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IOL News
a day ago
- Automotive
- IOL News
Book Review: South African Champion packs 125 years of motorsport intrigue between two covers
South African Champion is a substantial hard cover book that comprehensively chronicles 125 years of single-seater racing history. 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 Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ 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. IOL Motoring
India Today
05-05-2025
- Automotive
- India Today
F1: Oscar Piastri fights past Max Verstappen to complete hat-trick of wins
Oscar Piastri won the Miami Grand Prix in an utterly dominant McLaren one-two on Sunday to complete a hat-trick and stretch his Formula One Championship lead over teammate Lando Norris to 16 points after six win from fourth on the grid was the Australian's third in a row, after Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and fourth of the season. McLaren have so far been beaten only Russell finished third for Mercedes but a mighty 37.644 seconds behind. "Two years ago at Miami we were the slowest team. I think we were lapped twice," said Piastri after another implacably flawless drive."Now to have won the Grand Prix by over 35 seconds to third is an unbelievable result."Eyes on the prize @McLarenF1 #F1 #MiamiGP Formula 1 (@F1) May 4, 2025Red Bull's world champion Max Verstappen was fourth, overtaken by both McLarens and maintaining a sequence dating back to the race's debut in 2022 of the driver starting on pole position in Miami failing to Albon was fifth for Williams, ahead of Kimi Antonelli in a Mercedes and the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Sainz made it a double points finish for Williams in ninth and Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda was 10th despite a five-second LAP CLASHadvertisementThe start provided an immediate talking point with Norris challenging Verstappen for the lead but then having to go off after making contact at turn two and losing three places, with Antonelli second and Piastri third."He forced me off," said Norris over the team radio. "What am I meant to do? Just drive into the wall or something? I was completely alongside."Stewards took a look and decided no further action was needed."Max put up a good fight as always and I paid the price, but it's the way it is," Norris said later."If I don't go for it, people complain. If I go for it, people complain, so you can't win. But it is the way it is with Max, it's crash or don't pass."Piastri passed Antonelli on lap four, after a brief virtual safety car period triggered by Jack Doohan stopping his Alpine at turn 14 after a collision at the start with Racing Bulls' Liam on a roll! #F1 #MiamiGP Formula 1 (@F1) May 4, 2025"I got completely hit. No idea what the Alpine was doing," said New Zealander Lawson, who dropped to last and eventually was back in third place by lap nine, after passing both Mercedes drivers with rain threatening, while Piastri was on Verstappen's tail and passed the Dutch driver, who drifted wide, on lap 14 after several thwarted held off Norris until lap 17 when both went off the track but the McLaren driver handed back the position without the stewards needing to made the move stick soon after but Piastri was already eight seconds down the McLarens pitted when the virtual safety car was deployed again on lap 30 after Haas's Ollie Bearman stopped with a power unit had pitted a lap earlier to cover after Antonelli came in on lap virtual safety car was then deployed for a third time when Sauber's Brazilian rookie Gabriel Bortoleto stopped his car on lap and Leclerc swapped places on lap 39 as the seven times world champion, on medium tyres to Leclerc's hards, complained he was faster and just "burning up" his tyres in the dirty air."Have a tea-break while you're at it, come on," fumed Hamilton over the radio as he waited for Leclerc to be given the call to cede then complained he needed Hamilton to go faster as the Briton failed to pull away, with the positions reversed again on lap 52.
