OldRacingCars.com

Highveld "100"

Kyalami, 27 Jan 1979

ResultsLapsTime/Speed
1 Ian Scheckter March 79A [79A-27] - Ford BDD Nicholson
#1 Team Lexington [Ken Howes] (see note 1)
32 44m 08.33s
2 Roy Klomfass March 79B [1] - Ford BDD
#2 Team Texan [Alex Blignaut] (see note 2)

3 Mike Domingo March 76B ['MD'/"1A"] - Ford BDD Nicholson
#8 Team Domingo (see note 3)

4 Trevor van Rooyen March 79B [2?] - Ford BDD Nicholson
#3 Team Gunston [Eddie Pinto] (see note 4)

5 Yunus Domingo Modus M3 ['MD'/"022A"] - Ford BDD Nicholson
#11 Team Domingo (see note 5)

6 Evan Boddy Chevron B34 [34-76-02] - Ford BDD Nicholson
#16 South Coast Racing (see note 6)

R Clive Cooke March 78B/79B - Ford BDD
#7 B.P. Racing/Rally Motors (see note 7)
Engine
R Bobby Scott March 77B ['AT'] - Ford BDD
#4 Sportsman Lager Racing [Andrew Thompson]
(see note 8)
22 Piston
R Tony Martin Chevron B45 [45-78-01] - Ford BDD
#5 Lucky Strike Racing/South Coast Motors
(see note 9)
1 Dropped valve
T Roy Klomfass March 77B [11] - Ford BDD
#12 Team Texan [Alex Blignaut] (see note 10)
(Only used in practice)
T Trevor van Rooyen March 77B [8] - Ford BDD
#6 Team Gunston [Eddie Pinto] (see note 11)
(Only used in practice)
  Len Booysen Donnelly JD201 ['1'] - Ford BDD
#17 Donnelly Racing Cars (see note 12)
On entry list
  Geoff Frizell Chevron B29 [29-75-25] - Ford BDA
#18 Geoff Frizell (see note 13)
On entry list
  Sarel Pienaar Chevron B29 [29-75-15] - Ford BDD
#10 Sarel Pienaar (see note 14)
On entry list
  Bernard Tilanus Wheatcroft R18 [003] - Ford BDD
#9 DAW Supplies [Jeff Waberski]
(see note 15)
On entry list

All cars are 1.6-litre F/Atl unless noted.

Qualifying
1 Trevor van Rooyen (F/Atl) 1.6-litre March 79B [2?] - Ford BDD Nicholson
2 Tony Martin (F/Atl) 1.6-litre Chevron B45 [45-78-01] - Ford BDD
3 Ian Scheckter (F/Atl) 1.6-litre March 79A [79A-27] - Ford BDD Nicholson
4 Clive Cooke (F/Atl) 1.6-litre March 78B/79B - Ford BDD

Notes on the cars:

  1. March 79A [79A-27] (Ian Scheckter): New to Team Lexington for Ian Scheckter to drive in South African Formula Atlantic in 1979. The new "wing car" was delivered in time for Scheckter to race it in the Highveld 100 at Kyalami on 27 January, and he won five of his first six races in the car. It was fitted with a Fiat engine for the start of Formula SA but this was quickly replaced with a Mazda rotary engine, and Scheckter won the last four races of the season. The 79A was sold to Bokomo Racing for Tommy Dunne in 1980. It was then sold to Pieter Fouché's Pretoria Brick team, where it was raced by Jan du Plessis in 1981 and by Roy Carr in 1982. In mid-1982, Fouché reorganised the team to focus on a Ralt RT4/82 for Wayne Taylor, and the 79A was sold to Roy Moss. He raced it for the remainder of 1982 and through 1983, during which time he fitted a March 802 rollhoop. It was then sold to Steve Herbst who converted it to flat-bottomed specification by removing the sidepods. He also fitted side-mounted radiators and a March 802 nose. He ran it in this form in 1984 and 1985. The tub and bodywork were later exported by Gavin Hards to John Brannigan, but by the time they arrived the chassis plate was no longer with them. John's stock book from the time shows that he sold it all to Richard Parkin as a kit, but as the car Richard received had no chassis plate but a 1980 nose and 1980 rollhoop, he advertised it as an 80A. He remembers getting no interest in it and believes he may have sold it through the trade, perhaps to Roger Hurst. Subsequent history unknown.
  2. March 79B [1] (Roy Klomfass): New to Alex Blignaut's Team Texan for Roy Klomfass to race in South African Formula Atlantic from October 1978 onwards. When the Formula SA rules were introduced in June 1979, it was fitted at first with a 2-litre BMW engine but this was not a success and it was quickly fitted with a Ford V6. At the end of the season, it is believed to have been sold with other South African Formula Atlantic cars to Ted Titmas (Van Nuys, CA). Chris Townsend reports that the car was sold to brothers Tom and Steve Shelton (Fort Lauderdale, FL) and is likely to be the car driven by Tom, as Steve had already owned chassis 79B-10 since the start of 1979. The two 79Bs were advertised together at the end of 1981, and the ex-Titmas car went to Ron Levanduski (Elmira, NY) who raced it for the next five seasons. Levanduski sold it to Joe Ostrowski (Trenton, NJ) in July 1987. Ostrowski sold the car at the end of 1989 when he bought a newer March 81A. Subsequent history unknown.
  3. March 76B ['MD'/"1A"] (Mike Domingo): A car built up by Mike Domingo at the start of 1977 using a monocoque that Ian Scheckter had damaged when testing 76B/1 after the race at Aldo Scribante in March 1976. Domingo's car is usually referred to as "76B/1 (A)" as it built around the first tub from 76B/1. It was raced by Mike Domingo through 1977, 1978 and 1979, still with its BDA engine. It was then rebuilt with a Mazda engine for 1980, but was damaged at Kyalami in January. The car was rebuilt, but the Domingos also acquired Alex Blignaut's 76B/19 which was built up for Roy Klomfass to drive. When Klomfass declined the drive, Mike Domingo moved to the ex-Blignaut car, leaving his original car redundant. The ex-Scheckter tub and associated spares were sold in mid-1980 to Vernon Bricknell as spares for the March 76B-1 he had just acquired from the DAW Supplies team. When Bricknell sold 76B-1 to the Pretoria Brick Racing Team in early 1981, the remains of the Domingo car remained with Bricknell until damaged when the building in which they were being stored collapsed. The tub was scrapped and the remaining parts sold to Trevor Trautmann for a sports car project. At this stage, the Domingo 76B had effectively ceased to exist.
  4. March 79B [2?] (Trevor van Rooyen): Trevor van Rooyen raced a March 79B for Team Gunston from December 1978 onwards in South African Formula Atlantic. Gunston withdrew from racing when the new Formula SA rules came into force in June 1979 and the 79B is believed to have been sold with other South African Formula Atlantic cars to Ted Titmas (Van Nuys, CA). Chris Townsend reports that the car was sold to an owner in Texas. Subsequent history unknown.
  5. Modus M3 ['MD'/"022A"] (Yunus Domingo): Mike Domingo built up a Modus M3 for 1976 using what is believed to have been the first monocoque from Modus M3/022, which was replaced after an accident in July 1975. Raced by Mike Domingo in the South African Formula Atlantic series in 1976. Sold to John Simpson for 1977, but he crashed the car in practice at Welkom, his second event. The car returned to Team Domingo and was eventually repaired, apparently using a spare monocoque supplied to Dave Charlton in March 1976. It was raced by Yunus Domingo at least twice in 1979, and then by Jan Klinkert at Kyalami in May 1979. The car then remained with the Domingo family until 1995, when it was bought by Sam Thomas. Shortly afterwards, he sold it to to John McKercher. At this point it was found to have tub number 043-2-76, assumed to be a spare monocoque supplied to either Dave Charlton or Mike Domingo after their cars were built in 1976. Restored and used by McKercher in South African historic racing.
  6. Chevron B34 [34-76-02] (Evan Boddy): New to Tony Martin for the 1976 South African Formula Atlantic championship, entered by Team Bic/South Coast Motors. Retained by Martin for 1977 as a spare car to his new B39 and raced only once that season, as a South Coast Motors entry for Evan Boddy at Kyalami in October. Raced by Boddy during 1978, entered again by South Coast Motors Racing. Raced again by Boddy in 1979, again entered by South Coast Motors, and also retained for 1980 as a backup for 34-76-08, but apparently unused that season. Sold in early 1981 to Stan Chandler, who commissioned SCM's engine specialist Piet Bredenhann to fit a Mazda rotary engine. The car was entered for John Banks to drive at Kyalami and at Goldfields Raceway in May 1981, at Kyalami in May 1982, and possibly at other races. Shortly after that last entry, it was sold to Ken Critchfield. The car was involved in an accident later in 1982 or in early 1983, and the engine and gearbox were then used by Fred Goddard to rebuild his March 802. The damaged Chevron tub and salvageable suspension components were returned to John Banks who retained it in its damaged state until selling it to Mike Budd in 1995. Budd was rebuilding the car for Gary Dunkerly, and after Mike's death in 2022, the restoration was taken over by his son Ryan.
  7. March 78B/79B (Clive Cooke): Ian Scheckter had a new Team Lexington March 78B for the start of the South African Formula Atlantic series. He retained the car for the 1978/79 season (October to May) and by December 1978 it had been updated with the same sidepods as the new March 79B. When Scheckter acquired a new F2-chassis 79A, the 78B/79B was sold to Clive Cooke, who raced it for the first time at Kyalami in January 1979. The car was due to be converted to a BMW engine for the Formula SA series, but Cooke did not appear. Sold to Jeff Waberski's DAW Supplies team in 1980, and fitted with a Mazda engine for Bernard Tilanus to drive. He won three of the first four races of the season, but while the March was being taken to Killarney for the Cape South Easter Trophy in March 1980, the transporter caught fire just outside Parys and exploded. The March was "completely destroyed" according to press reports, and the team's second car, a Wheatcroft R18 that was being towed on a trailer, was also badly damaged.
  8. March 77B ['AT'] (Bobby Scott): Built by Andrew Thompson in South Africa in 1978 using an unused monocoque that had been supplied as a spare for Ian Scheckter's March 77B/7. Thompson acquired the tub and all the other 77B spares from Ken Howes before 77B/7 was sold back to the UK. He built all these into a new car using the Hewland FT200 gearbox from the ex-Dave Charlton/Alex Blignaut March 76B/19. The resulting car was raced by Bobby Scott through the 1978/79 season, sponsored by Rembrandt through its Sportsman Lager and then Kronenbräu 1308 Lager brands. It was rented from Thompson by Graham Duxbury for a race in October 1979, still with its BDA engine, and then sold to Hagen Wulf and Ivor Raasch who fitted a Mazda engine for the 1980 season. It was also raced by Allan McDonald that season. It was then sold to Graham Duxbury who raced it very successfully in 1981. Retained for the first few races of 1982 until Duxbury's new March 82A arrived and then sold to Ivan Moavero who used it for the rest of that season. Sold to Steve Herbst for 1983, but in August he swapped it for Roy Moss's March 792. Raced by Moss until the end of 1984. He then sold it to Terry Moss, who was unrelated, for the 1985 season, but Moss crashed the car at Kyalami in April, destroying the front of the monocoque. Moss built up a March 782 using parts salvaged from the 77B, but the tub was scrapped. The 77B effectively ceased to exist at this point.
  9. Chevron B45 [45-78-01] (Tony Martin): New to South Coast Motors for Tony Martin to race in the South African Formula Atlantic series in 1978, sponsored by the United Tobacco Company's Lucky Strike brand, and initially wearing Chevron B39 bodywork. Retained for 1979, but Martin also had an older Chevron B34 which was used at several races. The B45 was then fitted with a 3-litre Ford V6 engine for the new Formula South Africa that started in July 1979. It was also rebuilt by Ken Gillibrand as a "wing car", but this was not a success and it was rebuilt to more standard specification. It was fitted with a Mazda engine for 1980 and entered by South Coast Motors for Len Booysen to drive in the first few races of the season, but Martin had to take over the car when his preferred B34 was damaged in a towing accident. He was very successful in the car that season, but reports only gave it as a BP Racing Propart Chevron or a BP McCarthy Chevron, so it's unclear when he used his rebuilt B34. Martin bought an ex-F2 Maurer MM80 for 1981. The B45 was later destroyed in a garage fire.
  10. March 77B [11] (Roy Klomfass): New for Rupert Keegan to race in the South African Formula Atlantic series in early 1977, run for him by the Doug Shierson team and entered as Team Uniewinkels. Then run by Martin Flint and Roger Taylor for John Gibb to race for the rest of 1977. Retained by Flint & Taylor's Team Uniewinkels for 1978, when it was driven by Roy Klomfass. Moved to Alex Blignaut's Team Texan for the start of the 1978/79 season, still with Klomfass driving, as a spare car to the team's new March 79B. The 77B was then sold to Dave Hart's Team Valvoline. Hart fitted it with a BMW engine for the new Formula South Africa in 1979, then converted to a Mazda engine for 1980. It was then sold to Brian Ferris, who raced it in 1981 and in early 1982 before his new Ralt RT4/82 arrived. The 77B may have been raced by Ferris's friend Klaus Grogor in the latter half of 1982. In January 1983, it was sold to Fred Goddard who ran it for several drivers as part of his Petromark team over the next two seasons, including Braam Smith, Roy Carr, Derek Irving and Danie Mulder. It was unused in 1985, then driven by Ivano Moavero in 1986. Then retained by Goddard who took it with him to the UK when he emigrated in 1989 to set up Fred Goddard Racing. After Fred's death in July 2007, the 77B passed to his son Earl Goddard, and he sold it to Nick Beer around 2013.
  11. March 77B [8] (Trevor van Rooyen): New to Eddie Pinto and Team Gunston for Roy Klomfass to race in South African Formula Atlantic in 1977, using Swindon BDA engines. Retained by Team Gunston in 1978 for new driver Trevor van Rooyen. Retained again by Team Gunston for the 1978/79 season, when it was a spare car to Van Rooyen's new March 79B and was driven that season by Basil Van Rooyen at Kyalami in October 1978 (when Trevor was unwell), by Dave Charlton at Killarney later that month, and then by Trevor at two races. Later in 1979, it was raced twice by John Love. It was unused in 1980, then sold to Jeff Waberski after his DAW Supplies team's ex-Ian Scheckter March 78B was destroyed in a transporter fire. The 77B was fitted with a Mazda engine and raced by Bernard Tilanus for DAW Supplies from June 1981 onwards. It was raced by Dave Charlton for DAW around March/April 1982, then by Billy Maloney as a DAW entry later in 1982. Maloney crashed the car at some point, and acquired a March 782 to replace it in April 1983. The 77B was sold to Klaus Grogor's House of Sports Cars team for Grogor to drive in the 1983 season, and then retained by Grogor unused through 1984 and 1985. It was then sold to Gary Harrison who intended to convert it into a sports car for the 'Can-Am' series that absorbed Formula SA in 1986, but he only used in single seater form. The car was acquired by Dorino Treccani during the 1990s and sold to Andrew and Stuart Thompson in 2000.
  12. Donnelly JD201 ['1'] (Len Booysen): The Donnelly JD201 was built for Formula Atlantic in South Africa by ex-Brabham engineer John Donnelly during 1977 when he was based in Durban, in conjunction with building the JD1 for Formula Ford. The Formula Atlantic car had a stainless steel monocoque with Modus suspension and wedge bodywork inspired by Formula Ford practice. It was first raced by Clive Cooke at Kyalami in February 1978 and proved competitive, with Cooke achieving three good finishes that season. The Donnelly was entered by Team Donnelly Racing for local driver Len Booysen to drive in early 1979, but any firm details of it actually racing are elusive. It was acquired by Piet Fouche's Pretoria Brick team, fitted with a Mazda engine for the new Formula South Africa, and entered for Formula Ford star André du Plessis towards the end of the 1980 season. Du Plessis then drove the car in 1981 alongside brother Jan du Plessis in the team's March 792. By May 1982 the Donnelly had been sold to Lew Baker, who entered it for Piet de Klerk to drive, then for himself, and then for Mike Bucknall. The Donnelly was then stripped so its Modus running gear could be used on a Tiga sports cars that had previously used Maurer MM83 running gear. The Tiga passed to Dorino Trocchani, and the Donnelly monocoque was thrown away by Baker in 1985.
  13. Chevron B29 [29-75-25] (Geoff Frizell): The Rapid Movements Chevron B29 driven by Matt Spitzley is believed to have suffered a testing accident at some point early in 1975, and it was rebuilt with a new monocoque. At the Oulton Park race on 26 May, it was noted as having chassis plate 75-25, but exactly when the rebuild took place is still unclear. Gunnar Nilsson took over the car from Spitzley in August, and recorded five successive wins in it, four of them from pole. In January 1976 it was sold to John Gibb (Randburg, South Africa), to be raced in the new South African Formula Atlantic series, entered by Team Mum for Men with backing from Pioneer Hi Fi. It was sold to Geoff Frizell (Durban, South Africa) for 1977, and returned with Frizell in 1979, when it was described as a B34. It then went to Manny Pinto, and was raced by him from 1980 to 1984, and then reappeared two years later with Trevor Trautmann who raced it in 1986. Trautmann exhanged it for Alan Dunlop's Lant, and the Chevron then went to Alan McDonald and Mike Budd. Budd restored it for Mark du Toit, who owned it in 2000. It was purchased by Anthony Corin (Malmesbury, South Africa) in 2004 and was still owned by him in June 2008. By 2019 it was owned by Colin Frost.
  14. Chevron B29 [29-75-15] (Sarel Pienaar): New for Jim Crawford at Oulton Park in late May when his early-season development car was rebuilt on a new monocoque, effectively becoming a new car with chassis number 29-75-15. Crawford raced this car seven times in the British Formula Atlantic series, winning two races, and also raced it in F2 specification at Silverstone in August, using a Geoff Richardson BDA engine. Richard Morgan (Purley, Surrey) then hired the car for a few races at the end of the season. To Len Booysen (Randburg, South Africa) for the 1976 South African Formula Atlantic series, entered by Golden-Flo Racing with Kenitex. Then to Dorino Treccani, and raced by him in a few late 1977 and early 1978 races before it passed to Sarel Pienaar, who raced it for the rest of 1978 and in 1979. It was purchased from Pienaar by Peter Haller in 1980 to provide parts for his homebuilt Haller Special. The B29 tub was not used in the Haller Special, and was never converted to a Mazda engine. After Haller's death in March 1984, the original tub and salvageable parts from the B29 and were bought from Haller's widow by Alan McDonald and Mike Budd. Their plans to build a sports car did not materialize, and the B29 was eventually restored by Budd for Mike Ward. The restoration was completed around 2005. It was later sold to Doug Brown, who returned it to its 1976 Golden Flo livery. Later sold to Colin Frost about 2015.
  15. Wheatcroft R18 [003] (Bernard Tilanus): New to Alex Blignaut for Nols Nieman to drive in the 1976 South African Formula Atlantic series, sponsored by Benson & Hedges. The team had the older R18/002 as a spare car. Retained for 1977, when it was also driven by Royce Love and Grant Maben. Retained again for 1978, when it was probably the car raced by Keith Zeeman for Blignaut's team. Sold to Jeff Waberski's DAW Supplies team for Bernard Tilanus to drive from October 1978 onwards. When the new Formula SA rules were introduced, the R18 was the first chassis to be fitted with a Mazda engine. Driven by Peter Morrison in early 1980, but Tilanus took over the car again after his newer March 78B was destroyed. Later in 1980, Tilanus swapped the car for Soon Weeks' March, and Weeks continued with the Wheatcroft in 1981. Weeks is believed to have had an accident in the car, after which he kept it until 1986 when he sold it to Dave Hart in Natal, complete with the same BMW M10 engine that Hart had used in his March 77B back in 1979. The car then passed to John Hatfield (Pinetown, Kwazulu-Natal) who was looking for a Hewland FT200 for his Chevron B61 and an engine for a Chevron B8. Around 1990 Hatfield also acquired the remains of R18-002 from Trevor Trautmann (via Roger Pearce). Trautmann had had a new monocoque for the car fabricated locally in 1983. Hatfield then consolidated the remains of both cars into the new monocoque, fitted the chassis plate from 002 and restored it to rolling chassis condition. The subsequent history of the 003 monocoque and parts is unknown. It was last seen leaning against a wall at Hatfield's Status Cars workshop in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal. However, in June 1993, Alan Goodman (Reading) drove a Wheatcroft R18, reportedly chassis 003, in a Historic F3 race at Thruxton.

Sources

Note that the identification of individual cars in these results is based on the material presented elsewhere in this site and may in some cases contradict the organisers' published results.

The South African race results were originally compiled by Chris Townsend based on material in Autosport and Motoring News plus information supplied by a wide range of contributors. One of the contributors was later found to have used erroneous information, and the results have in some places been reworked using reports and results in South African newspapers such as the Rand Daily Mail.

All comments, clarifications, corrections and additions are most welcome. Please email Allen (allen@oldracingcars.com) if you can help in any way with our research.

Individual sources for this event

Autosport 1 Feb 1979 p6, Rand Daily Mail 27 Jan 1979 p4. Chris Townsend also credited the Peter MacIntosh archive. Autosport reported that only ten of the 18 entries arrived for practice. It listed all six finishers and mentioned the retirements of Martin, Cooke and Scott, leavign the tenth attendee a mystery.