Sunset On Kyalami 1961 to 1971 By Gary Kegel & Brian Bennett motor racing cars South Africa history
The book is a hard cover book in a brand new like condition as per the photos, lots of information and photos printed in 2007 it has 212 pages
*****ABOUT THE BOOK******
Sunset on Kyalami 1961-1971 Gary Kegel & Brian Bennett
Rare Copy Of This Collectable Book
Sunset on Kyalami was created the day 65 year old Brian Wilton Bennett walked into my cluttered lawnmower shop on the West Rand. He arrived one day in 1999 after I had put the word out that I was looking for a handyman with a drivers licence to help me during the summer months. It was not a very comfortable first meeting, but the ice was well and truly broken when I discovered we both had something in common a passion for motor racing and a great affinity for the old Kyalami circuit.
Brian was born in Kidds Beach. near East London, to a flight engineer and a mother who served in the SA Air Force. He immigrated to Johannesburg in the early 1960s and after finding steady employment signed on as a Kyalami scrutineer, a duty he performed until the demise of the better half of the circuit. Within that time, armed with a R200 Pentagon camera, he took more than 2000 colour photos. The negatives. rescued from a 30 year old card-board container, produced images that can only be described as extraordinary and they form the main eminence of this book.
I was born in Johannesburg in December 1959 to an accountant and primary school secretary and brought up in a small hick gold mining village in the old Western Transvaal (Nort West Province), eventually returning to the city of my birth in 1983.
Motor racing became my passion after Id seen the movie Grand Prix in 1967, which ultimately led to the accountant no motor enthusiast himself taking me and countless friends to and from Kyalami for the next eight years. The Rand Autumn Trophy Motor Races on 30 March 1968 initiated my fanatical infatuation with Kyalami, which lasted for 20 years. On entering the north gate. even as a young boy, the splendour of the landscape with Johannesburg on the horizon left me spellbound.
My memories of the circuit with its vast vista stretching from Leeukop to Crowthorne are vivid and compelling, which served as an imaginary prelude to a future motor racing career. The public address with its non stop chattering, along with the diversity of the people, produced a special atmosphere. Away from my orderly disciplined world for the first time, it provided an education which also developed my sense of humour. South African fans have always possessed a boisterous, entertaining, competitive edge.
Crowthorne Corner completed my transformation. From that location, it was a site to behold, machines speeding down the hill under the Dunlop bridge before braking heavily for the long right hander. Today Brian and I dream about the premier V8 Super Cars being let loose on a main straight of the old Kyalamis magnitude. More about that later.
Finally, the narrative account is informal actuality, covering the origins of Kyalami with reports on all the Formula One events and Nine Hour Internationals from 1961 to 1971.
There are also minor features on the other classes of racing, but motorcycles form a separate project that will follow in due course Many drivers helped with information but the majority of the stories and anecdotes relate to our own personal experiences as scrutineer and spectator respectively.
Enjoy the memories of a fantastic era! GARY KEGEL OCTOBER 2006
The book is selling for anything from R550 to R2392
