The 15th Passion for Speed motor racing festival, at the Zwartkops Raceway west of Pretoria this weekend and a highlight on the local racing calendar, drew classic car lovers from far and wide.
PCR's Paolo Cavalieri, in the 1964 Ford Galaxie, leads Sarel van der Merwe in the 1963 model (red car).
As a proud sponsor of Hollardite Paolo Cavalieri’s Pablo Clark Racing (PCR) team, Hollard was there, too – backing some of the most competitive machines to be seen on the track all weekend. Friday was qualifying day, and Sunday focused on motorcycles, but Saturday belonged to the classic cars.
Everywhere one looked, were the royalty of classic racing cars – Ferrari (several of them fielded by PCR), Porsche, BMW, Lotus, Jaguar, Ford, Dodge, Chevrolet, Alfa Romeo, Shelby … and while most were older than the average spectator, the omnipresent roar of their high-performance engines left no one in any doubt about their primary purpose: speed.
Ferrari 360 Challenge Stradale Racing Car
Scrapes and dents come with the territory
In between races, enthusiasts had the opportunity to wander around the team sheds and marvel at the wonderful and rare vehicles on display, peering into open engine compartments, chatting about specifications with the drivers and taking selfies.
For the fans, it was an opportunity to spot classic vehicles of yesteryear. For the racers, it was a whole lot more – the rare privilege of racing the kinds of cars that had inspired their abiding love of motorsport in the first place.
Here are some more images from the day:
PCR's BMW 3.0 CSL Batmobile
PCR's pair of championship-winning Winfield BMWs
The Ferrari 250 GTM SWB has been driven variously by famous drivers Sir Stirling Moss, Jaki Scheckter and Sarel van der Merwe.
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