I guess it will take some time for all of us to get used to the ‘Shelby’ without the ‘Vodacom” but what does it all mean and where to from here?

2005 will always be remembered as the year Vodacom withdrew from National Circuit Racing in South Africa, and Shelby Can-Am Racing as well, but for us it will be remembered as a celebration of the opportunities that Vodacom afforded our association to own and to race these awesome sports cars. With the introduction of the VSP’s in 1999 and the development of the cars to the current form in 2005, credit must be given to Vodacom for the financial support and faithful backing which has enabled us to establish a National championship category, with beautifully turned out and prepared cars , capable of producing racing as competitive and entertaining as the best in the country. The vision of Neville Jordan at the outset and his energy, that went beyond just the vision, must be and is  commended and saluted together with the ‘powers that be’ at Vodacom.

2005 will also be remembered as one of the more competitive and exciting years in our formula for many reasons. Six different winners through the year, lap records and closer grid times than ever, new competitors and first time winners, the massive improvement of the ‘show’ and numerous tests by Formula Ford competitors as well as development drivers. 2005 also saw 3 x father and son teams competing in national circuit racing, in the same class, for the first time ever!  Darryn and Neil Lobb’s front row grid positions at the Kyalami national was also a record for S.A. motor sport as was their first and second place finish in both races! We also saw team mates ‘take’ each other out during the year  with Darryn and Clare at Phakisa and Rui and Alan at Zwartkops. Title contenders Donovan Roscoe, Francois Gerber and Neil’s accident at P.E , caused when Neil ran into the rear of Donovan, created spectacle and controversy. Clare Vale’s increase in pace must be acknowledged as the reason for the increase in pace of a large portion of the grid as these men suddenly found themselves being out qualified by Clare. All said a fantastic 2005. 

What then for the year 2006……? A bleak future definitely not! With negotiations with Vodacom successfully concluded funding for our Association is available, and secure, for the next 24 months. This does not however mean we should, or can, sit back and relax. We need to now, more than ever before, work on the show element of our racing and promote our category even more vigorously. The cars that are not being raced need to be sold or rented and that can only happen if we take ‘ownership’ of the task to promote the Shelby Can-Ams where ever we go. Let us do whatever is necessary to encourage those owners to come back and join in the fun.

A further encouragement to all competitors would be to ‘embrace’ the team concept and welcome the supporters of all the drivers as part of the bigger team and to improve the comaradie, that was so evident through the last half of the year, even more. Yes there will always be a winner but if we can not enjoy trying then why do it – so lets enjoy the best racing 2006 can offer. The sooner we can negotiate a new title sponsor the better funded the Association will be which would put us back in a position where we could subsidize race costs and make it all the more affordable as well as continue development plans for our cars. Remember the 400 horsepower goal!

Development is still continuing on the Porsche gearbox in Peter Bailey’s car and he will be competing in 2006, and scoring points, whilst this development continues. The ‘Woody”  gearbox is now ready for installation and will also be running at Kyalami. Progress and this adaptation will be eagerly followed. A  further development, albeit substantially more expensive, is also being carried out and involves a sequential 6 speed box. The proposed new bodywork is continuing on 2 fronts with Ian and Stuart ‘cutting and pasting’ with an existing body as the base and a professional body in the design and quote stage. We thought it would be great to introduce a new body with a new sponsor so work continues on both fronts. The second class concept, discussed by myself at a previous meeting, is slowly taking shape and should be ready for ratification by MSA soon. This would enable us to promote development within our category as well as exploring new market opportunities for sponsorship. 

In closing I would like to thank all those who competed in 2005 as well as all the supporters and the families involved without whom we could not go racing. To the committee for your confidence in my decisions and faithfulness but especially to Steve (race director), for all your help on race weekends and Colin (technical) for your energy and passion for our cars and people! To Jannet – a massive thank you for making it all happen and putting up with not only Don but all of us. I have already mentioned Vodacom but without Goodyear faithfully supplying our rubber where would we be? As we look forward to the start of our 2006 season we can once more count on the continued support and backing of Goodyear. 

Lets go racing

Neil Lobb #1