NOVEMBER 1, 2005

Dave Clapham

Dave Clapham has died at the age of 74. He was a major figure in the development of motorsport in South Africa, starting out as a competitor in 1956 and becoming the manager of Sports Car Cub of South Africa in 1960. He quickly went into action and reorganised the national saloon car championship in 1961, introduced Formula Vee in 1965 and Formula Ford in 1969. In 1970 he started the Driver to Europe prize, which launched Jody Scheckter into international racing. Scheckter won the Formula 1 World Championship with Ferrari in 1979. Throughout the period he was also an active journalist, promoting the sport at every opportunity. He went on to hold a variety of important jobs including being president of AA Motorsport from 1988 to 1993 and a board member until 2000.