ALFIE’S
STORY
From humble beginnings, growing up in Pietermartizburg, Alfie never wanted to do anything else besides be a mechanic and ride motorbikes. Mentored by Rod Gray, Alfie spent all his free time at Jack Gray Motorcycles. Local businessmen saw his potential, and John Smith helped him to get his first motorcycle.
By today’s standards, Alfie started racing late. At 16 years old, in 1979, he competed in the 125 High School MX and won his first Natal Championship. As they say in the classics “the rest is history.”
In 1984, Alfie realised he needed a full-time job as a mechanic at Bob’s Workshop, which meant he was unable to put in the hours at the MX track. He transitioned to enduro & off road, both of which he was incredibly successful in. In 1998, he competed in his first Paris to Dakar Rally, cementing his reputation in rally raid and becoming an international motorsport personality.
Alfie’s racing career spanned close on 3 decades, taking him from Pietermaritzburg to countless countries, proudly representing our beautiful country. He has countless achievements in the three facets of motorsport – MX, Enduro, Off Road and Rally.
His greatest achievements, however, are his sons Brad and Trey, who both share his passion for motorsport. Brad has already notched up 10 South African titles in MX, Enduro, and Off-Road, and in 2024 became the Rally 2 World Champion. At just 16, Trey holds two South African MX titles and currently leads the 125 High School Championship.
With Hazel by his side for the past 38 years they have built up a successful KTM motorcycle dealership & tour business.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Alfie, born in South Africa, was awarded Springbok Colours in 1988 and was awarded the MSA Lifetime Achievement award during 2002.
He has won the Roof of Africa Rally in Lesotho a staggering 9 times and has been a multiple South African Enduro and offroad champion while winning races across the Globe from 1997 and completing numerous Dakar Rally’s with a multitude of stage wins.
A four time I.S.D.E Gold medalist in Australia, USA, Poland & Italy and a Trans Namib Desert Race Winner while also winning his class in the Baja 1000 and 500 races in Mexico.
1988
Springbok colours awarded
1997
Protea colours (replaces Springbok colours)
8th Overall, 1st in class (660cc) UAE Desert Challenge – Dubai
1998
4th Overall Paris Dakar Rally with one stage win
4th Overall Atlas Rally (Tunisia) with 3 stage wins
3rd Overall UAE Desert Challenge – Dubai
1999
3rd Overall Granada Dakar Rally with 2 stage wins – bike
2nd Overall Baja Aragon (Spain)
3rd Overall Egyptian Rally
4th Overall UAE Desert Challenge – Dubai
2000
Dakar Cairo Rally – 2 stage wins (45th overall – engine failure)
2nd Overall Optic Rally (Tunisia)
3rd Overall Master Rally – Paris to Istanbul
2001
5th Overall Paris Dakar Rally with 2 stage wins
5th Overall Rally of Egypt
2002
2nd Overall Arras-Madrid-Dakar Rally with 2 stage wins – bike
5th Overall Tunisia Rally
4th Overall Rally of Egypt
2nd Dubai Rally “UAE Desert Challenge”
2003
Debut in Class D racing a Nissan Hardbody – leading class in “Nissan 400” Darling Cape Town, and lying 3rd overall when the gearbox broke.
Nissan Sugarbelt Race – 1st in class D and 9th overall.
Toyota 1000 Desert Race – DNF crash (Broke shoulder) on Stage 8 after winning stage 7
2004
Won “Class D” of the South African Off Road Championship – Motor-vehicles winning 4 of the 7 races
Finished 5th in the Dakar – bike
2005
Debut in the Nissan Works”T” vehicle. Won 3 of the 3 prologues. Went on to win the Toyota 1000 Desert Race, Botswana by a margin of 50 minutes.
Won the South African Off Road National Championship
3rd Place Overall: Rally Dakar – Bike
2006
Lisbon-Dakar competing in a BMW X3 for the X-RAID team from Germany. Finished 15th overall. 2nd in the penultimate stage.
Won the SA Off Road Championship racing the BAT Spec II Sandmaster.
2007
Raced for Motorite in a BAT Spec III – this year we had many technical problems and DNF’s.
2008
Raced for Motorite but this time in a FORD SP vehicle. Due to the recession gripping the motor trade my main sponsor, Motorite, had no option but to scale down their involvement.
DAKAR rally was cancelled this year due to militant groups in Africa threatening the safety of the competitors.
2009
Competed in the Dakar with good friend Jurgen Schroeder from Germany in an SMG. The race was from Beunos Aires, Argentina crossing over the Andes Mountains in Chile and finishing back in Beunos Aires. Finished 45th overall after incurring huge penalties for not finishing a stage due to technical issues.
2010
Jurgen bought a rally package from HallSpeed in Joburg. Hallspeed build the Proudly South African Nissan Nevaras. Competed in two rounds of the South African Off Road Championship – using it as a “shake down” for the car. Finished both races just outside of the top 5.
At the Dakar in Argentina we were 5th overall after the first 4 days but unfortunately we had a crash that caused too much damage to the car to continue.
