Locals� interest in motor sport rising
Chakalisa Dube | Tuesday July 14, 2015 13:02
Lola was speaking in an interview with Mmegi Sport over the weekend. LRCF held the third round of the BMS National Motocross Championship here over the weekend. “We had new riders in both the 50cc, 65cc and 85cc classes, which shows that the sport is starting to take off and become quite popular in Botswana.
“The attendance of spectators also shows the great enthusiasm that motor sport is gaining.” The 50 cc classes featured those aged four to nine years while the 65 cc featured racers aged eight to 15 years. The 85 cc was made up of racers aged seven to 11 years.
Unlike in the past, the number of spectators during races in Francistown was also notable, which Berrie attributed to mainly marketing of the event through various media channels.
Early this year, Berrie indicated they wanted to recruit more spectators and riders to take part in activities organised by Lobelo and BMS in Francistown.
Overall 30 racers, some from Zimbabwe and South Africa, participated in the event.
Ross Branch won the MX1, which was the main category, while Louw Shmidt came second on his second race of the day. Branch who has several local races under his belt proved that experience count, not only did he win his category, but also pulled some breathtaking stunts. In addition, he navigated the circuit, which was revamped last year with timely perfection unlike other racers who struggled, especially in tight angles. The MX2 category seemed very competitive with the top three racers trailing each other marginally. It was Shmidt who claimed the honours of the race followed by Clayton Davis and Douglas Morris. Meanwhile, in the Pee Wee 50 class category Deegan Davis came first while Tristan Berrie and Mathew Derrick came second and third respectively. Amaan Parekh won the National 50 cc class while Nathan Berrie came second and Aryan Parekh was third.
Kosmos Mamaloukos won the 65 cc category while Daniel O’Connell emerged second in what turned out to be the most competitive race. Brandon Rouse won the 85 cc class with Patrick O’Connell and James Klyenhans emerging second and third respectively.
The high school category featured Douglas Morris and Joshua Potts. The former emerged the winner with Potts coming second.
The points scored in this race counted towards the selection for the MX of African Nations to be held in Harare, Zimbabwe on August 28-29. “BMS will start putting a team together which will soon be announced,” said Berrie.