[1] 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 Winston Cup start for the team.

This would be at Watkins Glen in 1990 when Hendrick driver Darrell Waltrip was recuperating from a severe leg injury at the Firecracker 400 final practice.

[6] Van der Merwe then moved up the ranks to sport a works team Ford Escort Mk II BDA.

After leaving Ford because of a disagreement [citation needed], Van der Merwe had a short stint in several Datsun cars and would later race with Audi and Volkswagen.