18 replies to this topic

[Mike B]

Does anyone know what Ian Scheckter is doing now and where he is? I seem to remember reading that he lives in Cape Town but not sure where I saw that.
He is apparently a really nice guy - does anyone have any contact with him or any stories from his racing days?

[Bladrian]

There were fellow-competitors who figured Ian to be a better driver than Jody - he just never got the breaks.

This fine collection of folks should be able to help you in your quest.

http://www.kma.org.za

[Richard Jenkins]

http://www.oldracing...tn.asp?letter=S


In addition, yes, he does live in the Cape Town area.

[Hieronymus]

This is news to me - where about in "the Cape Town area". He was last domiciled in East London (has been for his whole life). If he moved to CT then it must have been a business move or something in that regard.

[Felix]

Ian is, indeed, still living in East London - which is in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province, which may explain the confusion as to whether he is 'in Cape Town'. He is running the (Yamaha) motorcycle side of the family business.

It is a little known that Ian was SA motorcycle champion before switching to cars - in fact, it was the elder's racing of 50cc motorcycles (buzz-bikes as they were called) that got younger brother Jody into karts, which shared the same race meetings with the tiny two-wheelers. From there JS made the move to a Renault 8, then FFords. The rest as they say, is...

[Hieronymus]

The only Scheckter in Cape Town is Jody's ex-wife, Pam. (That is to say if Richie has got other information - which is also possible). By the way, Jody was or is considering buying a farm in South Africa. Saw this by chance in a local newspaper towards the end of last year. Wonder if this is a wise move?

[Felix]

Jody and Pam's elder son, Toby, also lives in CT. Jody did, I am told, buy a farm in SA - to add to his collection of organic farms around the world. This addition is, I believe, in the Mpumalanga area near the Kruger Park.

[Hieronymus]

Originally posted by Mike B
He is apparently a really nice guy - does anyone have any contact with him or any stories from his racing days?

The last time I saw Ian competing was at Killarney in Cape Town in the early 1990's (if my memory serves me right). He was doing modified saloon car racing at the time. At this race he was involved in a very cruesome accident that killed two people. His car and that of Hannes Grobler (an ex-SA Rally champion) touched on the straight in front of the pits.

Ian's car went over the pit wall and killed a photographer and crew member in the process. Ian then retired from racing and I can't recall him doing any racing at all, afterwards.

He was quite a controversial chap with fellow competitors and officials. Once had a severe clashing with Sarel van der Merwe. Sarel was a very straight forward chap and I think Ian met his match in him. With enthusiasts and fans Ian was always very nice.

[Felix]

Yeah, Sarel van der Merwe and Ian (the REAL Rock and a HARD Face...) had a massive shunt at Barbeque Bend during a Silhouette Saloon Race at Kyalami in about '79 (possibly as late as May '80) - Sarel in a Ford Escort based on a 3.4 litre Cologne Capri and Ian in a spaceframe saloon with BMW 535 fibreglass shell and mechanicals.

Massive destruction followed - of aircraft accident proportions - and they refused to acknowledge each other for about 12 months! Then they kissed and made up, and when SvdM needed a REAL racer for his Kreepy Krauly March IMSA car (he had won the '84 Daytona 24 Hr with a bunch of, well, amateurs after half the field retired or slowed) he turned to IS. They won more than few races on merit...

But, this was all after Ian's troubled foray into full-time F1 with the Rothman's March 761/771 - which ultimately saw him jailed in Japan after being refused entry into the country for the final race of the season on the grounds of being a South African! (Jody gained entry clearance after Walter Wolf, for whom he was driving at the time, squeezed the Canadian embassy who squeezed the Japanese...

Towards the end of his career Ian raced Porsche 944 Turbos in SA's Turbo Cup Championship (1988-9), then gradually wound down his appearances. I last saw him at a Roy Hesketh (the old Natal circuit) 'Old Boy's' Reunion in Pietermaritzburg on Easter Saturday last year.

[Richard Jenkins]

Originally posted by Felix
Ian is, indeed, still living in East London - which is in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province, which may explain the confusion as to whether he is 'in Cape Town'.

Could be - but looking at my notes he has a business interest or two in the Cape Town area & I think I got my Scheckters confused in this case Well, it was Sunday morning after all

[Hieronymus]

Yes, that was the shunt that caused the bad blood between the two. Wonder how the relationship is these days? I see Sarel quite frequently, since he lives no more than 2km from my home. Nice chap, also.

[Felix]

To be honest I haven't asked either about the relationship, but, as I said, they did win in IMSA together, so got along well enough for that...

[Hieronymus]

Ian is listed in the East London telephone directory for 2003/2004. No entrance under his name in the Cape Town directory.

Felix

The amateurs you refer to, I presume, are Graham Duxbury and Tony Martin. Amateurs indeed, but bloody good. I am sure they were faster than many well established "professionals". In their case it is just the old story of money...and being South Africans.

[Felix]

Nothing wrong with the money side (Kreepy Krauly stuck in plenty under SA's then-export tax break scheme); nothing wrong with the car (March 84G with an Andial Porsche engine); nothing wrong with the Race Engineer (one Adrian Newey) and nothing wrong with Sarel. But, the lap charts and times show something lacking on the part of the others....

[Hieronymus]

True...Sarel was more than a "speed freak" and could have been one of the best ever - in sports cars or Rally. Anyone could look dismal in his presence.

[Mike B]

Thanks everyone for the information. Looks like the evidence is that he lives in East London but is rarely involved in motorsport nowadays. It would be good to see people like Ian Scheckter at Goodwood or some of the other historic events.

[Nanni Dietrich]

Does anyone remember what car Ian Scheckter was driving when he crashed at Killarney?
Seem to recall at the time he campaigned a BMW, but I'm not sure.

[Speedy27]

No, Ian Scheckter drove a BMW 535 in the early 80's during the short-lived Manufacturers Challenge. The second of these 535's, called the 'lowrider', was the one in which he and Sarel vd Merwe had their massive (and often-replayed on TV) shunt at Kyalami.

The Killarney crash which you refer to involved Ian driving the Ford Sapphire Cosworth, built for the Wesbank Modified series in 1989. It was the debut of the Sapphire and also Ian's return to racing, having had a few years on the sidelines after sharing the Kreepy Kraully March 83G with van der Merwe in the IMSA series.

The crash happened early in the race (I think, but am not 100% sure, that it was at the end of the first lap) when Ian and Hannes Grobler (in the Nissan Skyline) were disputing track position out of BP corner and onto the pit straight. Neither of these guys had built their solid reputations by being shrinking violets as regards easily surrendering track space and they collided and canoned straight through/over the armco, which in those days seperated the pitlane from the pit straight.

I was photographing on the wall at Hoals that day and remember the sudden and crushing silence which descended over the track - 'not something that one would expect so early in a race. I seem to remember that only van der Merwe (in the Audi - he would have been leading at the time of the shunt) passed by slowly, but no-one else. Also, every marshal in the place suddenly took off at great speed on foot up the pit straight and I joined the sprint with that horrible sense of urgency; desperate to find out what had happened, yet hoping that no-one had been hurt. I still remember the sense of chaos and urgency that was happening all around as I approached pit lane from the end of the straight, yet I could not see an accident scene at that point.

I remember first reaching the Ford pit (in the then new section after the control tower) and seeing Angela Scheckter very distressed and being comforted by members of the Ford team. I would have assumed the worst, so when Ian appeared on foot a short while later, very shocked but otherwise visibly ok, I still remember feeling overwhelming relief and thinking that - finally - I now knew who had been involved and that all was well. I took some pics of Ian, Angela and Sarel talking together and then walked up the pit straight to try and find the scene of the accident. When I got to the crumpled remains of the two cars in the pit lane and saw the medics and other helpers around, the full extent of what had happened became apparent.

This is my worst memory of more than 20 otherwise special years photographing and enjoying racing at Killarney.

Ian never raced again. The second car was completed (part of the original plan, if I remember correctly) for Graham Duxbury and at a later stage, after consistently poor performances, Owen Ashley took over the development of the car and the (now Sasol) Ford Sapphire became a very effective weapon in the hands of Duxbury and team mate, George Fouche. When Duxbury retired from racing, Sarel van der Merwe took over the Sapphire and had some great races with Terry Moss, who was then promoted by VW SA from Group N into the ex IMSA GTO Audi seat vacated by van der Merwe. I wasn't then Terry Moss fan, as he kept on crashing my favourite BMW's (and in fact, many others too!) out of Group N races, but was won over with new and very serious respect for him when I saw how quickly he came to terms with the Audi, given that it had far more power than anything he had driven up to that point.

I still remember that SENSATIONAL sound of the turbo blow-off valve on the Audi, whenever the drivers came off the power. Heck, I used to be able to whistle it to perfection, but haven't practiced for too many years!!! 'Awesome memories, that's for sure.

[Hieronymus]

The other car that jumped the pitwall was Hannes Grobler's 4-wheel driven Nissan Skyline. Accident happened no more than 40meters from where my wife and I was strolling in the paddock area. Happened at the end of the first lap.

Ian Scheckter is now living in Gonubie.