Has oil running through his veins
Pablo Clark fashioned after race car driver Jim Clark PETROLHEAD: DROVE INCOGNITO, NOW LOVINGLY RESTORES RACING FERRARIS
Ferrari. A name that evokes emotion. For motorsport enthusiasts, it is the appreciation of an adrenaline game heritage like no other. Just about every Formula One Grand Prix since the first one in 1950 has been contested by two red Ferraris.
For road car enthusiasts, the name brings envy. Most know they will never own a Ferrari, drive one or even get the chance to sit in one.
The dream of actually racing one ranks right up there with winning Olympic gold medals or the Oscar for Best Male Actor.
NGK Pablo Clark Racing in Kyalami Business Park, Midrand, can make such dreams come true. They are South Africa’s leading experts in the servicing and technical preparation of Ferrari race and road cars.
When we visited their workshop, there were 17 Ferraris in the building – 14 of them race cars.
And the race cars worked on by Pablo Clark’s technicians get raced – the boss does not approve of competition vehicles being exhibited in museums.
Which brings us to Pablo Clark who, strictly speaking, does not exist. He is actually former saloon car racer Paolo Cavalieri, whose on-track exploits between 1980 and 1983 included being the legendary Tony Viana’s team-mate at the BMW factory equipe.
“My father, a Mille Miglia competitor in his time, took me to Kyalami on many occasions, including the South African Grands Prix and the 9-Hour races.
“We were members of the Sports Car Club, and could watch from the Clubhouse Corner enclosure,” Cavalieri recalls.
His parents did not want him to make the transition from spectator to competitor, and the then Wits student had to make a plan.
“I competed under the pseudonym Pablo Clark in honour of the late Jim Clark, whom I had watched winning the SAGP with the beautiful Lotus 49 in the mid’60s,” he says.
Starting with a Mazda Capella RS Rotary, an ambitious racing driver called “Pablo Clark” entered a world of car wars. At the time, the Group One category was contested by factory supported cars from Sigma (Mazda Capella RS), Alfa Romeo (GTV6) and Ford (Cortina XR6).
Pablo Clark switched from Mazda to BMW as Viana’s teammate and later as a privateer, then to a semi-works Alfa GTV6 in 1983.
“Thereafter it was time to get serious and a proper day job, so my career in the world of insurance began at the cost of my motor racing,” Cavalieri reflects.
After graduating from Wits with a Bachelor of Commerce degree with Honours in Business Economics, he threw himself into his career. He was formerly the chief executive of the Hollard Insurance group and is today chair of ITOO Specialist Insurance.
Pablo Clark Racing was founded 40 years ago with Automotive Electronics/Speedocruise.
Today the business is called NGK Pablo Clark Racing with key partners being NGK Spark Plugs, Liqui Moly, ITOO Insurance,, Autozone. Pirelli, Hollard Insurance, AutoTrader, Sun International, Campos Transport and the Ernie Els Foundation for Autism.
“We are all about Ferrari and BMW racing, classics and contemporary GT3 cars,” he says.
“NGK Pablo Clark Racing employs 10 factory-trained technicians, with the service team headed by Ferrari veteran Massimo Vecchio, who has 25 years’ experience in servicing and restoring Modena’s Prancing Horse cars.
“Motorsport is the heart of the business and our core function is the repair, preparation and storage of customers’ Ferrari race cars.
“The Ferraris compete in South Africa’s series for Extreme Supercars, the Endurance Racing Series and a newly formed series for GT3 vehicles,” Cavalieri says.
The team also owns the Tony Viana Winfield BMW 745 Group One and WesBank Modified Race Cars. Immaculately restored by Evolution 2, they are the only two BMW 745 race cars on earth, making them irreplaceable.
NGK Pablo Clark Racing offers enthusiasts coaching and track experiences – at a fee, you can drive a racing Ferrari around a circuit.
The team also assists would-be Ferrari buyers with pre-purchase inspections and valuations, parts procurement and restoration projects.
The Pablo Clark Racing premises house dozens of framed photographs of F1 Ferraris in the hands of some of the greatest drivers in the world, as well as hundreds of cast iron models, a comprehensive library of books about the Maranello magic and other interesting Ferrari memorabilia.
A shrine, that is what it is.