Tribute to Philip Young

13 March 2015

Philip Young, Rally Director and founder of the Endurance Rally Association was one of Farm Africa’s most devoted supporters. In 2013, he set a world record for driving from Cape Town to London in a Fiat Panda in ten-and-a-half days. ‘The Africa record run’ raised a phenomenal £40,000 for Farm Africa – something we could never thank Philip enough for.

Philip died in hospital in Bangkok following complications arising from a motorcycle accident in Burma. He was 67 years old.

The Endurance Rally Association described Philip's achievements in their Facebook announcement to the rally driving community.

“A prolific ambassador of the historic rally movement, Philip was a larger-than-life character who pushed motorsport boundaries, organising marathon and endurance rallies all over the globe. A founder of the Historic Rally Car Register, Philip set a world record for driving from Cape Town to London in ten-and-a-half days, and is best known for one of his greatest achievements – the revival of the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge, one of the world’s most epic motoring adventures. His final milestone was gaining permission for 70 rally crews to be the first to cross the land border from Thailand into Burma.”

Director of Fundraising, Pam Williams-Jones recalls the close relationship between Philip Young and Farm Africa

"I remember very clearly the day when Philip first visited the Farm Africa offices to talk about his plan to break the world record time for driving from Cape Town to London. And to do this in a Fiat Panda. The Africa Record Run was born and was the start of a wonderful relationship between Philip and Farm Africa. Of course Philip smashed the record and raised a large sum of money for us but more importantly, he really cared about our work and became a real friend to the organisation. Philip was a larger than life character with a huge heart. We will all miss him."

Messages of condolences, often recalling fond memories of Philip were shared on the Endurance Rally Association’s Facebook page.

We would also like to offer our deepest condolences to his friends and family, and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.

Photo credit: Nigel Harris, Farm Africa Chief Executive, shakes Philip’s hand, thanking him for all his contributions to Farm Africa.