If the guys at Nissan haven’t thought about giving Hannes Grobler a gold watch they should — for 25 years he has raced their products, and brought them multiple national championships. And, racing against high-tech imports in locally developed cars, lots of second places in the title chase.
”I’m probably the guy with the most second places in the championships ever,” says the amiable rally and off-road star. ”Sarel [van der Merwe] always had Audi Quattros and things, and I finished second in the cham- pionships about 12 times. I’m also probably the only guy in the world who’s raced only one car in 25 years — Nissan. I’ve been approached by other manufacturers, but the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. Nissan’s always looked after me and I’ve done my best for them.”
It all started back in 1977 when the boy who had grown up in Rustenburg fell off his dirt-bike and tore his knee ligaments. ”My ambition was to play Springbok rugby, and I think I had a chance to get there. For me the ultimate would have been to run on to the field with 80 000 to 100 000 people cheering. I played scrumhalf for the defence force’s under-21 side, and then my injury put paid to that dream. So I went for my second passion — motor sport.”
Grobler entered his bog standard Datsun 160 SSS in a club rally in Welkom, where he then lived. It was a timed special stage event, and at the prize-giving the organisers read the results out from 20th place down. ”When they got to fourth without my name appearing I thought I’d been disqualified. Turned out I’d won!”
In 1979, with a little help from Nissan, he won the South African Amateur Rally Championship, a feat that he repeated in 1980. In 1981 came the big time — a works drive with the company he’s been with ever since. In 1986 he won both the rally championship and the South African off-road champion-ship for Nissan, earning his coveted Springbok colours in the process, and in 1991 he was again rally champ. Eight years later he was awarded the new national colours for his achievements in motor sport. In between came spells in a circuit-racing Skyline V6 four-wheel drive that he’d developed for Nissan, a Fiat Uno Turbo (marketed by Nissan) that took him to second place overall in the Killarney Nine Hour Race, and he campaigned Nissan’s road-racing works Satcar entry.
Of the three types of competition — rallying, road racing and off-road racing — which is his favourite type of racing? ”Rallying. You can’t really compare the three though. If possible I’d do all three, but rallying is my first love. In off-road racing you have to conserve the vehicle because the races are so long, so you don’t drive on the limit. In rallying you have to put everything into it to win stages and the event. Off-road’s not as scary. In a rally, if your heart doesn’t jump into your throat a few times then you’re not trying hard enough. In off-road racing your heart might stop because you manage to just avoid a rock that would have broken the car, but you’re not as likely to roll because you’re not driving as hard.”
And the toughest man to beat he’s ever come across? ”Probably Sarel van der Merwe. That may be because he’s always had the right cars. If Serge Damseaux and I and a few other guys had had the same cars he maybe wouldn’t have had it so much his own way.” What about his young-gun teammate Giniel de Villiers? ”He’s probably one of the most natural racing drivers in the country. He’ll go far whatever he does because he can climb into anything and do well. It’s a pity for him that he didn’t have a chance to go further on the race track, because I believe if he was given a chance overseas he could get to the top there as well. He has a good career ahead of him.”
Last year Grobler suffered a string of mechanical failures in his off-road racing Class T Nissan Hardbody double-cab while Giniel de Villiers took the title. This year the tables are turned, with Grobler and co-driver Richard Leeke leading the championship with a win, a second and a did-not-finish from three starts. Do team orders come into play? ”We work as a team” he says. ”Last year Giniel was leading so we worked together to keep him there. People don’t like to admit it, but all over the world team orders apply. Later this year, if I can win the championship I’m sure Nissan will give orders to Giniel as well.”
The Nissan Hardbodys driven by Grobler and De Villiers are awesome beasts, hand-built by Nissan Motorsport in South Africa at huge cost. Their V6 engines produce 300kW of power, and the bakkies reach speeds of close to 200kph over appalling terrain. ”They get there very quickly,” says Grobler. ”Zero to 100kph takes around 4,3 seconds, and on those narrow tracks you don’t need much more than about 190kph. In the Toyota Desert Race I had to back off because we were hitting the rev limiter in top gear.”
So what does the future hold for the 47-year-old racing driver? ”I’m still young,” he says. ”We older guys drive on experience — we use our heads, while the younger guys drive with their hearts. I hope that I can still be competitive for another three to five years, and would love to do a Dakar rally. Afterwards I’d like to manage a team — motorsport is in my blood.” And the knee? Has it recovered enough for a return to rugby? ”I’m worried about that,” he laughs. ”That’s why I don’t go to Loftus these days. They’re battling so much there that I’m scared they’ll put me in the team!”