Zwartkops Raceway Trax Day - 14 October

[Grant V]

Every month, Zwartkops Raceway outside Pretoria, hosts what it calls a Trax Day. The track is opened to the public, who are invited to bring along any vehicle and put it on the track. Some of the guys from our MB Club got together last Sunday. The cars were divided into three groups: Group A was for fast road cars, Group B was for slower road cars and beginners, and Group C was for Lotus 7's and racing cars. There were quite a few surprises as well.

One of the club members, Pieter, made the trip all the way from Secunda and his W124 230E auto turned out to be one of the surprises of the day. I took the wheel, with Pieter as passenger, for a few laps during the first heat of Group B and I was astounded at how well his car handled. I found the W124 to be entirley predictably and incredibly forgiving. (It made me wonder what a great experience the 500E would be like on the track?) After a few laps, Pieter took the wheel and over the next few laps he learnt very quickly about driving the car smoothly through the correct lines. He proved to be a quick learner and I hope that he enjoyed the experience.



I had my 6.3 out for the day, and only managed two or three laps before being black flagged for excessive oil smoke. Clearly the engine is going to have to be rebuilt, but I was expecting the 6.3 to be a handful and all over the track. It perfomed quite to the contrary, and although it is a big heavy car, it also proved to be predictable and forgiving. I have never driven a car with this amount of raw power, and one of the nicest things about it, is that when it starts to understeer through a corner, a little prod on the accelerator will get the back out and the car into a controllable drift. I would love to have more track time in this car

My friend Lou Faul was out in his W114 280E, which he has prepared for racing. It was his first time out on a track, and the car looks great. It also has one of the most beautiful exhaust notes. I was very pleased to see this car, and look forward to seeing it again.



Another club member and MB specialist, Colin Kean, was there with his race prepared 190E 2.3-16, as well as his friend Steve with his W126 500SEC. The SEC is largely standard except for an uprated exhaust system, and sounded wonderful.

I've never really appreciated the 190E Cosworth, but Colin offered me a drive in his car, and I now know what all the hype is about. This is quite simply a phenominal motor car. Not only does it rev, and keep on revving and making more power, but it handles superbly and communicates it's every intention with the driver. It has enough power to steer it on the throttle, but if it ever gets out of shape, just backing off the loud pedal gets the car back on track. This is quite simply the best car I have ever driven on a track and loved every minute of it. The 190E Cozzy is worth all the hype and has just leapfrogged up my wish list.

[s class]

Eish it looks like you guys had fun.  Sorry I had to miss it Grant.  My son woke up sick as a dog on Sunday, so that was my day gone. 

Ryan

[oscar]

Hi Grant, thanks for the pics and a great read.  Intersting reading about the Cosworth and glad to hear a perspective of yourself driving a few of the cars.  Shame about the 6.3 being sent to the sin bin.  At least you got a few laps in though.  Would've been a great day to hear and see the cars in action.  Good stuff.