Transkei-born Tschops Sipuka made motor racing history in the Free State on Saturday when he won both races in round seven of the Formula Volkswagen national championship in his Southern Sun/Oakley backed car entered by Terry Moss Racing.
The 31-year-old father of one from Port Elizabeth became the first black driver to win a national championship single seater race in South Africa. He bettered his best previous result of second in East London in June in his third-ever Formula Volkswagen race after only joining the series in round three at Killarney in Cape Town in May.
For Sipuka, twice a VW Polo Cup champion and a former works driver in a Nissan 350Z in the Bridgestone Production Car Championship, it was a dominant performance that saw him start from pole position and lead throughout both 12-lap races at the Phakisa Freeway near Welkom despite coming under extreme pressure from championship leader Jayde Kruger. Kruger was second in both races while James Temple was third in race one and Gordon Connelly made up the podium in race two.
“I’m very proud of Tschops and today, I think, he showed that he is one of our most versatile and talented racing drivers,” said Terry Moss, Sipuka’s mentor and number one supporter throughout an 11-year career that saw him become the first driver black driver to win a national championship (the 2002 Polo Cup).
“This is a big day for me,” said Sipuka. “It has been a long time coming and I have worked hard for this and all my other achievements so far. As always, I have to thank Terry for his support and encouragement and for giving me the opportunity to show what I can do behind the wheel of a single-seater racing car.”
Sipuka started racing in 1998 and first made history when he won the 2002 VW Polo Cup series and became the first driver of colour to win a national motor racing championship. He repeated the feat in 2003, was awarded Protea colours and was selected as the Bridgestone Motor Sportsman of the Year by the South African Guild of Motoring Journalists.
He has competed in Formula Volkswagen at the famous Nürburgring circuit in Germany, in the 25 Hour VW Beetle Fun Cup at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and in the Continental Tyres international truck racing series in South Africa. He has also successfully completed rookie tests in Formula Palmer Audi at Spa, in Formula BMW at Sepang in Malaysia and in the Indy Pro Series at Phoenix International Raceway in Arizona in the United States.
STORY COURTESY OF: Peter Burroughes Communications
PICTURE COURTESY OF: Terry Moss Racing
