DESERT STORM FOR SOUTH AFRICAN RX-7 RACER! During a recent trip to South Africa, I was fortunate enough to meet and become good friends with John Coetzee. John owns the Ford/Mazda dealership in the small town of Springbok in the  Namaqualand region of South Africa, and describes himself as “rotary mad”. Having owned several rotary equipped vehicles, including an early 70’s RX-2 and several RX-7’s, he found himself without rotary power a couple of years ago. To remedy the situation, he bought himself a tidy useable Series I car. So the story begins. The local pastime is to race on the oval dirt track on the town’s outskirts. This forms part of a championship with a particularly long season, lasting for approximately 10-11 months (not quite the winter break enjoyed by the F1 brigade!). So John decided to modify his latest rotary ride to allow him to compete in the local series. At first, the vehicle was largely standard mechanically, though stripped out of glass and trim. This meant that the cars’ competition debut was slightly less than competitive. John describes the first few races as “guarateed to finish last”! At least finishing is part of the equation… “to finish first, first you must finish” to coin an old racing adage. Undeterred, John progressed on a series of modifications. Suspension was sorted by his father, who lowered the rear suspension by unconventional means (the rear “turrets” were cut and shut allowing the rear suspension to sit about 2 inches closer to the ground). Up front, added uprated shockers firmed things up. Meanwhile, the engine became the subject of attention for one of South Africa’s leading rotary engine builders. This involved major surgery to the rotor housings. The exhaust ports were actually moved from the rotor casing side face to the main rotor tip face. This was followed by the addition of a single downdraught Weber carburettor fitted with one of the tallest K&N air filters known to man. As you can see this particular component now protrudes rather purposefully from the bonnet! The engine is reputed to be putting out about 200bhp, with speed limited to between 10-12,000rpm to prevent excessive rebuilds. Engine cooling presents it’s own nightmares out in this part of the world, so a bigger radiator is fitted—also requiring some “adjustment” of the bonnet metalwork. It’s worth it though, as the car now copes with the heat of competition in an ambient temperature that can sometimes nudge 40°C... Further modifications include a custom built triangulated roll-cage, which is “integrated” with the substantial front, rear and side nudge bars. The latter are just about visible in the side shot, and are a necessity in what is described as a “full contact” sport! Doors are also welded shut, forcing “Dukes of Hazzard” style contortion for entry and exit. Wheels and tyres have been upgraded to allow better contact with the dirt track. Incidentally, to prevent the competitors disappearing into a huge plume of dust, the track is levelled and heavily watered down prior to each race. With all the changes, the roles have been firmly reversed; car and driver now taking several pole positions and winning the 2002 Championship. Obviously the competition are not taking this lightly, and a few highly modified 2.0 16v Opel engined cars are now giving John a bit of a hard time. So yet more modifications could be called for soon! Most of these are aimed at reducing the not inconsiderable weight of the body panels—with replacement fibreglass lightweight bonnet, front wings and doors planned (these panels are apparently readily available in South Africa, and may be of interest to UK Club Members looking to either reduce vehicle weight or replace rusty original items). First though, I think John is enjoying the “cat & mouse” action too much as the other competitors begin to catch up with him! Robyn

Spring Issue 'Rotary Ravings'