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The inaugural Classic Concours and TT event was held this weekend 27-28 February at Franschhoek Motor Museum hosted by L’Ormarins Wine Estate and Race Sound was there to display and participate.

Set to become the South African alternative to the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the TT ran on a gymkhana type course at L’Ormarins and played host to some of the most spectacular cars ever seen in SA. The weekend saw the public debut of some splendid museum exhibits, like the ‘50s Formula 1 Maserati 250F not unlike the cars driven by Fangio and Moss in action for the first time in South Africa as well as a wide variety of classic race and private sports cars.

The Time Trial played host to some of South Africa’s legends of motorsport with Dakar hero Giniel de Villiers, race and rally heros, Peter Lindenberg,  Sarel van der Merwe, Serge Damseaux and several other racing names from the past of the likes of  Ian Scheckter, all in action and happily mixing with the crowd.

The track itself was quite tight with shorts straights, a 90 deg bend, a few chicanes and a half way mark 180 donut turn. Most cars spent time; in 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear, heavy on the accelerator and brakes as the drivers tried squeeze the most out their trusted machines. The start was a standstill and to please the crowds a flying finish topped it off. MSA (Motor Sport South Africa) provided the starting red lights and track timing equipment so each run was timed, with the fastest time being: Peter Lindenberg in a Capri Perana at 1min 57.46sec and the slowest was Deon de Waal in a Model T Speedster Ford at 4 min 24.99sec.

There was great support from the media, with the likes of: Mike Monk from CAR, Fred Phillips, Stuart Grant, Derek Hulse and Tim Brink of Classic & Performance Car Africa, Robert Coucher of the internationally acclaimed Octane, Mark Smith of Business Day Motoring, Scott Hayes of SACarFan and many others. The commentating was done by none other than South Africa legendary presenter, Roger McCleery.

The Concours was meanwhile open to the top classic cars in the country. There again, several cars never seen before in SA shed their dust jackets as they emerged from private collections in a display of motoring excellence all to the joy of the spectators.

Both the Race Sound sponsored Maserati Ghibli GT and Ferrari 308GTSi made an appearance with only the Ferrari being old enough to compete. Sporting racing number 11, the Race Sound Ferrari 308GTSi driven by Schwendinger himself roared around the track delighting onlookers as his performance exhaust equipped Ferrari thundered around the farm with its racing livery, ensuring it was heard long before and after it was seen speeding down the main straight.

Be sure not to miss next year as this event soars into being one of South Africa's premier motoring events of the year for all motoring enthusiasts.
 

Last changed: 2010-08-06 at 8:20 PM