Sarel van der Merwe
| Sarel van der Merwe | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |
 South Africa
|
| Born |
5 December 1946 Port Elizabeth, South Africa |
| Retired | 2002 |
| Championship titles | |
| 1975, 1977-1985, 1988 1994 1994, 2001 |
South African Rally Drivers Championship South African Saloon Car Championship South African Modified Saloon Car Championship |
| Awards | |
| 1976 1997 2002 |
Springbok Colours South African National Colours MSA Lifetime Achievement Award |
| Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 race run over 1 year | |||||||
| Best finish | 78th (1990) | ||||||
| First race | 1990 Budweiser at the Glen (Watkins Glen) | ||||||
|
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Sarel Daniel van der Merwe (born 5 December 1946) is a former rally and racing driver, who was a multiple South African Rally Drivers Champion. He is referred to by his nickname "Supervan".
Van der Merwe won the South African Rally Drivers Championship a record eleven times in 1975, from 1977 to 1985 and in 1988. Van der Merwe's IMSA career included time at Hendrick Motorsports during the Corvette GTP era, which also led to one NASCAR Sprint Cup for the team, Watkins Glen in 1990 when Hendrick driver Darrell Waltrip was recuperating from a severe leg injury at the Firecracker 400 final practice, where he finished 24th; van der Merwe had attempted to qualify for the 1988 Daytona 500 in a Hendrick-owned car, but failed to make the race. He also held the SA Saloon Car Championship (1994), SA Modified Saloon Car Championship (1994 & 2001), and won the 1996 Castrol International Rally ending in Swaziland. He received his Springbok Colours in 1976 and his South African National Colours in 1997. In 2002, van der Merwe was awarded the Motorsport South African (MSA) Lifetime Achievement award.
Van der Merwe began his racing career in 1967 racing saloon cars. His international career took off in 1983 in the IMSA series in the United States, with his most notable win in the 1984 24 Hours of Daytona race driving for Kreepy Krauly Racing, an all-South African team in a March 83G-Porsche. He shared the win with Graham Duxbury and Tony Martin. Van der Merwe did exceptionally well in the 1984 24 Hours of Le Mans where he finished 3rd on debut. In the 1986 Le Mans race, Sarel pulled in a lap early and Jo Gartner took over. A lap later the suspension broke and the car veered off the Mulsanne Straight in the middle of the night and Gartner was killed.
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