It's desert race weekend
Batswana’s fascination with speed will be yet again be quenched this weekend when the 2016 Toyota 1000km Desert Race revs back into the diamond-mining town of Jwaneng.
The 35th edition of the biggest motorsport event on the continent starts from Thursday until Sunday and a record number of spectators is expected for an even bigger racing odyssey in 2016. This year, the usual suspects in the production car category will yet again include Toyota, Ford and VW. There will also be the intensely competitive and thrilling special vehicle category.
Something even more special this year is that most of the categories, including the motorbikes and the quads, have all attracted competition from the wider Southern African region and abroad, unlike in the previous years where the dominating participants only came from South Africa and Botswana. The race organisers, Southern Africa National Off Road Association (SANORA), expressed pride in seeing the event commonly called ‘Mantshwabise’ bring the entire country to a virtual standstill.
SANORA revealed that his year the race would be celebrating its 25th anniversary under the Toyota banner, and that it forms round three of the Donaldson Cross Country Championship, as well as rounds of the South African Cross Country Motorcycle and Quad Racing championship. Moreover, the Botswana national racing series are expected to compete on the same stage.
According to SANORA, the reigning champions Toyota will be guarding a record that has not been beaten in the Production Vehicle category since 2011. “Toyota Gazzo racing SA crews Anthony Taylor /Dennis Murphy and reigning champions Leeroy Poulter/Dennis Murphy (who finished fifth at the 2016 Dakar Rally) have been dominant in their Toyota Hilux models in recent seasons.”
However, SANORA stated further that the indomitable Toyota will this time face tough competition from three quality teams from overseas in the FIA class. Speaking in an interview this week, Botswana Motorsport (BMS) president Simon Modisaeman said preparations for the race are going well on their part. “We expect more spectators and new challenges from racing teams from as far as the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the United States,” Modisaeman said.
Nevertheless, Modisaeman said there will also be stiff competition in the both the quad and motorbike categories after over 200 riders have registered compared to only 70 in the last edition of the race. “We have also collaborated with SANORA to bring more marshals to the race. We expect between 80 and 100 marshals so that we avoid unfortunate situations from last year.”
However, Modisaeman said they could not confirm whether the race will be a Dakar Rally qualifier or not, adding that SANORA is better-placed to respond. Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO) said they expected spectators from both neighbouring countries and abroad. “This is the biggest off road race in Africa, with a following of over 120 000 spectators,” the BTO stated.