Syd van der Vyver (1 June 1920 – 20 August 1989 in Pennington) was a

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

, who won the South African Drivers Championship in 1960 and 1961.

Career

After starting his motor sport career in

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...

, van der Vyver switched to cars in the early 1950s, participating in both circuit racing and

hillclimbing Hillclimbing, also known as hill climbing, speed hillclimbing, or speed hill climbing, is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course. It is one of the oldest forms of motorsport, since the firs ...

. He found success quickly, and by the end of the decade had established himself as one of the top drivers in the country. As well as winning the national championship twice in the early 1960s, he performed well in

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship ...

races against the top drivers in the world in the well-attended

Rand Grand Prix The Rand Grand Prix was a motor race held at various circuits in South Africa. The first event took place in 1937 but it was not held regularly until the 1960s, when it was run to Formula One rules and formed part of the non-Championship calendar ...

, Natal Grand Prix and

South African Grand Prix The South African Grand Prix was first run as a Grand Prix motor racing handicap race in 1934 at the Prince George Circuit at East London, Cape Province. It drew top drivers from Europe including Bernd Rosemeyer, Richard "Dick" Seaman, Ric ...

, finishing in the top 10 in all three races in 1961.John Thompson, "The Formula One Record Book", Frewin, 1974, pp 62-67. He had entered the World Championship

1962 South African Grand Prix The 1962 South African Grand Prix, formally titled the 9th International RAC Grand Prix of South Africa, was a Formula One motor race held at East London on 29 December 1962. It was the ninth and final race in both the 1962 World Championship of ...

, but had to withdraw after rolling and seriously damaging his new

Lotus 24 The Lotus 24 was a Formula One racing car''Automobile Year'', No. 10, 1962-1963, Page 198. designed by Team Lotus for the 1962 Formula One season. Despite some early success in non-Championship Grands Prix, it was eclipsed by the technically s ...

the previous week in the

1962 Natal Grand Prix The 2nd Natal Grand Prix was a motor race, run to South African Formula One-style rules, held on 22 December 1962 at Westmead Circuit, South Africa. The field was split into two heats, with a subsequent final. The heats consisted of 22 laps, and th ...

. This was his only entry to a World Championship Grand Prix. With the car repaired, he raced and won again in local events, but did not compete again in Formula One. After this car was destroyed in a fire, van der Vyver retired from the sport.

Results

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (ma ...

)

Non-Championship Formula One results

(

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van der Vyver, Syd South African racing drivers Afrikaner people South African people of Dutch descent South African Formula One drivers 1920 births 1989 deaths