Straight-talking and even straighter-driving racing legend Sarel van der Merwe was firmly in the driving seat for a high-speed trip down memory lane in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday when renowned racing brand Audi hosted some of the sport’s greats in the city.
Van der Merwe, or Supervan as the globally respected racing driver came to be known, took centre stage in a panel discussion held at Tavcor Motor Group’s Audi Centre, where there was plenty of high-octane but friendly banter among some of motor sport’s biggest names.
These included household names and racers such as Port Elizabeth’s Terry Moss, his son and current Audi brand ambassador Simon, the Eastern Cape’s Tschops Sipuka, who is the country’s first black motor racing champion, and motorsport doyen Roger McCleery, who led the panel discussion.
Current GTC champion Michael Stephen, who is Moss junior’s teammate, was unable to attended due to illness.
The audience, hosted by Audi general sales manager Bjorn von Bochove, was also peppered with motoring gurus, with homegrown racer Michael Briggs and former Herald motoring editor Bobby Cheetham among them.
At the event, held among an array of Audi performance cars, including the brand’s flagship supercar, the R8, McCleery prised an eclectic and often humorous collection of anecdotes from the panellists.
But it was Supervan – famous for conquering both track and rally racing domestically and internationally – who pulled no punches in his comments, choosing to express himself in language more commonly heard in the pits than on the podiums.
Responding to a question on how he had come to become a full-time racer, the BCom-degreed former accountant related how he had been presented with the choice of remaining an accountant or becoming a professional driver.
“The salary I was being paid to do accounting was the same as the amount of money I would earn driving. They asked me which one I would choose. I told them to stick the accounting up their ... ” he said.
A humble, Qumbu-born Sipuka – who was mentored by Moss senior – said his perseverance had ultimately paid off in his attempts to become involved in the sport.
Having made some initial contacts in the greater racing fraternity, he had battled to make contact with Moss.
“I called Terry non-stop. Eventually I was calling every 15 minutes till I could get hold of him,” Sipuka, who went on to take championship titles for two consecutive years, said.
Moss, in turn, revealed his early confidence in the young driver, relating how he had at one point promised Sipuka’s grandfather – who was then in his 80s – he would make Sipuka a champion in his lifetime.
Another highlight at the event was the auction of an original work by Johannesburg artist Alan Dent. The acrylic painting, on high-quality carved leather to provide a three-dimensional look, depicts an Audi predecessor – an Auto Union racing car.
The work fetched R12,000 and the proceeds will be donated by Audi to a school project in Walmer.