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3 Feb 2005, 15:53 (Ref:1216631) | #1 | ||
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 3
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Sports car racing in Angola
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! |
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3 Feb 2005, 16:30 (Ref:1216665) | #2 | |
Racer
Join Date: May 2001
Posts: 140
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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. |
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3 Feb 2005, 18:51 (Ref:1216768) | #3 | ||
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Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 87
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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.
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4 Feb 2005, 16:06 (Ref:1217506) | #4 | ||
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Join Date: Feb 2005
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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. |
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5 Feb 2005, 12:15 (Ref:1218100) | #5 | ||
Rookie
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 3
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Photos
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
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25 Mar 2005, 22:49 (Ref:1261961) | #6 | |
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Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 4,230
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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 |
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20 Jun 2006, 10:05 (Ref:1637594) | #7 | |
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Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 4,230
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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
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20 Jun 2006, 10:53 (Ref:1637637) | #8 | |
Racer
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 105
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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...) |
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20 Jun 2006, 11:38 (Ref:1637669) | #9 | ||
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 2,767
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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!
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__________________
Nostagia ain't what it used to be! |
20 Jun 2006, 11:38 (Ref:1637670) | #10 | ||
CCNA
Royalridge Computing A LARGE Teapot Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2001
Posts: 10,691
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Quote:
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__________________
If you feel that the circuit is not safe for racing, please go into the pits and retire. |
20 Jun 2006, 11:58 (Ref:1637691) | #11 | |
Veteran
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 4,230
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chris crawford ran guy edwards lola 290 in euro 2 litres 72-79 ran le man entries to 93
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20 Jun 2006, 12:12 (Ref:1637706) | #12 | |
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Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 4,230
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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 |
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20 Jun 2006, 14:01 (Ref:1637742) | #13 | ||
Racer
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 105
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Quote:
I thought your mechanic worked for local drivers. |
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20 Jun 2006, 14:34 (Ref:1637769) | #14 | |
Racer
Join Date: May 2001
Posts: 140
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It was in Angola, on the Nova Lisboa circuit in 1972 (now Huambo).
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20 Jun 2006, 15:47 (Ref:1637810) | #15 | |
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Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 4,230
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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 |
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20 Jun 2006, 16:44 (Ref:1637846) | #16 | ||
Racer
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 105
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Quote:
PHoto: Sportscar Portugal |
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21 Jun 2006, 07:30 (Ref:1638209) | #17 | |
Racer
Join Date: May 2001
Posts: 140
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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? |
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21 Jun 2006, 09:48 (Ref:1638309) | #18 | |
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Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 4,230
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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!! |
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21 Jun 2006, 15:53 (Ref:1638488) | #19 | ||
Rookie
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 13
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The Nova Lisboa footbridge collapse during the warm-up lap for the 6 hour race was in July 28, 1974.
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21 Jun 2006, 16:03 (Ref:1638494) | #20 | |
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Join Date: May 2004
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this was the last year year of the racing in angola
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24 Jun 2006, 00:08 (Ref:1640111) | #21 | |||
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Quote:
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24 Jun 2006, 15:03 (Ref:1640310) | #22 | |
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Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 4,230
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do you have any info for the 74-75 races??
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27 Jun 2006, 17:31 (Ref:1642768) | #23 | |
Racer
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 105
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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) Last edited by Noisy; 27 Jun 2006 at 17:34. |
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27 Jun 2006, 17:58 (Ref:1642793) | #24 | ||
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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!
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27 Jun 2006, 18:01 (Ref:1642798) | #25 | |
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Posts: 4,230
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great link and pics for the races thanks noisy
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