Jaco Van Der Merwe

Compiled by Jaco Van Der Merwe

Head of Motoring


Porsche’s rich racing memories at Kyalami captured in special book

It all started in 1961 when Porsche won the 9-Hour race at SA's famous track.


Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit has a very special place not only in local motorsport, but also on the international racing scene. A large of this rich heritage is Porsche’s involvement at track spanning over six decades.

Local motorsport publisher SA Motorsport Memories has captured the vast and impressive competition history of the Porsche brand at Kyalami in high-quality large format (280 mm x 240 mm) book.

Kyalami and Porsche

The 300-page hard cover book by author Denis Klopper covers Porsche’s history at the track dating back to the victorious opening 9-Hour race in 1961, up until the race winning return of the 9-Hour in 2019. It concludes with the brand’s last appearance to date at an international race held in early 2023.

60 Years of Porsche Racing at Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit covers the Porsche cars, engines and drivers that raced there.

Highlights include the Porsche 944 Turbo Cup Series which ran in South Africa from late 1987 until the end of the 1989 season.

ALSO READ: Kyalami Grand Prix almost happened but got sunk by ‘greed’

Other Porsche cars and drivers that competed in local series also feature in separate chapters.

It also features four Porsche race cars, two Porsche 944 Turbo Cup and a Porsche 911 GT2R driven and owned by local Porsche boss Toby Venter. These championship winning cars were joined at an early morning photo-shoot by the ex-Gary Dunkerley raced and Grant Viljoen owned SABAT Porsche 911 race car.

Kyalami Toby
Porsche and Kyalami goes hand in hand for Porsche boss Toby Venter. Picture: Roarke Bouffe

ALSO READ: Brad Binder sets new benchmark around Kyalami

Special pictures

The book contains over 500 special images, most of which have never been published before. Each accompanied by a detailed caption in both English and German.

It also has statistics of all the races held cover car types, drivers, engine numbers and results.

Legendary motoring scribes, including former The Citizen Motoring Motorsport Editor Andre de Kock, Roger McCleery, Stuart Johnston, Hendrik Verwoerd and Roger Houghton pen stories their unique Porsche Kyalami memories.

The book features forewords by Venter, motorsport legend Sarel van der Merwe and David Piper.

Kyalami book
The book features over 500 picture.

Two editions

This world class publication will be dispatched during the second quarter of 2024. It is available in two limited editions, a Standard and a Collector’s version. A limited numbers of each is still available to order.

ALSO READ: Hamilton reaffirms desire for F1 return to Kyalami

The Standard Edition comes in hard cover format and is signed by the author. It sells for R2 195, which includes delivery.

The Collector’s Edition is a hard cover format with dust cover in a protective sleeve. It is signed by the author, editor and Venter and includes delivery. Buyers can individualise this book, select a book number and two photographic prints and get a personalised message from the author at R3 795.

Local orders can be made on the publisher’s website samotorsportmemories.com and international orders at chaters.co.uk. Enquires can be made at toni@motorsportmemories.co.za.

Read more on these topics

Kyalami Motorsport Porsche

Access premium news and stories

Access to the top content, vouchers and other member only benefits