Young riders dust off saddles
Kabelo Boranabi | Friday May 21, 2021 18:13
This is despite uncertainty over their participation as the Botswana Motor Sport (BMS) has not given a greenlight. However, a group of young riders is piling pressure on the federation.
The MXoAN will go ahead following a year’s absence. This Saturday, the quartet of Kosmas Mamaloukos, 16, Zameer Bodhanya, 13, Seth Meyer, 12, and 10-year-old Jordan Maloba will be taking the preparations a notch higher at the South African National Motocross Round 3 to be held at Phakisa Freeway in Welkom, Free State.
The four bikers will be returning to the saddle in a major competition for the first time since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2019. Speaking to Mmegi Sport, the youthful riders said they were pumped up and ready to rev their engines in South Africa, but bemoaned rustiness as they return to the saddle.
“There are many major effects, both negative and positive, brought about by not being able to ride for almost a year’s period. I am personally grateful that we have the privilege to go and compete this weekend as this will help get an overview of where I stand and where I need to improve.
I will also be able to gain the needed experience considering the fact that we are working our way to the MXoAN and hence needed (a) boost,” Mamaloukos said.
The 2019 BMS motocross championship overall winner will this weekend be racing in the 125cc (high school) class. Bodhaya on the other hand is aiming to improve his performances from the 2019 season.
“The preparations are going well but of course positives and negatives are that we have had a lot of time training, but we have not had a lot of time racing to monitor our progression as compared to other riders. But we are taking this opportunity to prepare ourselves for the Motocross Africa, so we are hoping for the best this weekend.” The 2019 BMS Motocross championship’s runner up will this weekend race in the 85cc pro-mini class. For his part, Meyer who is a dedicated motocross rider said he remains hopeful that local sport would open in the near future to allow the team to travel to Uganda for the continental championship.
Meyer said he will be in Welkom to benchmark on his opponents and test his mettle against neighbouring riders. “It has been long since we have had any competition on the home ground, which has been very difficult and challenging as a motocross rider, unlike other sport we cannot do intense training as bike maintenance is very expensive and for this reason, training is reduced.
On a positive note with all the support and opportunity, I can participate in South Africa as sport is ongoing and I take this opportunity to participate in preparation for the Motocross of African nations in August that will be hosted in Uganda. Hopefully, sport can open soon so we can properly prepare for the continental event and hopefully the training that I have done thus far can bring home a good result. Some really skilled and talented riders will be competing in South Africa this weekend, some I have had the opportunity to race with in the past,” he said.