03 Oct RIP AGP ‘DOEP’ DU PLESSIS
A mighty tree has fallen with the passing of Cape Helldrivers founder member AGP ‘Doep’ du Plessis on 18 August at his home in Springbok at the age of 88.
A lifelong passion for motorsport made Doep a fierce competitor and absolutely fearless behind the wheel – often to the point of being reckless, according to his family.
But that passion also brought him a South African championship and honorary Western Province colours for motorsport, in a racing career that began in the 1960’s and lasted well into the 1980s, almost always Ford powered and with his signature No.90 emblazoned on the door.
It also made him an ideal candidate for when film crews required a car crash sequence, and he became known as an accomplished stunt driver.
It’s been said that you can take the man off the oval track but you can’t take the oval track out of the man. Having relocated to Springbok, Oom Doep began a second oval track racing career at the Namakaland Oval Track in 1997 – at the age of 60!
He and his daughter toured as a team, racing the locals (and each other!) at every oval track in South Africa – and Oom Doep always made time for photos and autographs with the fans after every event.
A strict family man with a heart of gold, Oom Doep was a very private man away from the racetrack; on weekends when there was no racing, he would be at home working on the cars with his family, sharing the wealth of knowledge and experience gained from a lifetime of motorsport.
We extend our sincere condolences to his wife Marie (seen with him in this recent photo) and the Du Plessis family on the passing of Oom Doep – he will be remembered with a smile wherever oval track racers gather.