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30 May, 2011
Four weeks to go!
We are now only four weeks away from the 2011 Toyota Desert Race and the team has been working like demons to get things together for this year’s event; which, as those of you who were at the AGM will recall, is different to previous years.
This year is the 30th anniversary of Toyota’s involvement and the 25th of bikes being part of the race and to this end I am pleased to advise you that the planned separation of bikes and quads from cars is now a reality.
The 'Mantshwabisi' for bikes and quads has been born and is named after the village I am sure many of you remember from past TDRs. This is a 750km race which incorporates in the main race the Southern Africa Off Road Challenge (SORC riders are from Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya) and the Gaborone Motor Club Championship. I am sure this event will grow in stature to rival the 'Roof' in a very short space of time.
The TDR this year will also include some regional drivers as they are allowed to compete in one national status event of their choice and we hope to attract the drivers from the Vryburg / Mafikeng areas.
We have two new sponsors on board this year - Puma Energy (a new fuel entrant in Africa) and Monster Energy drink in addition to Mascom and their involvement is going to add to the spectacle that we already have.
For those of you who don’t know, the race is now based 25km outside of Gaborone in the small village of Kumakwane where we have a great relationship with the villagers who assisted us with parking and the selling of food and drink in the public areas. We will be paying over BWP30 000 to the village women’s committee next week being the profits from the parking etc., and a BWP8000 donation from us on the TDR committee.
DSP is an area of 450m x 270m of virgin bush which we have fenced, built roads, laid in water and electricity, then over race week we add marquees, grandstands and the whole place has an amazing atmosphere… To watch the sun rise and set at DSP is a joy to behold!
The programme for this year is as follows:
8 June - Race launch function, press conference
and vehicle display at Game City.
22 June - Bike and Quad documentation and start draw
23 June - The 'Mantshwabisi' starts for bikes and quads; A parade of cars
through Gaborone; 6km spins for VIPs and guests in race cars
24 June - The 'Mantshwabisi' continues; TDR cars do time trials and guests in
race cars
6 June - Spins for prize winners
25 June - TDR starts
26 June - TDR continues
So for the first time in the history of the race, spectators are not going have to choose what to watch as they can watch bikes, then quads and then the cars which is great for them!
I am very pleased to announce that at this year’s race we shall be awarding for the first time, the Peter Mounsear-Wilson Memorial Trophy to a person or team that shows (in spirit or in deed) the ideals that Peter exhibited over the many years of his running of the race. It really is a beautiful trophy and a fitting tribute to the man who put so much into the race over the past 30 years.
Does all this sound good? Well why not come up and join us? There are always things to do and never enough hands and the team would love to see more club members up there – you don’t have to be a marshal or a medic. You can camp easy (at Lion Park or Mokolodi Nature Reserve) or rougher with the team at a few bush camp sites or find your own spot. Government schools are on holiday from the Thursday so the kids can come too.
If you are keen to come up for the entire five days or the three of the TDR then drop me a mail and we can take it from there whether you want to help or just be a spectator.
Hope to hear from you and see some of you at this year’s event.
Regards,
Alan Reid
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