Basil van Rooyen GTA

Gunter
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Re: Basil van Rooyen GTA

Post by Gunter » Sun 24 Feb 2008, 22:13

Thanks Railway.....glad you understood my e-mail....the Triple Rotor was in Zim and not Angola.
RACECAR spelt backwards spells RACECAR.....

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Killarney Racer
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Re: Basil van Rooyen GTA

Post by Killarney Racer » Mon 25 Feb 2008, 09:59

Railway, are you saying that there is still racing happening in Angola? Who would be involved, "colonial Portuguese" or are they locals? Do you know what they race?

I have also heard stories of cars left behind by SA and international racers. I think sometimes the logistics of returning them was hardly worth it. Also I guess cars were bought with racing intentions before the war put a halt to most things and with the emigration of so many people, cars were just abandoned. But I understand that there have been scouting groups who have visited Angola to try and locate some of these over the years.

I wonder if the same applies to Mocambique?

Railway

Re: Basil van Rooyen GTA

Post by Railway » Mon 25 Feb 2008, 10:41

In Luanda there is probably some activity there mostly informal. My friend made a turn there not too long ago and there were a whole group of bikers practicing there.

The cars some years ago when they were trying to tour the other circuits too varied from anything slow to potent Euopean turbo Porsche's. There are stil a couple of prominent bussinessmen that live there and have such cars. But nothing as organised as we have due to the whole infrastructure having collapsed.

If you want anything out of there you got to corrupt officials even if it's done legally hence it is a mission. And then it's still a case you can end up in jail just because. If you're not familiar with the language even worse. It's just like that. But as I said most stuff that may remain there still now may have been stripped for their components. The good stuff is mostly gone especially the sports cars like that Alfa Tipo 33. But there again it was a money thing. As it was auctioned off as is once landed in Europe I think.

Mozambique only had the main Maputo track as such, maybe there were other street tracks further North. What may have laid around there was their local stuff. They have been going again for a long time till they shut the track a few years ago.

Railway

Re: Basil van Rooyen GTA

Post by Railway » Tue 26 Feb 2008, 01:29

Gunter wrote: Thanks Railway.....glad you understood my e-mail....the Triple Rotor was in Zim and not Angola.


Tripple rotor 323 behind the Audi's of Moss and Aberdeen.

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ZA Perana
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Re: Basil van Rooyen GTA

Post by ZA Perana » Sat 01 Mar 2008, 22:13

Might be of interest that there was two Alfa GTam cars raced in the 1967 Springbok Series.....
Alfa GTV 3.0
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Killarney Racer
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Re: Basil van Rooyen GTA

Post by Killarney Racer » Sun 02 Mar 2008, 23:02

I remember the two Superformance enduro Alfas were driven by BvR, Chatz, Christine Bekkers (German/Belguim I think) and one other whose name slips the old mind right now. I know Keith Berrington-Smith and Tony Woodly also had a very simialr looking Alfa around that time, it may even have been prepared by Superformance. The Alfa always did well in the index of performace results.

Of course BvR later joined up with the Japs and that ridiculously quick little Mazda Rotary M10A with Jody Scheckter and Peter Gough and also Dave Clapham, the first time a rotary was seen on SA tracks, indeed in the country. Gough got his terrible burns in Rhodesia in one of the Mazdas effectively prematurely ending an amazing career.


I think the fourth driver was Danny Alderton

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Re: Basil van Rooyen GTA

Post by Railway » Sun 02 Mar 2008, 23:12

In fact Gough shared that R100 that caught alight with Basil Van Rooyen I think. Was an endurance race.

Somewhere in my box of tricks I have a photo which I took of Gough behind Dave Kopke's Mazda. He was in a Porsche RS. Must be quite an unpleasant experience for him looking right up that rotary's exhaust.

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Killarney Racer
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Re: Basil van Rooyen GTA

Post by Killarney Racer » Mon 03 Mar 2008, 08:51

Correct, he was with BvR in Rhodesia, possibly the Khumalo track - Bulawayo I think. It was so hot that day that he decided to go out without his full racing suit on and nylon gloves. The fuel somehow entered the car and flooded the floor pan. When he changed down a gear, as you know with rotaries, there was a flame that caught this lot alight. The gloves apparently melted on his hands and the visor on his face. Terrible.

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ZA Perana
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Re: Basil van Rooyen GTA

Post by ZA Perana » Fri 07 Mar 2008, 19:44

Killarney Racer wrote: Correct, he was with BvR in Rhodesia, possibly the Khumalo track - Bulawayo I think. It was so hot that day that he decided to go out without his full racing suit on and nylon gloves. The fuel somehow entered the car and flooded the floor pan. When he changed down a gear, as you know with rotaries, there was a flame that caught this lot alight. The gloves apparently melted on his hands and the visor on his face. Terrible.


Correct it was the Khumalo track...
Alfa GTV 3.0
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Hi-Fi
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Re: Basil van Rooyen GTA

Post by Hi-Fi » Tue 11 Mar 2008, 15:40

Quite interesting stuff.

I do believe though, that Arnold Chatz took over the Van Rooyen GTA when Baz went off to enjoy driving the Mclaren in the SA Formula one series of the time. Up until then VR drove his Brabham BT24 F1 car and the Alfa. Quite rightly Van Rooyen campaigned the GTA immediately after winning two titles in his mustang mainly against Gough, who was still struggling in the Meissner Cortina MKII. This would have been in 1967/8. Meissner then develop[ed the first Escort for Gough and he took VR to the cleaners. Van Rooyen bailed out of saloons in 1969 and went off to F1full time. In 1970 Chatz came on board with the ex-Van Rooyen GTA for a short spell before preparing an Alfa GTAM which gave Gough a fair run for his money in the now turbo'd Escort, as did Jody Scheckter in the supercarged Renault.

Chatz raced the GTAM in Angola in their 3 Hour enduros. That car was also raced in endurance races here. The differences in the cars are evident.Chatz also campaigned his super fast Alfa Berlina in the Onyx Trophy champs.

Here are a few pics. The Alfa that Basil raced in the saloon car championship and the one he raced in endurance races were two different cars, or perhaps he developed the endurance car into the championship saloon car. I must email him to find out the details.

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