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Bernard Tilanus in the DAW Maurer MM83 at Aldo Scribante in 1983. Copyright motoprint.co.za/David Pearson 2024. Used with permission.

Formula South Africa 1983

The continuing rise of Formula SA's profile after the dramatic 1982 season lured Ian Scheckter back to the category in 1983. He rejoined chief mechanic Ken Howes, who was also looking after the March 82A/822 of reigning champion Graham Duxbury and bought a March 822 to start the season. Tony Martin bought a Maurer MM82, compete with Maurer's trick suspension, and won both heats at the opening round, with Scheckter only second. Scheckter was second again at the next round, this time behind Duxbury. Such a dreadful runs of results for the former champion was the perfect publicity for the series, as crowds flocked to see him beaten. Scheckter responded by investing Gunston's generous budget in a brand new March 832 and went on to win 13 races in succession to take the title.

Duxbury also received a March 832, and finished second in the championship ahead of Martin in his Maurer. Wayne Taylor went well in Pretoria Brick Racing's Ralt RT4/82, but later in the season moved to Brian Ferris's team. Former champion Bernard Tilanus drove a brand new Maurer MM83 for DAW Supplies, but was dropped by team boss Jeff Waberski after a few races in favour of Trevor van Rooyen. Tilanus went off to Fred Goddard's team to race a hybrid March 822/802 built from Scheckter's early-season car. The March was quickly replaced by a locally-built Lant, a blatant Ralt copy, but Tilanus was not happy with either car. Other drivers in competitive ground-effect cars included John Moni and Matt Keyser in Maurer MM81s, and Brian Ferris and George Fouche in Ralt RT4s.

This was also the season that saw the introduction of a separate class for non-wing (ground-effects) chassis, in an effort to retain the interest and value in the older cars. They are identifiable by having racing numbers issued from 50 upwards, and 15 were used in this format during 1983.

The races

15 Jan 1983 > Aldo Scribante

29 Jan 1983 > Kyalami

12 Feb 1983 > Killarney

05 Mar 1983 > Welkom

16 Apr 1983 > Killarney

30 Apr 1983 > Kyalami

14 May 1983 > Welkom

31 May 1983 > Kyalami

16 Jul 1983 > Kyalami

27 Aug 1983 > Kyalami

10 Sep 1983 > Killarney

24 Sep 1983 > Kyalami

01 Oct 1983 > Welkom

1983 South African Sigma Series for Formula Atlantic table

1	Ian Scheckter	March 822 - Mazda 12A March 832 - Mazda 12A	204 pts
2	Graham Duxbury	March 82A/822 - Mazda 12A March 832 - Mazda 12A	114 pts
3	Tony Martin	Maurer MM82 - Mazda 12A	94 pts
4	Wayne Taylor	Ralt RT4/82 - Mazda 12A	57 pts
5	Trevor van Rooyen	Maurer MM81/82 - Mazda 12A Maurer MM83 - Mazda 12A	54 pts
6	Bernard Tilanus	Maurer MM83 - Mazda 12A March 822/802 - Mazda 12A Lant RR83 - Mazda 12A	45 pts

Previous: the 1982 season

Next: the 1984 season

Formula South Africa seasons

1979 (Ian Scheckter)
1980 (Tony Martin)
1981 (Bernard Tilanus)
1982 (Graham Duxbury)
1983 (Ian Scheckter)
1984 (Ian Scheckter)
1985 (Trevor van Rooyen)
1986 (Wayne Taylor)

Data still needed for 1983

Entry lists from event programmes are needed for Aldo Scribante on 15 Jan 1983 and Welkom on 1 Oct 1983. Full results sheets are needed for Aldo Scribante 15 Jan 1983, Kyalami 29 Jan 1983, Welkom 14 May 1983, Killarney 10 Sep 1983 and Welkom 1 Oct 1983. Data is especially limited for Aldo Scribante 15 Jan 1983 where we only have the top six from SA Motoring Weekly, Welkom 14 May 1983 and Killarney 10 Sep 1983 where we rely on brief reports from the Rand Daily Mail, and Welkom 1 Oct 1983 where we only have the top six finishers from Adri Bezuidenhout's 'Wheels' yearbook.

The research

The 1979 to 1986 Formula SA results have been compiled with the generous assistance of Ian Hebblethwaite. The main sources used include Autosport and Motoring News until their reports stopped in 1979, and South African newspapers, The Rand Daily Mail, The Citizen and The Star. Ian has provided race results sheets for a number of races, but in most cases we do not have these.

A great deal of information has come from race programmes, and we are most grateful to Ian Hebblethwaite, Stuart Thompson, Bernard Tilanus, Tony Kent, Marius Matthee, Doug Brown, David Pearson and Rennie Mackrory for providing programme entry lists for 63 of the 87 races so far. We still need most of the Goldfields/Welkom programmes, all the Aldo Scribante circuit programmes, six of the Kyalami programmes and both programes for the one-off races at Port Elizabeth and East London. Please get in touch if you can help us with information from the programmes we still need.

My thanks also to Ian Hebblethwaite and Stuart Thompson for generously sponsoring the purchase of many of David Pearson's excellent photographs from motoprint.co.za used on these pages and across the relevant model histories.

Email Allen (allen@oldracingcars.com) with any further additions, corrections or comments.