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The South African
6 days ago
- Automotive
- The South African
South African motorsport: Why we're born to RACE
South African motorsport is on the way back to its rightful position within the global community. While talk of a long-awaited F1 return to the country continues to swell, it's our talented drivers who are truly putting South African motorsport back in the limelight. A trio of South African rising stars, all under the age of 30, are driving better than ever in 2025. Kelvin (29) and Sheldon van der Linde (26) and Jordan Pepper (28) are plying their trade in so many top international series it's hard to keep up. Pepper secured yet more victories this weekend in the Intercontinental GT Series. While Kelvin leads that self-same championship and Sheldon put in another excellent GTP drive at IMSA's last stop in Road America. Kelvin van der Linde wins the 2025 Nurburgring 24 Hour. A race his legendary father could only have wished to race in. Image: File The van der Lindes are sons of multiple Touring Car champ, Shaun van der Linde. Both picked up paid drives in Europe with Audi/BMW and even made history as the first brother pairing, racing and winning in various categories. Only a select few drivers ever make careers in South African motorsport, fewer still go on to win races and championships internationally. And that's what Pepper and the van der Lindes are doing right now! However, for many, the halcyon days of South African motorsport have their roots in the past. As with any sporting code, big-ticket heroes come and go, and cross-over popularity is fluid. We're talking about the days when South African motorsport made the front pages. Should such a treatise include the very first motor race held in South Africa, staged in Cape Town back in 1903? Or how about the swinging '60s, when Jim Clark and Graham Hill battled for Formula One supremacy at Prince George Circuit in East London? This was also the time of the legendary Springbok Series that commanded a full grid of Le Mans and Can-Am sports prototypes driven by the world's best pros. South African motorsport's one and only Formula 1 World Champion, Jody Scheckter for Ferrari in 1979. Image: File Of course, in 1979, we had our one and only Formula One world champion, Jody Scheckter. Driving for the legendary Enzo Ferrari no less. Eventually South Africa's troubled politics put paid to international motorsport. Until a brief return of the South African Grand Prix post-Apartheid, which saw Senna, Prost, Mansell, Schumacher going wheel-to-wheel at Kyalami in '92 and '93. Glorious times but short-lived. However, when talking South African motorsport, this author is adamant the Super Touring Car era of the '90s was a notable high-water mark. For instance, there was live TV coverage from the national broadcaster. Race drivers of the time were mentioned in the same breath as cricket and rugby stars. Critically, it was perhaps the only true era of 'paid drivers' in South African motorsport. As multiple SA champ, Deon Joubert, explains: 'You were a success if someone paid you to race. I had a professional racing career while other people who wanted to race cars would pay big money to do so.' Kyalami the last time it hosted F1, in 1993. It was also the proving ground for hard-fought Super Touring races. Image: File It all began with Group N saloon car racing in the '80s, which followed a set of regulations for 'standard' production vehicles with minimal modifications, often referred to as the 'Showroom Class'. In turn, this led to the wholesale adoption of the Super Touring class in the '90s. With it, and clever administration of the series by Graham Duxbury, came big buy-in from manufacturers and outside sponsors. Based on a formula devised in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), the cars looked similar to regular production cars and engine capacity was capped at 2.0 litres. However, beneath the stock-looking metal, the cars were thoroughbred racing machines that smashed lap records at every circuit. Better still, it was a worldwide class and at the end of each year there was a World Super Touring Car event held in Europe. Mike Briggs, Shaun van der Linde, Deon Joubert, Nic De Waal and Giniel de Villiers were the heroes of the day. As were their cars, the EnviroCar BMW, Southern Sun Opel and BP Nissan. These were the halcyon days of South African motorsport that hopefully we're on our way to reviving. But tell us what you think … Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
The South African
01-07-2025
- Automotive
- The South African
No DNA, just RSA: Jordan Pepper wins Spa 24 Hour
Jordan Pepper racked up another incredible endurance-race victory for South Africa this past weekend. Sharing the #63 GRT Grasser Lamborghini Huracan GT3 at the fearsome Spa 24 Hour, the trio were fast and clinical to clinch one of the toughest 24-hour races on the calendar. Unusually for the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit near the Ardennes Forest in Belgium, the entirety of the 24-hour race was dry. The race is typically interrupted by heavy rain, fog and sometimes both. In fact, extraordinarily hot conditions over the weekend had their own unique challenges for Jordan Pepper and his teammates … The Spa 24 Hour is more than an endurance race, it's a spectacle from beginning to end. Image: Newsmakers Better still, victory for Jordan Pepper in Spa is the second big win for South African GT racers in two weeks. Kelvin van der Linde took home the Nurburgring 24 Hour win in a BMW just one-week prior. Moreover, the Spa 24 Hour saw all four top South African race drivers compete: including Sheldon and Kelvin van der Linde in BMWs and David Perel in a Ferrari. However, it was the #63 GRT Grasser Lamborghini Huracan GT3 of Jordan Pepper, Mirko Bortolotti and Luca Engstler that crossed the line first. There were crashes a plenty in the 2025 edition of the Spa 24 Hour. Video: GT World on YouTube Unlike the 24 Hours of Le Mans that features top-class prototypes, the Spa 24 is for GT3 cars only. And while there are multiple classes of drivers – rated from Bronze to Platinum (like Jordan Pepper) – all compete in the same spec machinery, which keeps the racing very close. Likewise, the Nurburgring 24 Hour is unique in that it has no safety cars to bunch up the field. Meanwhile the Spa 24 does, which adds a totally different dimension to surviving and winning the race. As the #63 GRT Grasser team found out, to win you have to be brutally fast, stay out of trouble, make zero mistakes and have reliability on your side. No mistakes or mechanical maladies troubled the #63 GRT Grasser Lamborghini Huracan, which made it a straight fight for the overall win. Image: Newsmakers Bortolotti drove the final two-and-a-half-hour stint in stifling heat to cross the line. But Jordan Pepper arguably drove the most important stints that edged the Lamborghini ahead of its closest rival, the #96 Rutronik Porsche 911, on an offset pit strategy. The brutal 24-hour race ebbed and flowed and finally boiled down to a tense final pitstop for the top teams. Having made zero mistakes to that point, with just 45 minutes to go, the team used clever pit strategy to come out ahead on track by a few seconds. From left to right: Luca Engstler (GER), Mirko Bortolotti (ITA) and Jordan Pepper (RSA). Image: Newsmakers The Spa 24 Hour victory is the second major endurance win for South African Jordan Pepper. He took an emotional win at the iconic Bathurst 24 Hour for Bentley back in 2020. Is there are any stopping South Africa's current crop of super-fast racing drivers? Of course not, it's not DNA, it's RSA! Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
The South African
23-06-2025
- Automotive
- The South African
Kelvin van der Linde claims dramatic Nurburgring 24 Hour victory
South Africa's Kelvin van der Linde brought home another dramatic 24-hour race win this weekend. Unarguably, motorsport fans acknowledge the Nurburgring 24 Hour (N24) to be the toughest endurance race in the world. And this is the third time South African Kelvin van der Linde has tasted success there. Kelvin van der Linde formed part of the four-member #98 Rowe BMW M4 GT3 team. He shared the single-car entry with Augusto Farfus, Jesse Krohn and Raffaele Marchiello. Therefore, the Jo'Burg-born 29-year old has now won the daunting N24 race three times. His breakthrough N24 victory came back in 2017. Kelvin van der Linde (far left) celebrates with his #98 Rowe BMW teammates this weekend at the Nurburgring. Image: Cruppe C Photography The 2025 edition of the N24 race was unarguably the most intense in recent years. While previous editions have been hampered by rain and fog delays, the 2025 race unfolded in near-perfect conditions. Nevertheless, a bizarre power outage still necessitated a two-and-a-half-hour red-flag delay. However, when racing eventually resumed, Kelvin van der Linde was tasked with chasing down the leading #911 Manthey Porsche. With the legendary Kevin Estre at the wheel of the Porsche, a spell-binding chase ensued. And the rapid South African had the unenviable task of closing down a 90-second gap. Eventually, after handing over the BMW to teammate Marchiello, the race was settled in a dramatic moment (watch below) … The 2025 N24 race-defining moment. Video: GT World on YouTube Don't forget, the N24 is the most unique endurace race of its sort. Owing to the length of the track, there are no full course yellows or safety cars to condense the pack. As such, you don't get any contrived racing. And the way Kelvin van der Linde had to chase down the leader over several hours was utterly spellbinding. Nevertheless, after heaping tons pressure on the leading Porsche, the race was effectively settled in one moment (watch above). Coming upon a slower back marker, Estre in the #911 Porsche dived for the corner to make the pass. He went up one on a tall curb and collected the Aston Martin, putting the hapless car on its roof as he sped away. The chasing #98 BMW somehow avoided the incident, too, by taking to the grass. And the #911 Manthey team was handed a 100-second penalty. #98 Rowe BMW chased all through the night to close the gap to the #911 Manthey Porsche. Image: Gruppe C Photography Still, with several hours to go in the race, the Manthey team appealed the stewards' penalty. They argued the Aston Martin driver had turned in on them. Nevertheless, this kept intrigue the whole way through. As such, the #98 BMW kept ahead of the 100-second gap, as the race ebbed and flowed. Finally, South Africa's Kelvin van der Linde brought the BMW M4 GT3 over the line. And he now heads to Belgium for the Spa 24-Hour race this coming weekend (28-29 June 2025). Impressively, he is one of only seven drivers in the world who is racing all three major endurance races this month. These include the 24 Hours of Le Mans, N24 and Spa 24 Hour. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
