Juan Louw arrived at the final Parc Ferme of life on 26 August 2022, but the popular Swartland farmer leaves a motorsport legacy as a very popular member of the Somerset West Motor Club.
Starting his motorsport career behind the wheel of a much used Alfa Romeo Alfetta 2.0 his love for Alfa Romeo soon saw him acquire the ex-Nico Bianco GP 1 (raced at Killarney by Charles Waring), turned rally car by Danie van der Merwe (Auto Alfa) and one could feel the emotion as this sweet sounding six cylinder kicked up dust from the Overberg to Montaqu, Ceres, Killarney and his home town of Malmesbury in the Swartland with Johann Keyser (Moto Motivo) as navigator.
Moving on to the ex-Peter Alterskye/Derek Sturgess class A Toyota Corolla 2.0 Juan and Marthilda Boonstra really became competitive and delivered a number of great results. Their efforts to finish the Swartland national rally minus windscreen in the rain endeared them to rally followers in the Western Cape and the sight of them splashing through the Malmesbury town stage in the rain will always remain a fond memory.
Juan and Mariette retired to Yzerfontein and became well known as the owners of the Vygeboom Padstal on the R27. Their boutique wine and bobotie pastries will remain popular!
Passionate about the sport of rallying, Louw joined the “rally veterans” as spectator at both the 2022 Darling and Porterville rallies and he will always remain “one of the boys”.
Condolences to his wife, Mariette, and family.
