Title: SuperVan & I
Subtitle: The Memoirs of SA's Greatest Driver & His Alter Ego
Author: Sarel van der Merwe; Steve Smith
Publisher: Randomhouse Struik
Imprint: Zebra Press
Cape Town, South Africa 2012
ISBN 9781770221703 / ISBN 978-1-77022-170-3
Softcover, 15 x 23 cm, 304 pages, several colour and b/w photographs
Sarel van der Merwe started his career in 1967 racing saloon cars, and ended up winning multiple championships in rallies and on the race track. He is the most versatile driver this country has ever produced, and only the fact that he was too tall to fit Into a single-seater kept him out of Formula 1. Sarel famously won the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1984 and came third on debut at Le Mans in the same year. Although he officially retired In 2002 at the age of 55, he still races in the Historic Saloons series In South Africa, most often in a thundering red Ford Galaxie. And he still has the fire, just ask the misguided drivers of the dented classic cars that have tried to pass him. Steve Smith, the editor of Red Bull's magazine The Red Bulletin and the former editor of Sports Illustrated, has always been far more Interested in the human face behind the victories and struggles than he has in the scoreboard. Not only has he interviewed and written about South Africa's top sports personalities for 12 years, but he has been a lifelong motor-sport fan who has written about cars for magazines from TopCar to Men's Health.
The Early Years
The Rise of SuperVan
The Flag Drops
Hitting the Big Time
Hitting the Really Big Time
Running with the Big Dogs
Back Home
The Women
The Great Cars
The Sorry State of Affairs that Is Modern Motor Sport
How to (try to) drive like SuperVan
How to crash like SuperVan
Pedal to the Metal - Still
Acknowledgements
Author's Note
Glossary