SKF customers were treated to a memorable experience to burn some rubber with the famous Auby Boyz at Midvaal Race Way South of Johannesburg on Tuesday 18th September 2012. The SKF name has been synonymous with a wide variety of motor racing for many years; in addition to sponsoring NASCAR in the USA, the company also enjoys one of the longest technical partnerships in the history of motor racing with Scuderia Ferrari in Formula 1. Locally, SKF has been a proud sponsor of the Auby Boyz for over four years and Manager of SKF South Africa’s Automotive Division (VSM), Gary Czapski, says that this has been a formidable partnership. “When we made the decision to sponsor this highly successful team, we decided that our involvement would be multi-disciplined and will include not only product but also all important functional and technological involvement.”

The Auby Boyz team, consisting of dad, Deon, and sons, Brandon, Marc and Jimmy, is one of South Africa’s most esteemed family success stories, bringing home many titles over the years; Brandon was crowned youngest ever driver to take the 2010 Wesbank Modified Championship and, a year later, brother Jimmy made sure that the title stayed in the Auby family. The SKF Race Day offered customers the opportunity to enjoy some serious go-karting endurance racing where they got the opportunity to show off their own racing skills. The competition was fierce amongst the twelve teams that participated for team victory with some expert go-karting skills that impressed competitors and onlookers.

But the highlight of the day was undoubtedly on the race track itself. In addition to Brandon’s V8, the Auby Boyz generously made some of their illustrious super cars including a Ford GT40, a Noble, a Nissan GTR and a Ford Capri Piranha, available so that customers could be treated to scintillating hot laps around the Midvaal track. A video cam was fitted to the inside of each race car so that customers could take home the ultimate memento, a video of their facial expressions experiencing the never-to-be forgotten thrill of racing.  “In addition to the indisputable quality and reliability of SKF products, the SKF team also gives us tremendous support offering the full package – technology, product, assistance and advice,” says Marc Auby who established EL Trading (ELT) , a heavy commercial vehicle dealership and service centre for International and DAF trucks, with Mark Langton five years ago. As an end-to-end solutions provider, the ELT workshop, which is located south of Johannesburg, offers major services, lube services, engine and gearbox rebuilds as well as panel beating, with a capacity of handling between 30 to 40 trucks/trailers daily.

According to Marc, the race cars are maintained in-house at ELT. “After every race, we instantly identify areas where performance and reliability can be improved upon which we take forward to the next race. Reliability is crucial to successful motor racing and we rely on SKF’s expertise in those areas where they have the necessary engineering knowledge and experience. This is what we expect this highly respected company to bring to the partnership and they deliver every time. It was therefore our pleasure to the able to join with SKF to offer their customers an unforgettable and unique race day experience. “The aim of the race day was to offer our customers a unique experience, the thrill of going round a race track with an experienced driver at over 200km per hour and judging from our customers’ enthusiasm and their positive feedback, the race day was a resounding success,” concludes Gary.