Page 4 - Motoring Summer 2021

TRIBUTE TO A LEGEND

The Career of a Champion

From barefoot skiing to powerboats to cars

peed is the common thread that runs through the competitive desire to race are still there, the body has decided it’s time to stop.
career of Peter Lindenberg. He started off behind a boat, then he Having been declared dead on two occasions and revived, considering
Sgot into the boats, and then, with extremely powerful engines the innumerable broken bones and the overall hammering that his
in front of him, entered the field of motor racing on the race tracks. body has taken, Peter has decided it’s time to step back and let the
Places on the podium just always seemed to follow. next generation continue the legacy.
After a competitive career that started in 1972, Peter has decided We salute a career that has brought success on every level, but
that the time has come to hang up his helmet and gloves and rather more importantly, has brought pleasure to the racing fraternity for so
focus on the business of building and marketing Cobra Cars in SA many years.
and supporting the racing team that is now headed by his equally
competitive daughter, Paige.
After winning SA and European Water Skiing Championships, Peter
built his own production powerboat and won first time out. He moved
into F1 powerboats and won his first race there too. He accumulated
15 SA F1 championship titles, competed in 9 world championships, and
achieved one 2 place. Tragically, in 1989, politics got in the way and
nd
he was excluded from the world championship series while leading
with only two races to go.
In amongst Peter’s high speed activities on the water, his childhood
dream of racing cars led him to competing on the track in 1979.
Between 1986 and 1991, his commitment to racing both on track and
on water resulted in an average of 38 racing weekends per year.
Peter’s involvement in car racing evolved and he entered the Wesbank
series and, with help from Geoff Mortimer and later Remiak Brynard, he
achieved runner-up status in the Wesbank Modifieds from 1995 to 1998.
Despite a massive accident in which he broke both legs while leading the
championship in 1999, he still ended the year in 3 place.
rd
From 2000 to 2007, Peter went on to win the Sascar Championship,
two Oval Championships and numerous regional championships.
The next stage was the move into Historic Racing starting with the
Bobby Olthoff Capri Perana and then winning the championship in the
Shelby Daytona. His current Ford Mustang was completed in 2015 and
has won 90% of all races that it’s entered. This car is also one of only
six SA built historic cars that has competed in Europe.
Chatting to Peter, it was apparent to me that, while the spirit and

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