Graceland sponsors local rally driver
Driver and navigator are looking forward to race again
SECUNDA – Graceland Hotel, Casino and Country Club is the new official sponsor of provincial and national rally champion and Secunda resident, Natie Booysen.
The general manager of Graceland, Mr Pieter de Villiers, has always had a passion for motorsport and decided what better way to give Graceland exposure and an advertising opportunity and support a local rally driver than to sponsor him.
“We are working with other sponsors to support Natie. This is the first time that a casino is sponsoring a rally car,” said Mr De Villiers.
“We are excited to see how this will go forward.” Mr De Villiers hopes to sponsor the rally driver again next year, then hopefully for a full season.
Booysen’s Ford Escort was recently wrapped in the new colours of Graceland and Booysen’s support team and his navigator, Johan Smit, visited Graceland on Friday, 19 Junie where they revealed the car to Mr De Villiers and Graceland’s management team.
Booysen works as an electrical foreman at Sasol and grew up in Evander.
He described his father and his uncles as fuel heads and said he always wanted to drive rally cars since his childhood, but he did not have enough money then to pursue this dream.
He finally managed to begin driving rally cars 22 years ago and has never looked back.
He received his honorary colours in motorsport in South Africa in 2001 and he was crowned as the champion in his class (16cc) regionally and nationally seven times.
He has also won the Historic Rally Association’s championship one year.
Booysen and Smit practice about once a month. They are currently still waiting to hear when this sport will be allowed to resumed since the lockdown began in South Africa at the end of March.
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