The Wheel Deal drove his newly sponsored Times/Sunday Times/Etana Ford Mustang to a class victory at last weekend’s Execuline Historic Tour held at Zwartkops Raceway.

Things were looking bleak for drivers competing in round two of the Execuline Historic Tour when our Friday practice session at Zwartkops Raceway was interpreted by a monsoon of Vietnamese proportions. Indeed, while a handful of unfortunates nursed their machines back into the pit lane – their semi-slick tyres rendered useless by the amount of water flooding across the circuit – those of us not behind the wheel of a racing car beat a fevered retreat to the shelter of the trackside cafeteria. Swallowing greasy cheeseburgers with the help of strong cups of coffee, we drivers watched on in anguish as this foul deluge threatened to destroy what was otherwise promising to be another great weekend of classic motor car racing. Fortunately, despite our lack of faith in the South African weather service, things cleared up over night and when Johannesburg woke to clear skies and dry asphalt, us racers returned to the track in a decidingly better mood.

With over 250 names on the official entry list, including that of experienced European campaigner, Michiel Campagne, the morning paddock was a scene of organised chaos. Everywhere you looked, pit crews shaped by a lifetime of lager could be seen offloading trailers or disappearing beneath bonnets and under engines. Of course while this went on, still waiting for the caffeine to take effect, us sleep-deprived drivers climbed into our Nomex overalls and started psyching ourselves up for the business of qualifying. With no warm-up session preluding it, this was quite a shock to the system as we only had about 10 minutes to get ourselves a competitive placing on the starting grid.

Still, after climbing into my newly sponsored Times/Sunday Times/Etana Ford Mustang, the adrenalin kicked in and within a few laps I had managed to clock a real scorcher of a lap. In fact, nearly two whole seconds ahead of Hennie Groenewald in his outrageous blue Plymouth Fury, it turned out to be a little too hot for race control too handle; the clerk of the course deciding to bump us down to fourth position in order to keep the first heat of the Etana Legends of the 9-Hour “exciting” for the ever growing crowd.

Whatever. When the time came to line up in formation for the first race of the day, disappointment quickly made way for determination and I made the main straight quake as my right foot unleashed every one of the ponies herded inside the Ford’s monstrous V8 engine. Managing to shake Jonathan du Toit’s big black Chevrolet Chevelle SS off my tail – no mean feat – within the first few laps, I homed in on the only other Mustang to be mixing it up with the frontrunners. A cool white ’64 coupé decked out in period Lucky Strike branding, it’s pilot, the experienced Brian Rowlings, defended his position with the grit of a true racing veteran. No matter how hard I tried or what moves I pulled, the man behind that vintage visor kept his head to finish second behind the ’59 Chevrolet Biscayne of Mark du Toit. At the end of the first eight-lap heat, split seconds behind Rowlings and inches away from his rear fender, I roared across the finish line in third; a result that ensured I started the next race in a much more combative position.

But this fierce level of competition wasn’t just limited to the drivers in the Legends class as a bitter rivalry also played itself out between some of the quicker Trans-Am competitors. Stuck in a horsepower war that’s been raging all season, local track legends Ben Morgenrood and Willie Hepburn gave fans something to scream for as they rampaged their way around the circuit. Hepburn, always the showman, lost it in spectacular fashion in the first heat when his left rear wheel came flying of his ’68 Sunoco Chevrolet Camaro in turn eight. Yet despite his gallant attempts at getting the car rebuilt for his second assault on the raceway – think lots of angle grinding and hammering of bodywork – it was Morgenrood in his ’65 Ford Mustang who got the better of this feud by finishing further up the overall time index.

After an afternoon of many explosive duels, I once again strapped myself into my Times Racing stead and rumbled up behind the safety car for the last Legends race of the day. Unleashing V8 hell into the first corner – a slow hairpin that can get very ugly very fast – I immediately traded paint with the Fury, lose two positions and fired along the main straight in a blind rage. But then, sweeping into turn five, I calmed down, made use of the Mustang’s nimbleness and almost immediately found myself clawing at the exhaust pipe’s of Mark du Toit’s race-leading Biscayne. Quicker through the corners, despite having less horses beneath my bonnet, I spent the next few minutes studying the man’s moves until, on lap four, I powered past him to put my white and blue ‘Stang in front of the pack for the very first time. From here on in, and for what seemed like an eternity, every one of my senses was focused on keeping the car out of the gravel and on track for that checkered flag. Finally, sweat oozing into my eyes, it arrived when I hooked a left onto the pit straight and shot past my crew celebrating behind the concrete wall.

A dream debut for Times Racing, another box ticked in my personal list of life must-dos, this taste of victory has proven to be sweet but surprisingly short. And now, like some beast with a taste for blood, all I can think about is the next hit; one I’ll hopefully relish again at our next race meeting Zwartkops Raceway on 29 May.