When the 2021 Intercontinental GT Championship teams line up on the grid
for the start of the legendary Kyalami 9-hour race on Saturday the 4th
December, a piece of South African and global motorsport history will be
made with the appearance of the first all-black, all African team of
drivers on the grid.
“Fielding a team with the championship standings, two drivers who grew up in
the rural villages in the Eastern Cape and one from Soweto, stand a chance
at winning the title.
The Intercontinental GT Challenge is a sports car racing series that was
developed by the SRO Group and is now coming to South Africa! The series
consists of international endurance races, where the 2021 challenge is the
sixth and final season. The Kyalami 9-hour race is contested in Kyalami,
Midrand.
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Born in Ncambedlana, Umtata, Team leader Xolile Letlaka, aims to bring
inclusivity to a white-dominated sport. After being one of the first people
of colour in history, alongside Tschops Sipuka, to win in South African
motorsports, they strive to bring hope to all people of colour across all
backgrounds.
Xolile Letlaka, Tschops Sipuka and Philip Kekana are the first black teams
to compete at the GT Challenge. The final round of the 2021
Intercontinental GT Championship will see Xolile Letlaka, Tschops Sipuka
and Philip Kekana take on the best GT3 racers in the world behind the wheel
of their team “Into Africa Mining” Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo. Showing
the team’s potential to take the IGTC National Class honours; Letlaka and
Sipuka have already raced their Huracan GT3 Evo to two victories and a
second-place finish from their four starts in the 2021 South African
Endurance Series.
Xolile Letlaka and Tschops Sipuka are on their way to winning the second
round of the SA Endurance Championship But at the end of the day, it is the
boyhood dreams of a young motorhead who, despite growing up in a rural farm
village, has forged his way in life to see them all come true. Xolile
Letlaka has now achieved his life’s goals, both in business and motorsport,
and now he wants to start giving back to those less fortunate.
“I hope that even 10 or 15 kids watching the 9-Hour will ignite a dream
that one day they could be on the grid of a race, or even be part of the
technical crew fielding one of these magnificent machines,” Letlaka added.
“The foundation has now been laid…”
#WeRaceAsOne
