Local off-road race eyes global status
Kabelo Boranabi | Sunday September 29, 2024 11:26
The Botswana Off-Road Racing Championship (BORRC) was off to a great start in July at the Jwaneng Desert Challenge while it had improvements in the second round, Mantshwabisi 300, held last weekend at the birthplace of the desert race, Mantshwabisi village. Matshwabisi 300 saw the largest participation from international drivers as only five Batswana were in the starting line-up. Over 10 South Africans competed over the past weekend including Dakar Rally driver, Brian Baragwanath. Speaking to MmegiSport, BORRC organisers, Cyro Motorsport Group's Moizuddin Ahmad, said from the first two rounds, BORCC is raising its hand to bring a global race to the local shores. This comes after the reports that international bodies, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) and Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) are eyeing the southern Africa region as part of the 2025 World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC). South Africa's Waterberg 1000 is said to have been lined up for the 2025 W2RC but Ahmad feels that BORRC has the potential to rival their southern African counterparts.
'The BORRC is ready to raise a hand for Botswana to host this event. Cyro Motorsport Group, which runs BORRC, works closely with the BMS (Botswana Motor Sport) as a BMS-affiliated club. No race can take place without the involvement of BMS. The latter is the governing body of motorsport in Botswana and the BMS is a FIA and FIM affiliate for Botswana,' Ahmad said. 'However, at the moment, the BORRC is running all its events through the support of private sector sponsors, which if Botswana were to hold an event of that nature would certainly require collaboration with the relevant stakeholders and authorities.' 'If Botswana was looked at by FIA and FIM as a possible host, which I believe we should be, Cyro Motorsport Group is ready to present Botswana as a premium destination for such an event with the support of government and relevant authorities,' he said.
'Already with the participation of Century Racing and other teams in the recently held BORRC Mantshwabisi 300, I think people have taken notice. We shall see the BORRC series growing and placing Botswana as a premium off-road racing destination. Our varying terrain scenic routes, and climate are much loved by those who have raced in Botswana. Finally, as Botswana we have our championship controlled by us,' Ahmad said. He further said to lobby FIA and FIM, the local fraternity would need to build up and develop the sport in Botswana first. He said this would showcase to the world Botswana's capacity, expertise, facilities and the passion to host a W2RC event. 'This requires extensive development of the championship and the sport and large investment by the relevant authorities. The Desert 1000km race used to be in Botswana only through the substantial involvement and support of the relevant authorities. That is the support BORRC needs to move off-road racing to a global level in Botswana. We are not far, with the right resources available and funding, it can be achieved in a short space of time within the next few years,' Ahmad said.
The BORRC will host two more rounds to conclude the debut 2024 season. The third round will be hosted in Gakgatla village in November and the last of the four rounds in December. Next year, BORRC will host a seven-round championship to meet international standards.