Jan Hettema

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Anne-Jan Hettema (born October 27, 1933 in Leeuwarden , Netherlands ; † June 29, 2016 at Boschkop , Pretoria ) was a South African racing cyclist and rally driver .

Jan Hettema was born in the Netherlands in 1933. In August 1939, his mother followed her husband, who had traveled ahead, to South Africa with their five-year-old son. They arrived there just a few days before the outbreak of World War II . Hettema began training as a mechanic on the South African railway. Some of his colleagues went into cycling, and he joined them. To train on a cycling track , he had to go to Johannesburg . Among other things, he set a new South African record for the mile. In 1955 he traveled to Rome and started there at the World Railroad Championships . Overall, he won so many races in the course of his career that he was able to give away over 400 trophies to various cycling clubs after they ended.

Hetteam started as a cyclist at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne and took fourth place in the team pursuit on the track with the South African team ( Jimmy Swift , Abe Jonker and Bobby Fowler ) . He couldn't finish the street race. Shortly afterwards, he set an unofficial world record over 1000 meters, which was not recognized because it was not driven under official conditions. In 1958 he took part in the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff and finished seventh in the 1000-meter time trial . His cycling career came to an abrupt end when he accepted a small sum of money after a race and was declared a professional by his association , so he could not take part in the upcoming 1960 Olympic Games in Rome . The association later reversed this decision because there were not enough drivers for the team pursuit, but Hettema waved it off as he had meanwhile devoted himself to motorsport .

Jan Hettema was successful as a rally driver for 40 years . He won the South African rally championship five times. In total, he won around 100 races, including the first the Roof of Africa Rally in 1967. In 2014, in an interview, he recalled a private audience with Princess Gracia Patricia , where he commissioned Total to produce a fossil fish for the Oceanographic Museum Monaco handed over. In 2002 he ended his involvement in motorsport and concentrated on his chicken farm, which he had been running since 1977.

On June 29, 2016, 82-year-old Hettema was shot by robbers in a robbery on his farm in Tweedrag near Boschkop, Pretoria. His was commemorated at a memorial service at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit . After the death of her father, his daughter Helena reported that he had not felt safe on the remote farm for a long time and had therefore tried to sell it.

His daughter is the singer Helena Hettema . Hettema himself was also known for his vocal interludes.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rally legend Hettema murdered: SA motorsport reacts. In: wheels24.co.za. June 30, 2016, accessed July 19, 2016 .
  2. ↑ a b c d Hettema a legend on two wheels and four. In: inthebunch.co.za. October 18, 2014, accessed July 19, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Tomáš Shacki Wanka: January Hettema - eWRC-results.com. In: ewrc-results.com. Retrieved July 19, 2016 .
  4. ↑ Jan Hettema killed in shooting at Boschkop farm , ewn.co.za, June 29, 2016, accessed on July 16, 2016
  5. ↑ Former SA rally champion murdered , news24.com, June 29, 2016, accessed on July 16, 2016
  6. ↑ Slain Hettema 'tried to sell isolated plot' - IOL. In: iol.co.za. July 20, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Hettema, Jan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hettema, Anne-Jan (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African racing cyclist
DATE OF BIRTH October 27, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH Leeuwarden , the Netherlands
DATE OF DEATH June 29, 2016
Place of death at Boschkop , Pretoria