| Historic Racing at Zwartkops Raceway by John Saxby |
| Ottawa Section CVMG |
Historic Racing at Zwartkops Raceway, Pretoria, South Africa
See John's photographs
Earlier this year, I spent a day at Zwartkops Raceway, a tight 2.4-km track a couple of ridges west of our house in
the southern suburbs of Pretoria, watching and listening and smelling cars & bikes from the 50’s, 60’s & 70’s in
action. (“Smelling” because there’s nothing like the smell of Castrol R in the morning, as Robert Duvall might
have said…)
It was only 30 Rands (about $6) for the day, a pretty good price for watching a day of racing and wandering
around a paddock inhabited by: Honda’s world champion, Jim Redman, on a ’75 Yamaha 750 TZ, still the fastest
there, though he must be in his late ‘60’s at least; two very nice Gold Stars and a Rocket GS; several Velos;
several Ducati singles and a 750 GT; several Suzuki twins, X-6’s and a couple of 500’s; a little Mondial 175 which
made an unnerving racket and ran well up in the field; an Enfield 250 and a Greeves Oulton; two Manxes (350s)
and an ES2, no less, in racing trim; a clean Honda 750 CR and a clutch of Norton twins, an Atlas and a couple of
Commandos; and a nice TT Replica Triumph. Had a chat with one of the guys running a Suzuki 500, as I owned
a couple of those in the 1970’s. He was chuffed to have a chance to chase Redman, and happily, his 500 was
strong and troublefree in both of his races.
But not only that—I had a look as well at a couple of GT 40’s in various stages of undress, a pre-war Alfa with the
ghost of Nuvolari hovering over it, a lovely ’56 D-Type in proper Ecurie Ecosse dark blue (no Moss in evidence),
a Tasman Cooper-Climax like the privateer in which John Love so very nearly won the 1967 GP at Kyalami, a day-
glo yellow (!!) XK140, and innumerable racing sedans from three and four decades ago, including, of all things, a
bellowing Studebaker Golden Hawk. (It gave a good account of itself, though it was a bit embarrassed by a
cheeky Ford Anglia—how do they make those things go so fast?—and an improbable Beetle Special with a 2.4 ltr
Porsche engine…) The Porsches dominated the sports-car classes, as one might expect, but there was
entertainment and lots of noise from a 427 Cobra, until it skated off the track once and for all, and an outstanding
run from a Mark II Healey, surely one of the most attractive sports cars ever built.
The folks at the gate were really nice: when I turned up on my1980 R80/7, they were very careful to make sure I
was parked in a safe corner—“Don’t want your nice bike to be damaged, sir.”
John Saxby
Pretoria, South Africa
Sept. 1, 2005
See John's photographs
Earlier this year, I spent a day at Zwartkops Raceway, a tight 2.4-km track a couple of ridges west of our house in
the southern suburbs of Pretoria, watching and listening and smelling cars & bikes from the 50’s, 60’s & 70’s in
action. (“Smelling” because there’s nothing like the smell of Castrol R in the morning, as Robert Duvall might
have said…)
It was only 30 Rands (about $6) for the day, a pretty good price for watching a day of racing and wandering
around a paddock inhabited by: Honda’s world champion, Jim Redman, on a ’75 Yamaha 750 TZ, still the fastest
there, though he must be in his late ‘60’s at least; two very nice Gold Stars and a Rocket GS; several Velos;
several Ducati singles and a 750 GT; several Suzuki twins, X-6’s and a couple of 500’s; a little Mondial 175 which
made an unnerving racket and ran well up in the field; an Enfield 250 and a Greeves Oulton; two Manxes (350s)
and an ES2, no less, in racing trim; a clean Honda 750 CR and a clutch of Norton twins, an Atlas and a couple of
Commandos; and a nice TT Replica Triumph. Had a chat with one of the guys running a Suzuki 500, as I owned
a couple of those in the 1970’s. He was chuffed to have a chance to chase Redman, and happily, his 500 was
strong and troublefree in both of his races.
But not only that—I had a look as well at a couple of GT 40’s in various stages of undress, a pre-war Alfa with the
ghost of Nuvolari hovering over it, a lovely ’56 D-Type in proper Ecurie Ecosse dark blue (no Moss in evidence),
a Tasman Cooper-Climax like the privateer in which John Love so very nearly won the 1967 GP at Kyalami, a day-
glo yellow (!!) XK140, and innumerable racing sedans from three and four decades ago, including, of all things, a
bellowing Studebaker Golden Hawk. (It gave a good account of itself, though it was a bit embarrassed by a
cheeky Ford Anglia—how do they make those things go so fast?—and an improbable Beetle Special with a 2.4 ltr
Porsche engine…) The Porsches dominated the sports-car classes, as one might expect, but there was
entertainment and lots of noise from a 427 Cobra, until it skated off the track once and for all, and an outstanding
run from a Mark II Healey, surely one of the most attractive sports cars ever built.
The folks at the gate were really nice: when I turned up on my1980 R80/7, they were very careful to make sure I
was parked in a safe corner—“Don’t want your nice bike to be damaged, sir.”
John Saxby
Pretoria, South Africa
Sept. 1, 2005
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