Race vehicles to debut in national off-road championship
Kabelo Boranabi | Friday April 26, 2019 11:55
The BMS Championships have in the past seasons featured only the quads and two-wheel bikes. But both the bakkies and special vehicles will make their maiden appearance on local soil during the Gaborone Motor Club (GMC)-organised event.
The drivers and riders face a gruelling 300km sandy terrain, divided into three loops of 100km, making it the second longest race after the 1000 Toyota Desert Race (TDR), popularly known as Mantshwabisi.
GMC public relations officer, Kagiso Stephens said the race would help riders prepare for the demanding Matshwabisi rounds.
“This is the ultimate event for our national championships before the TDR. This is to improve their preparations for the desert race, as we want to give our riders a chance on a longer route before the marathon event at the TDR. Our riders will have a chance to acclimatise with the conditions and the demands of the TDR,” he said. Stephens added that the inclusion of the vehicles category would increase its awareness since local fans have been mostly exposed to bikes. “Our fans only have a chance to see vehicles at the TDR only. So as GMC, we decided that we are going to introduce vehicles for the first time because the attention has been given to the bikes only,” he said. “This is to hype up the TDR that is coming up in June. It is going to be held at a new venue; it has been a long time since we had a new venue for the race. This is an opportunity for our fans to see both bikes and vehicles in the national series.”
Four local drivers will take part in the bakkies category while Kieth du Toit will make an appearance in the special vehicles in a line up that includes some of the elite drivers from South Africa.
After two rounds, Mike Wilkinson leads the two-wheeler category and will look to increase his grip at the top of the standings. In second, hot on his heels, is Robert Pollock while Kosmas Mamaloukos and Stephens are in third and fourth respectively.
“I would like to appeal to the private sector to lend a hand. It takes a lot of measures and finances to set up an event like this,” Stephens said. “Currently, we are struggling financially but we want to have vehicles in all our six rounds of the national series, but we need the input of the sponsors. For an event like this, they will all have the mileage they want.”