Lukas "Luki" Botha (16 January 1930 – 1 October 2006) was a

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

driver from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, who raced in one World Championship Grand Prix, driving a privately entered

Brabham Motor Racing Developments Ltd., commonly known as Brabham ( ), was a British race car, racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. It was founded in 1960 by the Australian driver Jack Brabham and the British-Australian designer Ron Ta ...

BT11 in the 1967 South African Grand Prix. Born in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

, Botha was an avid

sports car A sports car is a type of automobile that is designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as Automobile handling, handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving, and Auto racing, racing capability. Sports cars originated in ...

and

endurance Endurance (also related to sufferance, forbearance, resilience, constitution, fortitude, persistence, tenacity, steadfastness, perseverance, stamina, and hardiness) is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a ...

racer. His first car was a South African built Dart with a 1500cc Ford engine with a

Cosworth Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for auto racing, automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream Automotiv ...

camshaft A camshaft is a shaft that contains a row of pointed cams in order to convert rotational motion to reciprocating motion. Camshafts are used in piston engines (to operate the intake and exhaust valves), mechanically controlled ignition syst ...

. He achieved a second in class finish in his first three-hour race with this car. He graduated to a

Lotus 23 The Lotus 23 was designed by Colin Chapman as a small-displacement sports racing car. Nominally a two-seater, it was purpose-built for FIA Group 4 racing in 1962–1963. Unlike its predecessors Lotus 15 and 17, the engine was mounted amidsh ...

with a Cosworth 1100cc later in 1965 with which he won five national class races in 1966. The car was in an accident later in the year as the rear suspension failed on the Jukskei sweep at

Kyalami Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit (from ''Khaya lami'', ''My home'' in Zulu language, Zulu) is a motor racing circuit located in Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa, just north of Johannesburg. The circuit has been used for Grand Prix motor racing, Grand ...

. In the latter half of 1966, he bought an Elva MK VII and a 1760cc engine from a

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Th ...

RS5 Spider. These two were combined to create an Elva Mk VII-Porsche RS. This proved a formidable combination; his first 2000cc Sports Car Class win came in the car at

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; ) is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about ...

. Later in a nine-hour endurance race at Kyalami the gearbox failed, but not before setting a fastest lap in his class of 1:34:50 for the old circuit. During the VIII Grande Premio de Angola, the Elva proved its worth, achieving a fifth overall splitting the pack of

Ferrari 250 The Ferrari 250 is a series of sports cars and grand tourers built by Ferrari from 1952 to 1964. The company's most successful early line, the 250 series includes many variants designed for road use or sports car racing. 250 series cars are chara ...

GTs from first to eighth. He achieved a win over the factory Porsches,

Ford GT40 The Ford GT40 is a high-performance mid-engined racing car originally designed and built for and by the Ford Motor Company to compete in 1960s European endurance racing. Its specific impetus was to beat Scuderia Ferrari, which had won the pr ...

s and Lolas. Botha later commented that it was his most enjoyable racing experience. He won six Sports Car class races, and two 2000cc 2/3 hour endurance races and only replaced the gearbox once on the car. His move to Formula One came in the form of a Brabham BT11 with a

Climax Climax may refer to: Language arts * Climax (narrative), the point of highest tension in a narrative work * Climax (rhetoric), a figure of speech that lists items in order of importance Biology * Climax community, a biological community th ...

2000cc engine. On his first outing with the new car he came second (November 1966).1966 F1 non-championship results
The Formula One Archives. Retrieved 2 March 2008 He took part in the South African series races the following year until July. He also competed in that year's South African Grand Prix, part of the Formula One World Championship. After 38 laps he had a mechanical problem that was resolved with the help of a spectator and continued to finish the race with 60 laps to his credit. He was not classified at the finish. During a race at Lourenço Marques, now

Maputo Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...

, in

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

, he crashed heavily as a run-off area was swamped by the crowd. The crash claimed the lives of nine spectators and injured 17. After the crash, he did get back into the seat of a racing car, but felt that the spark was no longer there and stopped. He continued his work in civil engineering and assisted with some of the civil engineering work in

Soweto Soweto () is a Township (South Africa), township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western T ...

. Later he continued his love of South Africa by farming in the KZN-Midlands before moving to

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

to fill a post as an engineer. A number of years later he moved his family back to his birth town of Pretoria where he later was appointed as CEO of the Tswane Metropolitan Council.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Botha, Luki 1930 births 2006 deaths Racing drivers from Gauteng Afrikaner people South African racing drivers South African Formula One drivers Sportspeople from Pretoria