Bulawayo, Zimbabwe - Southern African racing legend John Love, six times South African Formula 1 champion, winner of the 1962 British Saloon Car championship and multiple podium finisher in the Kyalami Nine Hour and Springbok series races, died early on Monday morning (25 April) at the age of 80.
He was diagnosed with cancer last year and underwent underwent chemotherapy for three months before attending the Golden Age of Racing tribute race meeting in his honour at Swartkops near Pretoria in late January.
There he took part in a demonstration drive around the circuit in a Jaguar E-Type together with other Nine Hour veterans.
Love's first international outing was a test drive in a Cooper-Austin for Ken Tyrell's European Formula Junior team - which soon became a permanent drive. Tyrell also provided the Mini-Cooper in which he won the 1962 British Saloon Car title.
A Formula Junior accident at Albi resulted in a very badly broken arm, however, effectively thwarting his chances of moving into full-time F1, although he came close when he was nominated as Phil Hill's replacement in the works Cooper team for the 1964 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
He became a regular contestant in the South African Grand Prix and was leading the 1967 event at Kyalami in a 2.7-litre Cooper Climax when a misfire prompted him to make a precautionary stop for extra fuel and he dropped back to finish second behind Pedro Rodriguez' works Cooper-Maserati.
Love won the SA Formula 1 championship every year from 1964 to 1969 and his last competitive outing was in Formula Atlantic championship event at Cape Town's Killarney circuit in 1979, signaling the end of a 30-year career of remarkable versatility and achievement.
Two books were written about Love during his lifetime; the first, "John Love" by Adri Bezuidenhout, in 1970 and the second, called "For the Love of it" by Greg Mills, which was published to coincide with the Swartkops race meeting in January 2005.
He will long be remembered for his racing skills, his passion for life and the enduring friendships he forged in the motorsport fraternity around the world.
He leaves his wife Carol and children Royce, Judy, Chevonne and Mark.