Jiri Broz

South Africa’s off-road scene has produced some fine Dakar riders in recent years. There’s Ross Branch obviously, plus Rally2 rider Bradley Cox, who’s now regularly getting into the top 10 overall and of course Charon Moore who won the 2023 Dakar Original by Motul category for unassisted riders. And now one of their mates, Kerim Fitz-Gerald is coming along in 2024 to join in the fun. A moto-x racer since the age of 4, he competed at the very highest level in Europe, Canada and the USA before deciding to retire from the sport in 2020. Then in 2021 Bradley Cox lent him a bike to try out cross-country racing and Kerim was off again. And hanging out with the likes of Ross, Bradley and Charon it was almost inevitable that Kerim would catch the rally raid virus and to no one’s surprise he entered the 2023 Sonora Rally in Mexico with the intention of winning his ticket to the 2024 Dakar. A feat the South African achieved with relative ease, finishing 6th in Rally2 despite coping an impressive 40 minutes worth of rookie penalties! With that experience under his belt, like many amateurs with serious ambitions, Kerim has signed up with BAS World KTM Racing Team to tackle his first Dakar. Yet another quick South African to watch out for!