Motorsport accolade for karting guru
MOTORSPORT is in his blood and after a lifetime of serving it a Port Elizabeth man has been given one of the highest accolades.
Roger Stephen was acknowledged for his contribution to motorsport for the past 45 years by being awarded a “Lifetime Achievement Award” from Motorsport South Africa (MSA) at their annual awards evening.
Stephen, who has Eastern Province Administration Colours for motorsport, became involved at the age of 15 when he prepared his brother’s kart for national racing.
He himself also raced for a while, but then became more focused on the administrative side and future success of motorsport.
In 1981, he resurrected the Algoa Kart Club and was chairman and clerk of the course for about 20 years.
He was also an active member of the South African Karting Commission and Eastern Province Committee where he was vicechairman for many years.
In addition he ran a successful karting development programme in the Eastern Cape for MSA for about four years, creating an opportunity for the underprivileged to join in this expensive sport.
Stephen is also one of the top A grade clerks of the course in South Africa, having acted in this capacity for national/regional events for karting, rallying, off road, and most recently for the National Engen Volkswagen Cup Series.
On top of that, his mechanical skills assisted his brother, Neil Stephen, to multiple South African championships. He has also overseen the success of his two sons, Graham and Michael Stephen, in four and 11 South African championships respectively.
Stephen has assisted South African karters at the World Rok finals in Italy several times.
He has now again taken on the role of chairman at the Algoa Motorsport Club, looking to help grow the sport in the area in next year.