Top local biker, Ross Branch will not be part of the line-up at the inaugural Jwaneng Desert Challenge this weekend. Branch is on a break from the FIM World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) and is currently in the country. He told MmegiSport he is in Maun and has assumed his commercial pilot duties. “No, unfortunately, I am not racing there. I have to fly in Maun,” Branch briefly said. He currently leads the W2RC rankings by a nine-point difference with a single round to go. Branch made a return to the local shores during the 2023 1000km Toyota Desert Race (TDR) after a five-year hiatus. The Jwaneng Racing Club had hinted the former Dakar Rally rookie of the tournament would line up at this weekend’s race. “Team Jwaneng Racing today, the 18th of June 2024, welcomed our own hero, Ross Branch from Desafio Ruta in South America where he retained his world overall lead in the 2024 standings. We welcome you back to the home soil, Sir, and we are proud that even as u conquer the world, you remember us in your hometown. See u again on Saturday in Kaduwe,” the club said in a Facebook post.
The Jwaneng Desert Challenge marks round one of the newly established Botswana Off Road Racing Championship (BORRC) and holds the second round of the Botswana Motor Sport (BMS) National Championship. BORRC is the first ever off-road car racing event in the country and has become a filler race for the 1000km Toyota Desert Race (TDR), popularly known as Mantshwabisi. The Jwaneng Desert Challenge is the longest race in the BORRC and there will be three more 250km races to be held on September 7, November 16, and December 7. It is a star-studded line-up for the car events as South African, Gedeon Jacobs, will be in the Class A with a V8 Porter vehicle. His countryman, Martin van de Vyver, will meanwhile compete with a Ford Ranger V8 in the Class T. The local contingent includes Khalil Hussain (Class P – V6 Aceco), Koziba Lebala (Class B – 2.0 Orco), Mohamed Moultson (Class A – Bat Spec 0 V8), Mohamed Noor (Class A – Porter V8), Moizuddin Ahmad, Muhammad M Ahmad, Ridwaan Dada (CLASS A – V8 PORTER), Shahid Amin, Imraan Arbi (Class D – Toyota Landcruiser V6), TG Jansen Van Rensburg (Class T – FORD v8), Victor Fincham (Class E – Toyota Hilux) and Waseem Hussain (Class P – V6). There will be 13 competitors in the inaugural car-racing event, seven short of the BORRC target to turn the race into a two-day 1000km long race. In the absence of Branch, Wade Den is the favourite in the bike category. The rider leads the local rankings after clinching a win in the BMS national round one, the Kopong200 held earlier this year.
