There is enthusiasm as local spectators prepare to witness the battle between man and machine in the gateway to the Kgalagadi as the race returns to local shores for the first time since 2019. The three-day gruelling race is the third and fourth rounds of the 2023 South Africa Rally-Raid Championship (SACCR) while it is also the second and third rounds of the Botswana Motor Sports (BMS) National Championship. Competitors are in to score double this weekend and to add the cherry on top, the winners qualify for one of the next two editions of the Dakar Rally. The engine revved this morning in the 61km prologue round and the battle for the king of the desert crown has started.
For the participants, 440km await on Saturday and the last 428km will be on Sunday. In an attempt to score good times, the competitors will face a route consisting of a variety of tight and fast sections with a mixture of rocky and sandy surfaces. It is a terrain that Ross Branch would enjoy as he returns to his hometown as a clear favourite. Racing for his eighth title, Branch is the Mantshwabisi record overall winner with seven titles. He is the man to beat as he lines up as the fastest man lining. He is having a good time on the bike this season as he sits eighth in the 2023 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship. An unlucky 26th finish at the Dakar Rally and a 13th finish in the second round of the World Championship should send warning signs to fellow competitors.
Branch has, however, not raced on local terrains in five years and would need a good prologue to re-acclimatise. Three-time Dakar Rally biker, Sebastian Bühler comes as the closest rival to his Hero Motorsport Rally-Raid teammate, Branch’s TGR 1000 dominance. Bühler is making his Mantshwabisi debut as he enjoys an impressive 2023 season. He is currently 11th in the World Championship standings and improves with each outing on the bike throughout this season. He is expected to clock better over the 1000km in the Kalahari Desert. This is Bühler’s second appearance in Africa after the 2022 Rallye du Maroc where he finished 12th. An exciting line-up of African bikers is licking its lips to spoil Hero Motorsport's debut in Mantshwabisi. Local champion, Kosmas Mamaloukos could cause an upset against the more experienced competitors. He has dominated the local scene since the 2022 season and he is presented with a chance to have his name amongst the continent’s greats at Matshwabisi. The teenage sensation recently tested his mettle against regional bikers but finished outside the top 10 in his two outings at the Gauteng Cross Country Series earlier this year. Vincent Crosbie and John Kelly add speed to the local contingent.
The two former Dakar Rally competitors scored impressive times on the bike in round one of the BMS National Championship and would count on experience to sail through the next three days. South African Charan Moore cannot be overlooked after his Dakar Rally exploits earlier this year. Moore won the ‘toughest class’ at Dakar Rally, the Original by Motul class. In the class, bikers ‘do-it-all’ without assistance from mechanics and Moore was the fastest across the finishing at the 2023 Dakar Rally while securing a 28th spot in overall standings. His compatriot nine-time South Africa champion, Bradley Cox, is also in the mix. There is a bit of disappointment in the cars section as the 2021 champion, Brian Baragwath sits this one out. This leaves an early two-horse race for Toyota Gazoo Racing SA teammates Giniel de Villiers and Henk Lategan for the title. De Villiers was the last man to win the race in Jwaneng in 2018 while Lategan is looking to earn points to reclaim the SACCR title he lost to de Villiers in 2022. The two drivers are the most successful active Mantshwabisi competitors and a top-four finish at this year’s Dakar Rally boosts Lategan.
There is local representation in the special vehicles with Mohammed Noor and his navigator, Antoine Stander and the duo Mohammed Dada and navigator Muhammad Saloojee.
