Sigma Series for Formula Atlantic Cars Race
Kyalami, 24 Sep 1983
Results | Laps | Time/Speed | |||||||
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1 | Ian Scheckter | (Formula SA) March 832 - Mazda 12A Sigma #10 Team Gunston [Ken Howes] (see note 1) |
18 | 23m 37.6s 187.57 kph |
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2 | Tony Martin | (Formula SA) Maurer MM82 [04] - Mazda 12A Sigma #3 BP 2000 Racing [South Coast Motors] (see note 2) |
18 | 23m 38.1s |
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3 | Wayne Taylor | (Formula SA) Ralt RT4/83 [82-330-2?] - Mazda 12A Sigma #7 Dealer Lamborghini [Brian Ferris] (see note 3) |
18 | 23m 38.8s |
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4 | Trevor van Rooyen | (Formula SA) Maurer MM83 [03?] - Mazda 12A Sigma #2 DAW Supplies [Jeff Waberski] (see note 4) |
18 | 23m 47.0s |
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5 | Graham Duxbury | (Formula SA) March 832 - Mazda 12A Sigma #1 Brut/Boss Paving/BP (see note 5) |
18 | 23m 48.7s |
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6 | Bernard Tilanus | (Formula SA) Lant RR83 [Ralt RT4 272?] - Mazda 12A Sigma #4 Petromark/Rack Rite [Fred Goddard] (see note 6) |
18 | 23m 49.2s |
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7 | George Fouché | (Formula SA) Ralt RT4/83 [426] - Mazda 12A Sigma #27 Pretoria Brick Racing (see note 7) |
18 | 24m 09.5s |
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8 | John Moni | (Formula SA) Maurer MM81 [02?] - Mazda 12A Sigma #23 Duckhams Oils (see note 8) |
18 | 24m 19.3s |
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9 | Braam Smith | (Formula SA) March 77B [11] - Mazda 12A Sigma #64 Petromark [Fred Goddard] (see note 9) |
18 | 24m 45.5s |
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10 | Klaus Grogor | (Formula SA) March 77B [8] - Mazda 12A Sigma #65 House of Sports Cars (see note 10) |
18 | 24m 33.6s |
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11 | Peter Haller | (Formula SA) Chevron B34 [34-76-03] - Mazda 12A Sigma #54 Peter Haller (see note 11) |
18 | 24m 37.5s |
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12 | Roy Moss | (Formula SA) March 77B ['AT'] - Mazda 12A Sigma #63 Camec Racing (see note 12) |
17 | ||||||
R | Ken Critchfield | (Formula SA) March 802 [7] - Mazda 12A Sigma #28 Ken Critchfield (see note 13) |
5 | ||||||
R | Bill Maloney | (Formula SA) March 78B [782-2(A)] - Mazda 12A Sigma #57 Billy Maloney (see note 14) |
4 | ||||||
R | Allan Dunlop | (Formula SA) March 76B [1] - Mazda 12A Sigma #59 Allan Dunlop (see note 15) |
3 | ||||||
DNQ | Roy Klomfass | (Formula SA) Lant RR83 ['3'?] - Mazda 12A Sigma #11 Rack-Rite (see note 16) |
Did not qualify | ||||||
DNQ | Fred Goddard | (Formula SA) March 822/802 - Mazda 12A Sigma #31 Petromark [Fred Goddard] (see note 17) |
Did not qualify | ||||||
DNQ | Gavin Lahner | (Formula SA) March 77B [18] - Mazda 12A Sigma #61 Rack-Rite (see note 18) |
Did not qualify | ||||||
DNA | Brian Ferris | (Formula SA) Ralt RT4/82 [325] - Mazda 12A Sigma #5 Dealer Lamborghini (see note 19) |
Did not arrive | ||||||
DNA | Steve Herbst | (Formula SA) March 792 [79A-27] - Mazda 12A Sigma #53 Steve Herbst (see note 20) |
Did not arrive |
Qualifying | |||||
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1 | Trevor van Rooyen | (Formula SA) Maurer MM83 [03?] - Mazda 12A Sigma | 1m 17.32s | ||
2 | Wayne Taylor | (Formula SA) Ralt RT4/83 [82-330-2?] - Mazda 12A Sigma | 1m 17.89s | ||
3 | Graham Duxbury | (Formula SA) March 832 - Mazda 12A Sigma | 1m 18.10s | ||
4 | Ian Scheckter | (Formula SA) March 832 - Mazda 12A Sigma | 1m 18.12s | ||
5 | George Fouché | (Formula SA) Ralt RT4/83 [426] - Mazda 12A Sigma | 1m 18.47s | ||
6 | Tony Martin | (Formula SA) Maurer MM82 [04] - Mazda 12A Sigma | 1m 18.95s | ||
7 | John Moni | (Formula SA) Maurer MM81 [02?] - Mazda 12A Sigma | 1m 19.35s | ||
8 | Bernard Tilanus | (Formula SA) Lant RR83 [Ralt RT4 272?] - Mazda 12A Sigma | 1m 20.05s | ||
9 | Braam Smith | (Formula SA) March 77B [11] - Mazda 12A Sigma | 1m 20.44s | ||
10 | Klaus Grogor | (Formula SA) March 77B [8] - Mazda 12A Sigma | 1m 21.79s | ||
11 | Bill Maloney | (Formula SA) March 78B [782-2(A)] - Mazda 12A Sigma | 1m 22.95s | ||
12 | Peter Haller | (Formula SA) Chevron B34 [34-76-03] - Mazda 12A Sigma | 1m 23.08s | ||
13 | Roy Moss | (Formula SA) March 77B ['AT'] - Mazda 12A Sigma | 1m 23.28s | ||
14 | Allan Dunlop | (Formula SA) March 76B [1] - Mazda 12A Sigma | 1m 25.47s | ||
15 | Fred Goddard * | (Formula SA) March 822/802 - Mazda 12A Sigma | 1m 27.27s | ||
16 | Gavin Lahner * | (Formula SA) March 77B [18] - Mazda 12A Sigma | 1m 33.66s | ||
17 | Roy Klomfass * | (Formula SA) Lant RR83 ['3'?] - Mazda 12A Sigma | 2m 06.33s | ||
- | Ken Critchfield | (Formula SA) March 802 [7] - Mazda 12A Sigma | no time | ||
* Did not start |
Notes on the cars:
- March 832 (Ian Scheckter): New to Ken Howes' Team Gunston for Ian Scheckter to drive in the South African Sigma series in 1983. It arrived as a monocoque and front suspension and was completed using the rear end of a March 822. Raced by Scheckter for the rest of the 1983 season, easily winning the championship. Retained by Scheckter and Howes for 1984, again winning the title. Scheckter then left the Sigma series again, and Howes acquired a newer March 842 for new driver John Moni to drive in 1985. The March 832 was sold by Team Gunston to Michele Peter, who raced the car in 1985. It was then exported by Gavin Hards to Marcus Hotz in Switzerland. By 2004, it had been acquired by Felix Haas, when it still had its Mazda engine and was still in the red #7 livery used by Peter during 1985. A few years later, the car was sold to Jakob Eckhart (Switzerland) who fitted a turbo Mazda engine. Some time after that, it was sold to Lance Robinson (Henley-On-Thames, Oxfordshire), who restored it and has tested it since, but not raced it.
- Maurer MM82 [04] (Tony Martin): New for Beppe Gabbiani to drive for Maurer Motorsport in F2 in 1982. Sold to Ian Martin's BP-backed South Coast Motors team for the start of the 1983 Formula South Africa season, to be raced by Tony Martin. Martin bought a new Maurer MM83 for 1984, but the older MM82 remained with the team until In May 1985, when it was sold to Herbert Krottenberger for Dave Charlton to drive for the rest of the season under the Scuderia S. Giuricich banner. According to later owner Peter Kernick, it passed to Lew Baker in 1986, then to Gordon Capper in 1999 before Kernick bought it in 2012. Sold to Andrew McCarthy in Australia in late 2021.
- Ralt RT4/83 [82-330-2?] (Wayne Taylor): New to Pete Fouché's Pretoria Brick Racing in mid-1982 for Wayne Taylor to race in the Formula South Africa series. Severely damaged in practice at Kyalami in early September when Taylor went off on oil. Rebuilt on a new monocoque for Taylor for 1983. In August 1983, Taylor "parted company" with Pretoria Brick and moved to Brian Ferris's team. He continued the drive the same Ralt for the rest of the season, renting it from Pretoria Brick, but now painted blue. The car was hired to Bernard Tilanus for 1984, and run for him by Fred Goddard with sponsorship from Camec Cranes. He retained the Ralt for 1985, again run by Goddard and with sponsorship from Duckhams and Camec, although the car was entered as a Lant RR84 at two races early that season. In 1986, the car was hired by Wayne Taylor, who had sponsorship from BP and Whoosh, and started the season very well, winning the first three races. The car was then written off in a testing accident, and Taylor rented RT4-325 to replace it. Taylor returned the remains of 330 to Pretoria Brick. The Ralt tub was so badly damaged that it was thrown away and an unused Lant tub then sat with the parts as a potential future project. This stayed with Piet & George Fouché until around 2005 when the complete rear end of '330 was sold to Fanie Brand (Cape Town) who intended to use it to upgrade a Tiga Sports 2000. This package included the Hewland FT200 which was verified as the original fitted to 330, together with Ralt rear uprights, brakes and other parts. The remaining front end parts were thrown away, and the unused Lant tub ended up hung on the wall of a garage.
- Maurer MM83 [03?] (Trevor van Rooyen): Bernard Tilanus drove a Maurer for DAW at the start of the 1983 season that was said to be an MM83, despite appearing two months before the Maurer's F2 cars. It cannot have been chassis MM83-01 as that appeared in F2, but may have been MM83-03. Tilanus was dropped from the DAW team in March 1983, and Trevor van Rooyen continued as DAW's sole driver using the ex-Tilanus MM83. DAW then acquired a second MM83 for the 1984 season. The older car was then partly dismantled and its rear end was used to rebuild DAW's Tiga SC83 Group C Jr sports car. This Tiga was raced by Van Rooyen and Peter Morrison in the Kyalami 1000km in November 1984 but lost a wheel and crashed. The Maurer was reconstituted for 1985, when DAW ran both their MM83s, this car being the No 4 entry for Graham Duxbury and Matt Keyser at least once. At the end of 1985, both of DAW's MM83s were sold to a central European owner. One of the ex-DAW MM83s is currently in Australia and the other is in Germany. The car in Germany is said to be the one built specifically for the South African series but there remains some uncertainty about the identities.
- March 832 (Graham Duxbury): New to Ken Howes' Team Gunston for Graham Duxbury to drive in the South African Sigma series in 1983. Like the Ian Scheckter car, it arrived as a monocoque and front suspension, and was completed using the rear end of Duxbury's March 82A. Raced by Duxbury for the remainder of the 1983 season. To Ivano Moavero in 1984, and raced by him and also by Ian Scheckter when he borrowed it for the second heat at Killarney in September 1984. Sold to Ken Critchfield for the 1985 season. The March 832 is believed to have been exported by Gavin Hards to John Brannigan in England. Brannigan received three March 832s in total and it is unclear which was which. He sold one or two of these to John Churchill for a Lancia Stratos GT car project, and it is possible that the Duxbury car was one of those. Subsequent history unknown.
- Lant RR83 [Ralt RT4 272?] (Bernard Tilanus): New to Rack Rite Racing for Trevor van Rooyen to race in the 1982 Formula South Africa series. When van Rooyen moved to the team's new Lant RR82 in May, the Ralt was retained as a spare car and was raced at least once by Andre du Plessis. It is thought to have been the "Lant" raced by du Plessis at Kyalami on 24 July 1982 and by Roy Klomfass at Kyalami on 4 Sep 1982, but this remains uncertain. Then raced as a Lant during 1983 and early 1984 until damaged in Wayne Lahner's accident with Peter Haller at Goldfields on 3 March 1984. The monocoque was thrown away at this point, and the gearbox and other salvaged parts used in a sports car project.
- Ralt RT4/83 [426] (George Fouché): New to Pretoria Brick Racing and fitted with a Mazda engine for George Fouche to drive in the 1983 Formula South Africa series. For 1984, it was rented to Braam Smith, and run for him by Fred Goddard, although entered by Pretoria Brick. It was entered again for Braam Smith at the opening round of the 1985 season, but does not appear in any results for that season. It was rented by Michael Bryan for 1986, with sponsorship from Whoosh Pool Cleaners, but the sponsorship fell away quite quickly, and Bryan returned the Ralt to Pretoria Brick. It was then retained by George Fouche for many years, but was not used again. In 2005, Fouche sold it to Jimmy Price, and in 2011 it passed to Barry Scott, who raced it in South African historic events. In 2017, it was bought by Peter Kernick.
- Maurer MM81 [02?] (John Moni): Ian Martin's BP-backed South Coast Motors team acquired a Maurer MM81 for the start of the 1982 Formula South Africa season, to be raced by Tony Martin. Martin won four races in the car and finished third in the championship. It was then sold to John Moni, who raced it through the 1983 Formula SA season with Duckhams sponsorship. The car is believed to have been sold to Switzerland in trade for the March 832 that Moni acquired for 1984. Subsequent history unknown, but this may be the car owned by Fritz Wagner and converted to sports car specification in 1989.
- March 77B [11] (Braam Smith): 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.
- March 77B [8] (Klaus Grogor): 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.
- Chevron B34 [34-76-03] (Peter Haller): A works-backed Formula Atlantic development car entered for Bill Brack in STP livery in the opening two rounds of the 1976 South African Formula Atlantic championship. Then to Guy Tunmer (Sandton) who ran it for the rest of the 1976 season, entered by Paradise Beach/National Radio. Tunmer did not continue in Formula Atlantic in 1977, and in 1978 Andrew Thompson recalls buying a Chevron B34 from the Tunmers on behalf of Rembrandt. Entered by Thompson for Abel d'Oliveira for a couple of races in early 1979. Then to Peter Haller, who fitted a 3-litre Ford Essex V6 for the new Formula South Africa but the car did not race in this form. It was fitted with a Mazda engine for 1980, and Haller drove it that season and in early 1981 before his Haller Special was ready. This was presumably the B34 entered by Haller's sponsor Hekro Engineering for Roy Moss at Kyalami in August 1981. Entered for Haller's mechanic Freddie Sprenzer at Killarney in early 1982, then raced by Haller from late 1982 to early 1984. After Haller died in a racing accident, the B34 was bought from his widow Hettie by Michael Rudolph, who raced it in 1985 and 1986. The car is reported to have later gone to Alan Macdonald, and then found its way to Michael Budd. Some time before 2012, Budd sold the project to Michael Hillary, and then started a restoration for Hillary. Unfortunately, Budd died before completing the project, but his son Ryan Budd has continued the project for Hillary.
- March 77B ['AT'] (Roy Moss): 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.
- March 802 [7] (Ken Critchfield): New for Manfred Winkelhock to drive as part of the ICI March Racing Team in F2 in 1980. Sold to Hekro Engineering in South Africa for 1981, fitted with a Mazda engine and raced in Formula SA in early 1981 by Dave Hart. Tommy Dunn then took over the drive, but damaged the car in practice at Kyalami on 9 May. It was repaired but Dunne then also left the team. The 802 was next driven by Ian Scheckter at Kyalami in late June but he declined to start after practice. It was not seen again in 1981 until the final race, when it had been sold to Pretoria Brick Racing and was entered for Wayne Taylor. The car was run by Eddie Pinto in 1982 as a Pretoria Brick Racing entry for Taylor to drive. When the team's new Ralt RT4/82 arrived, the March was sold to Lew Baker in July 1982, and used by him for the rest of 1982 and in 1983. Sold to Ken Critchfield in May or June 1983 and raced by him for the remainder of that season. Believed to have been wrecked early in 1984. Critchfield bought the sister car 802/6 so he could continue racing, and the monocoque from 802/7 was thrown away.
- March 78B [782-2(A)] (Bill Maloney): Rad Dougall's race car at Thruxton 27 Mar 1978 and presumably the one he then wrecked in practice at the Nürburgring 30 Apr 1978. Presumably "Toleman's second" 782 driven by Tiff Needell at Hockenheim 26 Sep. To Paul Smith for Formula Atlantic in 1979, but wrecked on Smith's first outing, at Mallory Park in March 1979. The car was rebuilt on a new tub fabricated by Mo Gomm, but the original tub was also repaired and retained by Smith incomplete. As the "782-2" plate remained on this car, the Gomm car is regarded here as a separate car, 'PS1'. The new 'PS1' and the remains of 782/2 were both sold to Bernard Tilanus "in the autumn of 1981" and shipped to South Africa. Tilanus raced 'PS1' for the DAW Supplies team in the Sigma Mazda series in early 1982 but then sold it to Hekro for Ian Scheckter to drive. The team then built up a second car on the original 782/2 tub, distinguished by its black dash roll hoop, and Tilanus raced that car at Killarney, Welkom and Kyalami in May 1982. It was then raced by Braam Smith for DAW in late 1982 and early 1983. In April 1983, it was sold to Billy Maloney, replacing his March 77B, and was raced by him for the rest of 1983. He retained the car for 1984, but damaged it in a practice accident at East London in August. It is believed to have been sold to Arthur Christie in January 1985. It was sold back to Bernard Tilanus for the 'Can-Am' season in 1986. After that, it went to Keith Horwood who planned to use it for a sports car project in 1987, but that did not go ahead and the car remained unused for two years. It was then rebuilt by Andrew Thompson as a show car for the Rembrandt Group's Heidelberg Motor Museum. The museum was acquired by BAT in 1999, who closed it in 2003. The following year, the car collection was acquired by Johann Rupert, son of Dr Anton Rupert and moved to the L'Ormarins Estate in Franschhoek. The Franschhoek Motor Museum, named after Johan Rupert, was opened in May 2007, and the March 782 remains on display in Ian Scheckter's 1978 livery. Scheckter's Lexington March 78B was, of course, a completely different car, and was destroyed in 1980.
- March 76B [1] (Allan Dunlop): New to Ian Scheckter for South African Formula Atlantic in 1976. Sold to Len Booysen for the 1977 season, then loaned by Booysen to Dave Charlton to drive. During this time it was bought from Booysen by Ken Gillibrand, who then loaned to DAW for Bernard Tilanus to drive in April and May 1978. It was unused in 1979, and advertised by Gillibrand in August. Sold later in 1979 to Soon Weeks who fitted the 2-litre BMW engine from Dave Hart's March 77B and raced it in this form in early 1980. Then swapped with Bernard Tilanus and the DAW team for DAW's Wheatcroft R18, and fitted with a Mazda engine. Raced several times by Tilanus but he then left the team after a disagreement with Jeff Waberski and was replaced by Trevor van Rooyen, who raced the 76B for the rest of 1980. It was sold to Vernon Bricknell at the end of that season, and raced by him in early 1981 until his new Maurer MM80 arrived. The 76B was then sold yet again, this time to the Pretoria Brick team for Wayne Taylor to drive, until Hekro's March 802 was acquired for him. Pretoria Brick retained the 76B for 1982, when it was raced by Basil Mann, Kevin Heath and Roy Carr. It was sold to Alan Dunlop for 1983, and he raced it until 1985. It then passed to Neville Riddell and most of its components were used in a sports car built for Riddell by Lew Baker. All that was left was the tub, and this was sold to Fred Goddard who is believed to have stripped it to keep the bulkheads as spares. At this point the 76B no longer existed.
- Lant RR83 ['3'?] (Roy Klomfass): Built new in early 1983 for Rack Rite Racing to use the Formula South Africa series, presumably built to replace the Lant wrecked by Dave Charlton at Kyalami in January. It is believed to have been first raced by Charlton at Killarney in April 1983, then by Roy Klomfass at Kyalami on 31 May 1983. It is very difficult to know for sure what happened next, but the most likely scenario is that Klomfass drove the team's older Ralt on 16 July, and the new Lant ended up being raced by Bernard Tilanus for Fred Goddard's Petromark team. Tilanus recalls swapping cars with Klomfass after that race, which would suggest Klomfass drove the new Lant at the remaining races of 1983. The history of the car from this point onwards is uncertain. In 1984, this is likely to be the #14 Lant raced by Roy Klomfass early in the season, then taken over by Matt Keyser from the Aldo Scribante race onwards. Assuming Keyser stayed with the same car in 1984, this is likely to have been the #13 Lant 83A raced by Dave Charlton in the final race of the 1984 season, and would then be the car retained by Rack-Rite for 1985, when it was raced by American Mike Nish at Kyalami in January 1985 and crashed heavily at Wesbank corner.
- March 822/802 (Fred Goddard): Ian Scheckter returned to the South African Sigma Series in 1983 with a March 822 run for him by Ken Howes and sponsored by Team Gunston. The car was reported to have been acquired from the Merzario F2 team and the Hewland FT200 on the car would support this. The car was fitted with March 832 sidepods when raced by Scheckter in the first few races of 1983, but Howes then acquired a March 832 monocoque and suspension, and the rear end of the 822, including engine and gearbox, was used to build up a new 832. The rest of the 822, including a set of 822 bodywork, was sold to Fred Goddard's Petromark team and built up using the rear end of Goddard's March 802. This hybrid 822/802 is believed to have been crashed in testing at Kyalami by Braam Smith in late March 1983 but was repaired and then raced for Goddard by Bernard Tilanus in April and May 1983. Tilanus then moved to a Lant, and Dave Charlton took over the 822/802 for one race in July, and Goddard himself tried it in practice at Kyalami in September. In 1984, Goddard entered the car in several races for Derick Irving, who also drove Goddard's March 77B that season. At Kyalami, probably at the end of July, Irving crashed the car heavily, damaging the monocoque. The wreck was immediately bought by Keith Horwood, who knew that Ken Howes still had the monocoque from Graham Duxbury's March 82A, which would have been effectively identical to the 822 monocoque in the Goddard car. Horwood rebuilt the 822/802 on the ex-Duxbury 82A monocoque, which left the damaged ex-Scheckter 822 monocoque redundant. Horwood later sold both the 822 monocoque and a 782 monocoque to Ivan Glasby. Jannie Van Aswegan, who was with Ivan Glasby when he collected them, recalls that the damaged 822 tub was scrapped.
- March 77B [18] (Gavin Lahner): New to Alex Blignaut for Nols Nieman to race in the South African Formula Atlantic series in early 1977, with Benson & Hedges sponsorship. Retained by Blignaut's Benson & Hedges team for Nieman again in 1978. Raced for Blignaut by Derek Bell in November 1978, then by Sarel van der Merwe in May 1979, after which it was given by Blignaut to Tony Martin's South Coast Motors team as a spare car. It was entered for Billy Scheepers in January, then rented to Roy Moss for the Goldfields race in February. Bernard Tilanus then borrowed it for the Killarney race in March after his DAW March 78B had been destroyed in a transporter fire. In July 1980, it was sold to Jeff Waberski's DAW Supplies team for Wayne Taylor to drive. Then in October 1980, it was sold on to Mel Lahner's Rackrite Racing. Taylor moved with the car, and raced it at Kyalami on 4 October and then in the first few months of the 1981 season. It was then taken over by Trevor van Rooyen who found the weight penalty on his ground-effect March 802 was too great. He raced the 77B for the rest of the 1981 season. It was retained for 1982, when Rackrite ran the car for Andre du Plessis and Mike Domingo. It was retained again for 1983, when driven by Gavin Lahner and Kevin Heath. It was not used again after that, but was retained by Mel Lahner until sold to Andrew Thompson in 1984. It was later restored for Ian Schofield.
- Ralt RT4/82 [325] (Brian Ferris): New to Brian Ferris in mid-1982 for the Formula South Africa series, where he was entered by his own Dealer Lamborghini operation. Ferris retained the Ralt for the 1983 season, when he was usually entered by Dealer Maserati. Ferris missed the first half of the 1984 season, but had returned by the time of the East London race in August. In 1985, this was one of two cars available to Wayne Taylor to race in the South African series. His car was always entered as a Lant but photographs show he used the Ralt at Goldfields in March and at Kyalami in July, so it is likely he used it at other races. It is assumed here that he also raced the Ralt at Aldo Scribante in August and Killarney in September. Taylor rented a different Ralt for the start of the 1986 season but crashed the Ralt in private testing, writing it off, and returned to chassis 325 for the second half of the season, winning the title with it. Taylor's career then took him to the US, and the Ralt was left in storage with a friend for many years. Around 2006, it ws nearly stolen, so Taylor decided to sell it. It was bought by Colin Ellison, and its identity was confirmed at that point by its FT200 gearbox number. Subsequently sold to the Scribante family collection where it awaits a full restoration.
- March 792 [79A-27] (Steve Herbst): 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.
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 Formula South Africa race results from 1979 to 1986 have been compiled by Allen Brown and Ian Hebblethwaite using many official results sheets from Ian's archive, as well as race reports in Autosport and Motoring News until their reports stopped in 1979, and then in the Rand Daily Mail and other South African publications. Adri Bezuidenhout's 'Wheels' yearbook, which listed the surnames of the top six finishers at each race but gave no other details, has been useful for races at Aldo Scribante and Goldfields Raceway where it has proved more difficult to find information. Articles in Formula South Africa race programmes have also proved very useful. Please help us complete that collection of scans.
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
Entry list, grid sheet and official results sheet contributed by Ian Hebblethwaite. Rand Daily Mail 24 Sep 1983 p6.