Dear Leon
author: Andries van der Walt
I would like to comment on the first part of your story. I think there are many of us who have given much of ourselves and our time and knowledge to the sport that is as frustrated as you are.
But then, what the hell, we can't poep teen donderweer, so we might as well go with the flow and see where it is going to take us. Now I am no prophet because I don't belong to a Charismatic Church. Ook nie a "siener" nie. Sien!
But my gut tells me that it won't be long before we know where we were heading and when we have arrived there.
In the meantime we will carry on, not because we feel we have an obligation to do so, but because we have grown to love this sport with all its warts to just throw everything out of the window. Die baba en die badwater, if you follow my drift.
Ever since I became involved in motorsport way back in 1981, and yes I know you started in 1961, but what is 20 years between friends, huh, I can remember only one period in motorsport that we did not really have any problems or anything like that.
That was the period when motorsport was still in the hands of the AA. You remember the AAMSC days and Colin van Zyl and his secretary Beualah Schoeman?
Those "good" times lasted until about 1987 when MSA was formed and the AA waved motorsport bye-bye. And rallying was exciting with all those monster cars that were rallied in that era and the drivers and co-drivers that we had that were real characters. Some of them still are.
With the advent of MSA and the fact that MSA created all sorts of commissions to run the various branches of the sport, things just never seemed to be the same.
And not just in rallying, but on the track things also at times got hot and I am not talking about the engines or tyres.
If we were able to live through that era, even including the Behm/Megapro saga, then we can do so now too. I was close to the Behm/Megapro business, and let me tell you that much of what I hear now and experience remind me of what was proposed to me and the late Brian Duncan in my office in Braamfontein.
And they only came to see us as a courtesy. If we did not want to go along with their proposals there were dozens of sponsors waiting in the wings to take over our rallies. And then I and Quentin McCullogh called Behm's bluff and we walked away from five rallies in 1996 and later that year Castrol also said goodbye to the Castrol International.
Who lost? Not us or the sport since the sport I believe is bigger than the individuals involved and at some stage the sport will chew them up and spit them out and we can then really get things straight.
Some clever German philosopher once said (why must it always be the Germans?): "I don't know why we are here, but I'm pretty sure that it is not in order to enjoy ourselves."
Thanks for giving me this blog. Thanks in anticipation for cr@#$#@ing all over me. Nothing's changed and nothing's new.
But you are still, like Clara of Sewende Laan would say: "My extra special very good friend" Ouch!
Have a good day, and by the way there is no chapter 2.
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