Book Review: South African Champion packs 125 years of motorsport intrigue between two covers
Image: Supplied
A fact that might not be known to many modern motorsport fans is that South Africa once had its very own Formula One Championship.
Staged in various guises from 1953 until 1986, in strict compliance with international regulations for 15 of those years, it produced some of the country's greatest drivers of all time.
Single-seater greats such as John Love, Dave Charlton and Jody Scheckter could compete with the best drivers in the world.
Although many scattered records exist, until now the South African single-seater racing story has not been told in one complete and comprehensive record. That changes with a new hardcover coffee table book called The South African Champion, compiled by long-time motoring publisher Michele Lupini.
Author Michele Lupini put many years of research into the book.
Image: Supplied
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I witnessed this book's genesis over 20 years ago when I worked as a journalist for Lupini's Cars in Action magazine, where at least two pages each month would be dedicated to these racing champions of yore.
Often I'd walk into his office to find him hand-drawing colourful sketches of racing scenes (during those rare occasions when he was quiet!) and to this day I don't recall ever meeting someone as passionate about single seater racing history.
The South African Champion is the result of decades of intense research, but it's not for the average Joe with a passing interest in motorsport. Priced at R3,350 in South Africa, including delivery, it is an unashamedly large and heavy limited edition coffee table book. It is also available internationally, with final pricing dependent on delivery costs.
My 'Read Test' copy arrived in a large plastic suitcase, requiring a secret combination to open, in a very James Bond-like manner. Measuring 30 x 30cm, and featuring colourful illustrations from cover to cover through 304 pages, it is the kind of book you're going to cherish and look after.
Reading it is a comprehensive and chronological journey through South African single-seat motorsport history, from the very beginning in the year 1900 right through to modern times, even including the A1 Grand Prix and Cape Town's e-Prix.
Kicking off with a foreword by South Africa's only F1 world champion Jody Scheckter, it progresses through eight chapters, comprehensively describing each era, while the back section meticulously lists race and championship results through the years covered by the book.
It took me on a fascinating journey through the first Grand Prix era of the 1930s, and each of the 33 South African Champion seasons, in addition to the Rand, Cape and other local Grand Prix championships.
The book also features sidebar profiles on the most successful drivers covered through the pages and the book is a visual delight too thanks to numerous colourful illustrations. Also included are colourised versions of historical photos and a few images that have never been published before.
Lupini describes South African Champion as a full and representative timeline of a most significant slice of South African sporting history.
'South African Champion is in essence the fruit of a quarter century of work that started as a magazine series, but has now most significantly evolved into a tome of its own,' Lupini remarked.
'The book records and recalls the century and a quarter of a story that has never been collated in a single publication before.'
Each is personally signed and numbered by the author, and you can order yours on The South African Champion website.
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