Adrian May & John Rittmann's Fatal Crash @ Killarney 1989

At the end of the first lap of the South African Modified V8 Championship race held at Killarney on 18 February 1989, Ian Scheckter's Ford Sapphire Cosworth tangled with the Nissan Skyline of former South African Rally Champion Hannes Grobler at the left-hand kink before the start/finish line, veered to the right and hit the pitlane entrance wall. The cars hit the barrier which seperated the pitlane from the pit straight, being catapulted into the pitlane, with Scheckter's vehicle flying high into the air and bursting into flames. The accident resulted in the deaths of two men.

John Rittmann, a twenty-six-year-old computer programmer from Pinelands, Cape Town, who was photographing the race standing next to the pitwall suffered massive head injuries and died on the spot; Adrian May, a business man also from Pinelands, Cape Town, operating as a crew member of a competing team was hit, dying in hospital later that evening. Many others were injured, while Scheckter and Grobler walked away shaken but othwerise unhurt. Possibly the front suspension on Scheckter’s car which according to a source failed just before the accident, could have been the cause of the crash.

The next lap only Sarel van der Merwe who led the race in a Audi Quattro Turbo V8, passed at slow speed and the event was stopped. Ian Scheckter never raced again following this accident.

It was the debut of the Ford Sapphire Cosworth, built for the 1989 Wesbank Modified series, and also the return to racing for Ian Scheckter, who had abandoned for several time after sharing Sarel van der Merwe's Kreepy Krauly March 83G in the American IMSA series during the 80s.

R.I.P