlane to opening Marlboro Crane Hire Legends of the 9 Hour honours over Jonathan du Toit’s nimble 1965 TAR BMW Ti and Warren Lombard’s ’65 Mustang. Francesco Lombardi’s '65 Alfa Sprint followed from Marc Miller’s similar Designer Dent car and Roger Houston’s 65 Giulia, while John Ten Doeschate's Protea topped Little Giants. Lindenberg held Lombard and du Toit off to win the second race from Alan Poulter’s Volvo 122S, Miller and Houston as Ten Doeschate took Little Giants again.
Rudolf de Vos’ Class B Chevy Can-Am kept a swarm of Datsuns at bay in the Roofsure Midvaal Historics after Willie Hepburn’s monster Opel Rekord stopped. Travis Jensen’s SV Tech & Jensen 1200 took Class D from Class E trio Franz Jensen, Wesley Rautenbach and Francois Jacobs’ similar cars. Terence Ladner’s Scirocco took Class E, Tim Crossland's Alfa GTV F and JJ Venter Jr.’s Jetta Mk1 Class F. Travis Jensen took race 2 from Rautenbach, Franz and Peder Jensen in a Datsun 1200 GX rout, Ladner and Crossland won Classes E and G and Alan Hooper’s Alfa Junior took Class G.
Ben van der Westhuizen took a Historic Single Seater double in his Royale RP 24 over Shaun Cabrita’s Titan Mk5 each time. Paul Richardson's Dulon, Ron Liddiard's Lotus and Des Hillary’s Dulon made it five Formula Fords in the top 5 from Clive Winterstein's Elva Porsche. Hillary was third from Liddiard, Colin Clay’s Lotus 23C and Winterstein in race 2. Cape visitor Dee-jay Booysen’s Dico Reynard FVW stormed to double Monoposto wins. Louis van der Merwe’s Swift and Corrie Le Roux’s Formula M shared the seconds and thirds from Formula M trio Ken Price, Hylton Morrow and Didier Diedericks each time.
Fines racer Werner Hartzenberg’s Porsche 916 took the opening Ben Morgenrood HRSA Pursuit handicap race from Rob Clark’s Citroen GS 1220 Club and Modified class winner Harm Beens Sr's Escort. Wynand du Plessis Jr’s Toyota MR2 followed from Machiel Oberholzer’s Mercedes 190E and Jensen Ewart's Alfetta. Kola de Klerk took race 2 in his Modified class Nissan 300 ZX from Fines man Clark, Wynand du Plessis Sr, Tim Abbot and Werner Hartzenberg’s Porsches and Willem van Niekerk’s Marauder.
There was a little contemporary action as Marius Jacobs’ A+ class AAA Recovery Tigra beat Gerhard Henning's Golf 5 to win both Silvercup races. Giulio Airaga’s Desco Tigra was second in the opening race from Riaan Draper's Golf 5 and Lenard Archer ACD Honda Type R. Gawie Marais’ Titan Golf 1 took Class B, Kevin Paynter's Ballade D and Marthinus Viljoen’s Kotze Truck Golf 1 Class C. Draper was third in race 2 while Karel Stolts’ Pretoria Noord Toyota Etios won Class B and Viljoen did the Class C double.
