31 May Rear-view Mirror
Wendy and Mike Monk’s regular look back at old motoring and motor sport items…
Sorting through our collection of old photos we came across this pic that for some reason caught our eye, not least because there was nothing on the back to say where and when it was taken. So, a research challenge got underway and after scouring old records we struck gold…
The circuit is Grand Central and the race was the PMC Inter Club Races and & Petit Prix that took place on 5 December 1959. Leading the field off the grid is (car 34) J Tanzino Austin-Healey 100-6 (he finished third), flanked by J H Conradies’s Porsche 356 1600 (car 36) and D de Mestre’s Jaguar XK140 (car 35). Behind is eventual race winner S D van der Merwe’s – Sarel’s father – Porsche 356 (car 11) Spider and behind him is Bobby Olthoff’s ‘Black Mamba’ MGA twin-cam (car 9), which finished second. Behind the Jaguar is K E Lucouw’s MGA Twin-cam (car 32). The rest we unfortunately cannot identify with certainty.
But in doing the research it reminded us about Grand Central’s contribution to the development of local motor sport. After WWII, a new circuit was opened in Germiston but it was short-lived as fatalities at the circuit led to authorities banning racing on public roads, and the track was no more. As a result of the banning, Grand Central was established in 1949, the brainchild of David Nathan and Vic Young who, together with civil engineers the Lyons brothers, persuaded members of the Sports Car Club of South Africa to donate £100 into a fund to build the speedway on land leased alongside Grand Central Aerodrome next to Halfway House, parallel to the Jhb/Pta Great North Road. A 4 km track was laid out complete with pits, a control tower and grandstand, and the first race, the 2nd St John Crusader 100, took place on 5 November with Guy Fawkes fireworks mixing with braai smoke from the 75 000 spectators.
From the encouraging start the circuit ran into difficulties and was almost closed down in the early 1950s, but public support boomed again thereafter and Grand Central became the backbone of motor racing in the Transvaal. Between October 1957 and March 1958 the circuit was not used while a twisty section named Tombstone Loop was eliminated to improve lap times, shortening the track length to 3,36 km. Once back in operation, Grand Central created local motor sport history by introducing the now famous Rand Daily Mail 9-hour races on 15 November 1958. With its Le Mans start and day into night format, contested by an eclectic mix of machinery from humble home-built specials through to saloon cars to big-banger sports cars, it created a special atmosphere revered to this day.
The circuit lasted until 12 August 1961, the programme for which included a questionnaire on what type of racing fans would like to see at the nearby newly-created Kyalami, which was about to take over as the province’s top motor sport venue. But Grand Central’s rich 13-year history played a significant, and starring, role in South Africa’s rich motor racing heritage.
(NB: No copyright infringement is intended with any of the images used to illustrate these articles.)