BORRC is a first off road car racing championship in Botswana. The first round of the championship got over a speed hump as South African duo of Martin and Antoinette van der Vyver overcame an accident early into the race. The married couple’s vehicle overturned during the time trials.
The pair, however, dusted off to win the T81 Class and obtained an overall fourth place finish. Speaking to SportMonitor, Martin said they had been warned about the rowdy home ground spectator behaviour. However, the duo did not encounter such in their just over two and half hours of racing. “It was awesome, the marking was good and the spectators just made it better and we really enjoyed the race. We were warned in South Africa about the spectators but when we came here, it was controlled. The spectators were not in the road crossings; we did not encounter any issues with them and you could see that they enjoyed and we just had to put in a show for them and they loved it,” said Martin. The husband and wife duo was making their debut in Botswana terrain and said this was the biggest crowd they have seen in their racing career. An estimated crowd of just 10, 000 spectators were visibly in the three main spectator points. This is the second biggest crowd after the 1000km Toyota Desert Race (TDR) in motorsport events and the largest in the locally organised competitions.
The local duo of Khalil and Ahmed Hussain also showered plaudits to the race organisers. “It was very, very well organised and I would say the route was nicely marked and it is definitely something that I would be returning to race in again,” said Khalil. He added they had encountered technical problems in their journey and put up a fight to clinch the first position in overall standings. Local biker, Kosmas Mamaloukos, also lauded the crowd that came out for their controlled behaviour as he tipped BORRC to reach much greater heights. Spectator behaviour and poor road markings alongside overgrown bushes in the terrain had been sighted as some of the main reasons for the TDR to pull out of Botswana.
“It was very well organised, this time the spectators were controlled and it was good. I know Jwaneng has a reputation of rowdy spectators but this time it was good and the spectators, the fans were also good and I think overall it is a 10 out of 10,” said Mamaloukos. From the Jwaneng Desert Challenge, BORRC is to host three more races in September, November and December. Plans are in motion to turn the Jwaneng Desert Challenge in to a two-day event with a 1000km of racing.
