MOTORING NEWS - The 2018 season-opening Passion for Speed race meeting at the Zwartkops Raceway near Pretoria will boast two exciting attractions on Saturday 27 January.
The first will be international historic race cars and motorcycles with drivers and riders from Sweden, the United Kingdom and The Netherlands, set to race against South Africans with similar vehicles.
Secondly, there will be a challenge race between eight legendary South African drivers in identical 1,2-litre Turbo VW Polo road cars.
The foreign car entries will include McLarens, Lotus, E-Type Jaguars, Lolas, Chevrons, BRMs, Ford Mustangs and Ford GT40s from the 1960s and early 1970s.
These cars will contest the 45-minute South African Le-Mans/Sebring Tourist Trophy race with a 30-strong field to also include local drivers in Lola T70s, Ferraris, Cobras, Ford GT40s, Ginettas, Shelby Daytonas and a McLaren.
The International Sports Racing Prototype races will see Porsche 917s, big Lola V8s, Chevrons, Lotus, Lancias and Trans-Am V8 models from the early 1970s in action.
Some 14 pre-1966 Legend V8 cars will tackle two races. Here the Ford Galaxies, Chevrolet Biscaynes, a Chev Nova, Camaros, Studebaker Larks and Ford Mustangs will be driven by Sarel van der Merwe, Jeffrey Kruger, Jonathan du Toit, Lee Thompson, Mark du Toit and Ferdi van Niekerk.
There will also be historic car races for pre-1966 Little Giants, single seaters up to 1974, pre-1966 under two-litre saloon cars and pre-1974 classic racing saloons. All in all, there should be some 84 separate makes and models.
Backing the historic contingent will be races for the G&H Transport Extreme Supercars.
A grid containing an Aston Martin, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches, Lotuses and BMWs should set the day's quickest lap times.
Another contemporary twist will be the single race for eight South African circuit racing legends.
Paulo Cavalieri's iconic Ferrari 250GT will be one of the most valuable cars in the headline South African Le Mans/Sebring Tourist Trophy race.
Taking to the tarmac in identical 1,2-litre Turbo VW Polo road cars will be Sarel van der Merwe, Michael Briggs, Willie Hepburn, Ben Morgenrood, Chris Aberdein, Deon Joubert, Geoff Mortimer and an as yet unidentified eighth driver, who will only be named on the day of the race.
The cars, supplied by Volkswagen South Africa, will have their keys thrown into a hat, with the competitors to draw their steeds for the weekend.
The drivers will get one practice session and one qualifying session on the Friday, plus one race on the Saturday.
Zwartkops Raceway will have an open pit policy - everybody is invited to visit the pits on foot during the course of the meeting.
The circuit's traditional Mini Moke trains will operate between the pit gates and various spectator areas throughout the day, with all grandstand seating free of charge.
The pit area will have children's entertainment, food and drink, plus a large flea market. Full weekend admission will be R210 per adult and R140 per student.
The same prices will be valid for tickets bought at the gate on the Saturday.
Pre-sold full weekend passes from the Zwartkops office or at iTickets will be R190 per adult and R120 per student. Tickets for Friday or Sunday only will cost R110 per adult and R90 per student.
In all cases, children under the age of 12 will go in for free.
To find out more, call the Zwartkops office on 012 384 2299 or 082 390 6016.
You could also e-mail them at info@zwartkops.co.za.
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