Wesbank has always been renowned for their sponsorship of events
that are there for the long haul. For example, the Wesbank V8
Supercars have enjoyed Wesbank involvement for the last 23 years.
During these years, many of road racing’s other formulas have chopped
and changed, whilst Wesbank Racing has always stood for the fastest
racing, using the most powerful and exciting cars to have ever raced
on our circuits. That is what motor racing is all about. Racing at
speeds that only a few people can, or are prepared to do.
So it is with the current crop of Wesbank V8 Supercars. Competitors
haven’t driven a racing car, they say, until you race a Wesbank V8.
Run in two classes, called GT1 and GT2, all cars use either Ford or
Chev 5.7 litre American V8 engines. They produce more than 465 kWs
(630 hp) for the GT1 cars and 412 kWs (550 hp) for the GT2s. All rev
to around 7200 rpm and feed their power through a strong 4-speed
gearbox that is able to handle massive torque. 1st Gear takes the car
to 160 kmh, 2nd to 200 kmh and 3rd to 240 kmh. Top speed in 4th gear
is 300 ks on a circuit like the East London Grand Prix Circuit. That
is mighty power and speed from any racing car. As they say in the
Wesbank V8 logo “Anything else is only a Game”.
Over the years Wesbank racing has seen a Who’s Who of great South
African drivers competing in this series and making a name for
themselves:
Sarel van der Merwe, Ben Morgenrood, Tony Viana, Mike Briggs, Grant
McCleery, Roelf du Plessis, Shaun Watson-Smith, Johan Fourie, Johan
Coetzee, Willie Hepburn, Deon Joubert, Gary Formato, Larry Wilford,
Hennie van der Linde and his sons, Sean and Etienne, Terry Moss, Chris
Aberdeen, Brian Cook, Graham Duxbury, George Santana, Robbie Smith,
Pat Duckham, Peter Lanz, Paddy Driver, Eddie Keizan, Charl Wilkin,
Mike O’Sullivan, Grant van Schalkwyk, Gary Dunkerley and Dick
Sorenson, to name but a few. One or two drivers have passed on, but
many have gone to achieve success, either internationally or in other
walks of life.
What is encouraging today is that a lot of the frontrunners in Wesbank
V8 Supercar racing are relatively young and able to mix it with the
more established veterans. They start at 19 years old and go into
their early 20’s, which shows South African drivers still have the
talent, as we had in the days of Formula 1 Racing on our tracks here
in the 60s, 70s and 80s, to handle mega-power and speed.
New stars are starting to emerge from a bunch of youngsters who race
these R1m cars. The aforementioned Terry Wilford (Ford Tital Mustang),
in his 20’s with lots of help from his father and dyed-in-the-wool V8
man, Larry, leads the GT2 class by a good margin, and is heading for
his 2nd class championship. At one stage he was leading the entire
Wesbank V8 Supercar Championship overall.
Jade Gudzeit, a winner of the Roof of Africa on a motorcycle, has also
started shaping in the GT class with another two wins in East London.
In one race a 3rd place overall proves he is brilliant on a wet track.
Wade van Zummeren (Border Towing Camaro) from East London has his
father Martin behind him and getting high places, but needs a new car.
Gordon Connelly (Dezzi/Cowan Signs Jaguar) former South African GTi
single seater champion, is there as well.
The two Auby brothers, Jimmy and Mark, have been a sensation in the
new Bosal Jags in the GT1 class and getting right onto the pace from
the start. Danie Correia (Omega Spares Corvette) has swapped from
production cars and just loves the power of the Wesbank V8s.
Add all these to the current stars like Hennie Groenewald (Havoline
Jaguar), Grant van Schalkwyk and Zane Pearce in their Hi-Q Jaguars,
Steve Smith (Cool Cat Carriers Jag), Roelf du Plessis (Venter Motors
Lumina) Jaco Correia in his Omega Spares Corvette, Willie Hepburn
(Ford Mustang), Franco di Matteo (Deltec Batteries Jag) and Mackie
Adlem (Fuchs Titan Mustang) and the Wesbank V8 Supercar Championship
is assured of great racing for years into the future. |
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