Sarel van der Merwe

Sarel van der Merwe (born December 5, 1946 in Johannesburg ) is a former South African racing driver .

Career in motorsport

Along with Jody Scheckter, Sarel van der Merwe is the most popular South African racing driver. While Schecker (born in 1950 ) his success in Monopostosport achieved - in 1979 he was on a plant - Ferrari 312T4 Formula 1 World Champion - van der Merwe as rally -, touring and sports car pilot successfully.

Van der Merwe won the overall ranking of the South African Rally Championship eleven times; 1975, without interruption from 1977 to 1985 and again in 1988. A record in international motorsport. The versatility of the South African was also demonstrated by racing starts on five continents. He competed in NASCAR races, competed in the World Sports Car Championship , won the South African Touring Car Championship twice and was active in the IMSA GTP series for many years . In 2002 he was awarded the Motorsport South African Lifetime Achievement Ward for his services and achievements in motorsport.

Touring and sports car races

His career began in 1967 in South African touring car racing. In 1968 he finished twelfth in a DKW in the 6-hour race of South Africa at the Roy Hesketh Circuit in Pietermaritzburg . From 1983 he was internationally active. He celebrated his greatest successes in sports car racing in the mid-1980s. In 1984 he triumphed together with his compatriots Tony Martin and Graham Duxbury on a March 83G at the Daytona 24-hour race and was third overall on his debut at the Le Mans 24-hour race of that year .

In 1986 he won the 500 km race at Road Atlanta and the 3 hour race at West Palm Beach , both with Doc Bundy in a Chevrolet Corvette GTP .

At Le Mans he drove a total of seven times, and third overall in 1984 remained the best place in this 24-hour race . In 1986 he handed over the Kremer - Porsche 962C on lap 168 to team colleague Jo Gartner , who had a fatal accident with the car one lap later.

Van der Merwe drove professional sports car races until 1990 and resigned at the end of the year. In 2001 he returned for one season and promptly secured the overall standings in the South African V8 Star Series .

Rallying

In the South African rally championship, he was considered unbeatable, no matter which car he drove and which team he competed for. In the 1970s he was a works driver at Ford and in the 1980s at Audi , where he competed with the Audi Sport quattro . His co-driver in his many victories with DKW, Datsun , Ford, Audi and Volkswagen was his compatriot Franz Boshoff.

statistics

Le Mans results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1984	John Fitzpatrick Racing	Porsche 956B	Philippe Streiff	David Hobbs	Rank 3
1985	Porsche Kremer Racing	Porsche 956B	George Fouché	Mario Hytten	Rank 5
1986	Porsche Kremer Racing	Porsche 962C	Jo Gartner	Kunimitsu Takahashi	failure	fatal accident by Gartner
1987	Joest Racing	Porsche 962C	Chip Robinson	David Hobbs	failure	Engine failure
1988	Porsche AG	Porsche 962C	Bob Wollek	Vern Schuppan	failure	Engine failure
1989	Repsol Brun Motorsport	Porsche 962C	Akahiko Nakaya	Harald Grohs	failure	alternator
1990	Porsche Kremer Racing	Porsche 962CK6	Hideki Okada	Kunimitsu Takahashi	Rank 24

Sebring results

year	team	vehicle	Teammate	Teammate	placement	Failure reason
1984	Kreepy Krauly Racing	March 83G	Graham Duxbury	Tony Martin	failure	Engine failure
1987	Joest Racing	Porsche 962	Danny Ongais	Louis Krages	Rank 4
1988	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet Corvette GTP	Elliot Forbes-Robinson		failure	Engine failure
1990	Bruce Leven	Porsche 962C	Bob Wollek	Dominic Dobson	failure	Engine failure

Web links

• Sarel van der Merwe at Driver Database
• Sarel van der Merwe at Racing Sports Cars

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 6-hour race of South Africa in 1968
2. ↑ 1984 Daytona 24 Hours
3. Jump up ↑ 1986 500km Road Atlanta race
4. ↑ South African V8 Star Series 2001