BTO rescues motorsport team
Kabelo Boranabi | Friday August 19, 2016 14:52
“BTO sponsored our trip at the last hour. We were hopeless. We had already decided that riders who can afford to use their money would make the trip. We are very thankful to BTO.
There are no words to describe how grateful we are,” BMS vice president administration, David Mash told Mmegi Sport from Kenya yesterday. Mash said the team had struggled to secure sponsorship after they dropped expatriate residents from the travelling squad. “Last year we had expatriate residents in the team and that in a way helped us in terms of sponsorships, but this year we were advised that a national team should be made up of locals only, that really crippled us,” he said.
Mash said they assembled a team of 14 riders, but had to cut it down to only five due to the financial situation.
“It is costly to bring a team here in Kenya because of the distance hence why we brought a very small number while other countries have brought full teams.
Despite our number, we have a very strong team here. We had to leave other guys out because we need to bring results; we need to give the sponsor value for their money.
We are hosting the event next year so we had to send a team to the championship to make our mark on the continent. Yes, our selection criteria is often criticised but we cannot satisfy everyone, that is the nature of every sport,” he continued.
Decorated rider Ross Branch would lead a team that comprises Dakar rally bound Vincent Crosbie, Douglas Morris, Mark Carrhartly and 13-year-old Kosmas Mamaloukos. In last year’s event in Zimbabwe, where Botswana sent 23 riders, the team finished fourth out of eight countries.
They scooped bronze medals in the MX1 and MX2 team events while Branch walked away with a silver medal in the MX1 individual event. “If you look at our current team we have brought a mixture of experienced and young upcoming riders. We are grooming for the future. This is also part of our preparations for next year’s event,” he said.
Countries participating in the Kenya competition include defending champions South Africa, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Zambia, Swaziland and the host, Kenya.