Book chronicling 60 years of Kyalami magic launched

Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit – 60 Years of Memories, a large-format coffee-table book of more than 500 pages covering the history and memories of 60 years of the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, was launched last week during a function at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit.

The event, held in the John Love Launch Room, was also attended by the publication team, numerous photographers that contributed to the book as well as guests from the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, Motorsport South Africa and several motorsport legends.

Day with the legends

The afternoon function, with Roger McCleery as programme director, was interrupted by a typical Gauteng thunderstorm reminiscent of the traditional storms that occurred during the many endurance races held at the circuit during the past 62 years.

Guest speakers included Toby Venter, Chief Executive Officer of the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, author and publisher Denis Klopper, editor Roger Houghton, South African Motorsport Memories partner Dr Lance Vogel, plus motorsport legends Paolo Cavalieri and Graham Duxbury.

The coffee-table book, which covers the full 60 years of the circuit’s illustrious history, including both international and local events, contains over 1 500 images and 225 special “Kyalami Memories”. It is only available, for the first print, on a preorder basis.

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Both the Collector’s Editions and Publisher’s Editions of the book are sold out, with limited copies of the Standard Edition and Editors Edition still available.

The 500-page book is divided into five main sections: the early years and origins of the circuit; each year of competition from 1961 until 2022; year by year detail of each race held with many programme covers; a photographic section with close to 1000 images; and a section covering over 220 memories from many of the Kyalami legends and personalities involved.

The book ends with a tribute to the local photographers that contributed to the publication.

There are 35 copies of the Editor’s Edition still available and 500 copies of the Standard Edition, to sell at R1 950 excluding packaging and shipping.

For more information on the available options or to place an order please contact the publisher directly at denis@motorsportmemories.co.za

Paging through history

Having had the privilege of taking a copy of the book home, it far exceeded my high expectations.

It is a tome dedicated to South African motorsport, and set in an orderly, easy to refer to, format, with the photographs alone enough to stir my very old memory and bring alive the many golden eras of the adrenaline game in this country.

All local circuit racing fans owe Dennis Klopper a huge debt of gratitude for seeing through a mammoth task – just the research would have intimidated most historians and authors.

The result is an absolute masterpiece and, try as I might throughout the 500 pages, I could not find a single mistake. All enthusiasts should try to get a copy if they can.

Orders can be placed on http://www.motorsportmemories.co.za/.