Sports car racing in Angola

[tomgowans1959]

Ever since I discovered an old MGA that had obvioulsy been modified for racing lying in a yard in Luanda, Angola, I have been trying to find out more about sports car racing in Angola prior to independance. I have discovered that the Springbok series raced there, I have seen a Ford Cobra for sale in a UK clasic car magazine advertised as winning the 1965 Angolan Grand Prix, and, talking to one old boy in Luanda, he remembered an Englishman being killed when he crashed a Porsche. Just tiny snippets but they have created an interest in further research. The old race track outside Luanda still exists and the main loop is still in use by amateurs (the other loops are head high in grass).

If there is anyone out there who can help me with more information, or steer me in the right direction, I would be very grateful. If anyone wants to see photos of the race track or the MGA, just drop me a line. Thanks!

[Darren Galpin]

Please send on the photos.....

There were many other circuits used:
Benguela
Fortaleza
Nove Lisboa
Restinga

see http://www.silhouet.com/motorsport/tracks/africa.html - includes some track maps.

See http://www.teamdan.com/archive/www2/miscsc/miscsc.html for some of the sportscar results.

[klaus]

remember the story of the autodelta alfa romeo tipo 33, found in an Angolan scrapyard some years ago. there were a lot of pictures in the magazines, and it was a nice story concerning the political cirumstances , why this car was left and forgotten there for several decades.

[tomgowans1959]

Thanks for that Darren. With your info I managed to find an obscure web page on a portuguese site: http://sportscar.com.sapo.pt/1_pioneiros.htm which has photos and more info. I shall post the recent photos of the track in Luanda and the MGA as soon as I finish this trip (I am up the West African coast at the moment). I shall write to the guy that seems to own the site I found, maybe he has more leads. It also appears that it was not an Englishman that crashed a Porsche killing himself and some spectators, it was Andrade Villar - a wealthy Portuguese farmer and entrepreneur who lived in Angola since his young years who was driving a Porsche Carrera 6 in December 1969. In those days the race was through the streets of Luanda. I shall have to try and map out the course but there is one part which cuts up the escarpment (below the present US Embassy) where they still occasionally run hillclimbs which must have been hairy in the extreme!

I need to get the names of the racetracks clear. The Restinga is the name of the long bar of Lobito, just north of Benguela which would have made it a street circuit. Did Benguela have its own circuit? I suspect it did. The Fortaleza is in Luanda (a fort on the edge of the escarpment but did it give its name to the Luanda street circuit as opposed to the Autodrome south of the city?). If you look at the photos on the web site of the start of the Angolan grande premio, you will see the fort in the background.

My thanks also to Klaus. Several years ago, obviously while the war was still going hammer and tongs, I heard of some Portuguese guy in the interior who swapped his brand new 4x4 for some old car he had discovered but I could never find anything else out about it (it was probably spirited away!).

This is all proving very interesting as I continue to be surprised at some of the exotica that once thundered through the streets of Luanda. I shall press on and keep you informed of anything else I turn up.

[tomgowans1959]

I found some photos of the race track south of Luanda and of the MGA. They can be viewed at: http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/tom...bum?.dir=/b3fb

[driftwood]

the alfa 33 was sold at auction 6-8 yrs ago
the car lay under a taupalin for years in no mans land and it took some time for the guy to get the car out and away it was an original condition car and made a good price

there where a few other cars left behind but it will not surprise me if thay are all out now
i did speak with a well known mechanic of that era now running sports cars about the angolan series and he was there a few times and said many cars went some stayed and agreed most will have been found a taken out by now
i recall a thread on 10 10 of a lola 210 21 found down there

[driftwood]

i now have the original foto of the alfa 33 that was found and copy of the article plus autosport 72 73 race results/reports

[Noisy]

Driftwood, can you tell us what is the well known mechanic of that era?


Sports car Racing is alive in Angola:
http://193.126.231.120/pls/sportmoto...ticia?id=16680

(my last post was deleted because the article is write in portuguese...)

[Alan Raine]

Was it Angola where the footbridge over the track collapsed at the start of a 2 litre Sports Car race. I remember seeing some film of it many years ago - quite dramatic!

[EvilPumpkin]

Originally Posted by Noisy

(my last post was deleted because the article is write in portuguese...)

Your last post was deleted because it was in breach of our rules for both language and copyright, as has already been explained to you.

[driftwood]

chris crawford ran guy edwards lola 290 in euro 2 litres 72-79 ran le man entries to 93

[driftwood]

yes i believe it was the angolan race the bridge collapased
re foreign languages
try www.freetranslation.com u can paste and copy the language and get it translated to english or vice versa
it works reasonably well to get he idea of what is being said

[Noisy]

Originally Posted by Alan Raine

Was it Angola where the footbridge over the track collapsed at the start of a 2 litre Sports Car race.

It didn't happen at Angola. Maybe at Sud-Africa or Zimbabwe.

I thought your mechanic worked for local drivers.

[Darren Galpin]

It was in Angola, on the Nova Lisboa circuit in 1972 (now Huambo).

[driftwood]

most the cars drivers were Brits that went to angola taking time out of euro racing or on way to sprinbok series
the portiguese racers where usually driving Uk team cars in europe or rente dthe 2nd seat in a Uk owned car for the anglan event
a few locals owned cars or bought them in for the series
gt40 alfa 33 lola 210 chevron b23 wher owned by angolan based guys in the last few years of the racing before the war broke out big time

[Noisy]

Originally Posted by Darren Galpin

It was in Angola, on the Nova Lisboa circuit in 1972 (now Huambo).

I guess you are wrong! In 1972 Gérard Larrousse and Vic Elford partnered Écurie Bonnier Lola T290 to the victory. 6 hours race winner was Roger Heavens' Chevron B21. No disasters!

PHoto: Sportscar Portugal

[Darren Galpin]

From:
http://www.motorsportmemorial.org/fo...=ct&q=a&n=2666

The collapse of a bridge over the track happened at the Nova Lisboa (currently named Huambo) street circuit in Angola, before the start of the sportscar race "6 Horas Internacionais", August 1972.
Too many spectators had gathered on the bridge to witness the start of the race, their weight was too much for the rickety structure and it collapsed.
The pace car was running at the front of the field, as the cars were about to be given the green flag from the rolling start, approaching the spectator bridge near the start/finish line of the circuit. The bridge suddenly collapsed at the front of the pace car, and crashed down onto the circuit and all the drivers had to come to a grinding halt. None of the drivers got hurt, but six people were killed in the accident, those spectators who were on the bridge itself.


See also http://forums.atlasf1.com/showthread...486#post923486.

A newer post on that thread suggests in was 1974 rather than 1972, but definitely at Nova Lisboa. If you believe it was elsewhere, have you got any sources which show where?

[driftwood]

thanks for info on lola 290 racing and foto
do you have any more results and info i have only a few autosport reports
i must confess i am not upto date on angola as a nation
do you have many races and tracks these days?

i assume you are still speaking portuguese but now an independant nation
i guess its time to google angola!!

[Carlos Guerra]

The Nova Lisboa footbridge collapse during the warm-up lap for the 6 hour race was in July 28, 1974.

[driftwood]

this was the last year year of the racing in angola

[Carlos Guerra]

Originally Posted by driftwood

this was the last year year of the racing in angola

Not really driftwood, racing was still going on in 1975. And there has been a lot of racing after Independence too.

[driftwood]

do you have any info for the 74-75 races??

[Noisy]

Mr Galpin you were wrong. Your accident was in 1974!

This is the picture of the bridge collapse: (Copyright of Sportscar Portugal)

Mr Drift You can find Angolan 1974 season related by portuguese old driver Helder de Sousa: http://sportscarclassic.com.sapo.pt/HS_Angola.htm (Sportscar Portugal)

[John Turner]

Noisy, no need to labour the point! Darren has already pointed to his sources and accepted that it may have been 1974 and Carlos has also given the date. However, thank you for the picture!

[driftwood]

great link and pics for the races thanks noisy