11 Sep RIP Deon de Waal
Not many men can rightly be called a legend in their own lifetime, but one such was Deon Juan de Waal, who passed away on Monday 8 September, a few weeks short of his 80th birthday.
Deon grew up in Lansdowne, with motorsport in his blood; his mother was a stock car racer, and friends recall that their yard was always full of stock cars in various stages of disrepair.
He raced stock cars at the old Goodwood showgrounds and Clubmans Saloons at Killarney – where he was famous for getting his PecoFormance Rover SD1 V8 so sideways that he had to look out of the passenger window to see where he was going.
But he is best remembered as a stunt driver, jumping cars over trucks and through (not over!) the top deck of a bus. His most famous stunt was when he jumped over 13 cars at Killarney’s first Steel Rodeo in the early 1970’s – towing a caravan!
Deon was one of a kind; he will be missed and he will be remembered, always with a smile.
Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Heather and son Damion in this sad time.
