Hero�s welcome for Crosbie
Kabelo Boranabi | Wednesday January 18, 2017 15:06
Crosbie made history, as he became the first Motswana to cross the Dakar Rally finish line at the first attempt. The exultant rider finished in 36th position in the overall standings and was the sixth rookie to finish the prestigious event. Crosbie completed the 12 stages of the race that took place across Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina in an impressive time of 38:43:37.
On Monday evening, multitudes of fans filled the airport waiting area to its full capacity to catch a glimpse of their new hero. Wearing a white official Dakar Rally rider shirt, the 26-year-old’s face brightened the moment he emerged from the airport and was greeted with ululations.
The Serowe-born rider told journalists upon his arrival that he had to overcome unpleasant weather conditions that he was not accustomed too. However, despite his struggles he enjoyed his time. “The race was amazing, it was torrid racing. We had everything from rain, hale, heat, from low altitudes to extremely high altitudes. We had everything thrown at us, but 9,000km later we did it. We brought the flag home. We finished the race that’s what we set out to do and we did it,” he said.
Crosbie struggled raising funds for the race; he had to raise $90,000 (P900,000) prompting him to take a personal loan in order to fulfill his dream. He said he took the decision to take part in the race two years ago when he was a mechanic for a friend at the race.
“It was a tough experience. We started it two years ago. I did not know it was going to be this big when I finished. I honestly was going to follow a dream and here I am two years later holding the national flag at the highest race in the world.
The experience was amazing. I was racing against the best in the world to finish as high as I did and it was amazing. I showed the world that we have talent here in Botswana and we should not give up,” he said.
Unsurprisingly, there was no representative from the Botswana National Sports Commission (BSNC) at the airport. The BNSC had told the rider that they could not sponsor him for the race. Despite running all the motorsport activities in the country, the commission shunned the young rider’s welcoming.