Stephanie Rowe

British adventure rider Stephanie Rowe is a self-confessed nomad who’s clocked nearly 50,000 miles across continents and made history as the first woman to finish the grueling Africa Eco Race in the Malle Moto category—completely unassisted.

EARLY YEARS

Growing up in South England, Stephanie Rowe’s first taste of motorsport came through her father’s Sunday ritual: listening to Formula 1 races on the radio. She’d help him fix his car, getting her hands dirty and developing an early fascination with engines that would shape her future in ways neither of them could have predicted.[3]

But racing didn’t come calling immediately. Rowe didn’t even get her motorcycle license until she was 21—a relatively late start in a sport where many competitors begin as children. After earning her license, she started working in a bike shop, where she got her hands on friends’ off-road bikes and discovered something that clicked instantly. “Having shared a 4×4 with some friends back then, I already loved messing around with engines and playing in the mud, so when I first hit those off-road trails on a bike, I was immediately hooked,” she recalled.[1]

That hook sank deep. The girl who grew up tinkering with her dad’s car had found her calling—not on asphalt, but in the dirt.

OTHER INTERESTS

When she’s not wrestling a motorcycle through desert dunes or rocky mountain passes, Rowe laces up her running shoes. She’s a long-distance runner, and that endurance training has proven invaluable in her racing career—particularly in the longer enduro races that can stretch from three to six hours. It’s the kind of cross-training that doesn’t just build stamina; it builds the mental toughness required to keep pushing when everything hurts and the finish line is still miles away.[3]

Her competitive spirit extends beyond motorsport. “I’ve always been interested in motorsport whether they are on four wheels or two wheels,” she’s said, but she’s equally drawn to competing in all sports.[3] That nomadic streak she mentioned? It’s not just about racing. Rowe has traveled extensively, racking up over 80,000 kilometers exploring different countries on two wheels. One early adventure took her from England to Morocco via dirt tracks across Spain, where she spent weeks riding through Moroccan terrain—a trip that would foreshadow her future rally ambitions.[2]

She’s also turned her passion into a profession as a certified BMW off-road instructor—one of only 150 worldwide—and works as an adventure bike tour guide, sharing her love of two-wheeled exploration with others.[1][2]

EARLY SUCCESS

Rowe’s entry into competitive racing was charmingly haphazard. After seeing a women’s category advertised in an enduro magazine, she randomly entered a national-level British Enduro event. It was baptism by fire: among the small group of women competing were Jane Daniels, who would go on to become a four-time world enduro champion, and Fionn Griffiths, a world downhill mountain bike champion. “So there were not many women, but the level that was there was very high,” Rowe remembered. “It was a bit intimidating.”[2]

But intimidation is just another form of motivation when you’re wired like Rowe. She stuck with it, quickly progressing from enduro racing to longer rally events. She entered the 7-day Carta Rally twice, building her experience and confidence in multi-day racing.[1]

Her big break came around 2012 or 2013, when she was approximately 25 years old. Rowe won a BMW Motorrad marketing competition—the “Ride of Your Life” or “One World One R1200GS” campaign—and suddenly found herself with a BMW R1200GS adventure bike and a platform that would change everything. “The GS changed my life,” she would later say.[2][5][7] That win catapulted her into BMW’s lineup, making her the only woman among the men they were promoting that year—an early signal that she was carving her own path in a male-dominated sport.[2][7]

Rally du Maroc became her next proving ground—and her first major test of resilience. Her first attempt ended in a bad crash on stage four. Most people would have called it quits. Rowe came back and finished it on her second try, treating failure not as an endpoint but as unfinished business.[1]

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

• 2019: Finished 25th overall in the FIM European Rally Championship[2]
• 2025: First woman to finish the Africa Eco Race in the Malle Moto (unassisted) category, placing 14th overall in Malle Moto and 1st among women; the race ran from December 28, 2024 to January 12, 2025, starting in Monaco and finishing at Lac Rose in Dakar, covering over 5,900 kilometers through Morocco, Mauritania, and Senegal on a KTM 450 EXC-F[1][3][4]

INSPIRATIONS

Rowe’s earliest inspiration came from home: her father, whose Sunday Formula 1listening sessions and car repair projects planted the seed for her lifelong passion for motorsport. Beyond that, she’s been refreshingly open about the broader motorsport landscape that captured her imagination—whether on two wheels or four.[3]

Those early encounters with top-level female competitors like Jane Daniels and Fionn Griffiths at her first enduro, while intimidating, also showed her what was possible. Seeing women compete at world-championship levels made her own ambitions feel less like pipe dreams and more like achievable goals.

REPUTATION

At 5’3″, Rowe doesn’t fit the physical stereotype of a desert racing warrior—which makes her accomplishments all the more impressive.[2] She’s been called a “serious badass in disguise,” a description that captures both her unassuming demeanor and her fierce competitive spirit.[1] As a KLIM Women’s motorcycle ambassador, she’s become a visible representative for women in adventure riding and rally racing.[1][2]

Media coverage has consistently highlighted her grit, resilience, and historic achievements, framing her as a barrier-breaker for women in motorsport.[1][3][4] She’s particularly respected for her endurance—she’s openly acknowledged that she performs better in longer races, those brutal three-to-six-hour enduro events where mental toughness matters as much as physical skill.[3]

Her decision to tackle the Africa Eco Race in Malle Moto—where riders receive no outside assistance and must repair everything themselves—cemented her reputation as fiercely independent. In a sport where most competitors rely on support crews, mechanics, and team infrastructure, going it alone is both rare and respected. Being the first woman to finish in that category isn’t just a footnote; it’s the kind of achievement that reshapes what people think is possible.[1][4]

Her relationship with BMW Motorrad has been longstanding—from winning that life-changing competition to becoming an instructor and ambassador for the brand. She’s also worked with KLIM and more recently with RE ZRO, who supported her 2025 Africa Eco Race effort.[2][4][5] Industry insiders describe her enthusiasm as infectious, and fans have embraced her as an inspiration.[4][5]

FUTURE GOALS/PLANS

Finishing the Africa Eco Race unassisted gave Rowe something money can’t buy: confidence. “Finishing the Africa Eco Race unassisted gave me the confidence of going for a 2-week rally,” she explained.[3] That 2-week rally she’s referring to? The Dakar Rally—the most famous and arguably most punishing off-road race in the world.

Rowe has set her sights on the 2026 Dakar, a logical next step for someone who’s already proven she can handle the physical punishment, technical challenges, and mental warfare of multi-day desert racing.[3] If her track record is any indication, she won’t just show up—she’ll finish. And when she does, she’ll be adding another chapter to a story that’s already rewriting what it means to be a woman in motorsport.

References:

ADV Pulse – Stephanie Rowe Africa Eco Race Interview
KLIM Blog – Q&A with Stephanie Rowe
Paddock Sorority Interview – May 15, 2025
RE ZRO – Stephanie Rowe Africa Eco Race 2025
Ride and Talk Podcast – Stephanie Rowe
RE ZRO Video Interview – Stephanie Rowe
Motoress – Stephanie Rowe BMW Competition Win