The Brock of South Africa

Basil van Rooyen. A name as unusual as that is usually pretty easy to remember, if only because it is so distinctive. Certainly Basil van Rooyen shouldn’t be especially remembered for his racing career in Australia, which was limited to just two touring car starts a whole 41 years ago – although one of them did result in fourth place in the Sandown 400.

Sadly, van Rooyen passed away late last year, at the age of 84. In Australia he more likely is best remembered for the simple fact that he drove for Peter Brock in the Bathurst 1000, but in his country of origin, van Rooyen was a much bigger deal than that. He was, in a sense, the Peter Brock of South Africa - and so it's fitting that Basil's only Australian racing experience came via Brock’s team.

Van Rooyen was one of the top drivers in his country, in touring cars, sports cars and open-wheelers, through the late 1960s and early to mid 1970s. Not only that, but in the early ’70s he masterminded the South African Chev Dealer Team, which was effectively the dark continent’s version of what we know as the Holden Dealer Team.