22 Jun 2017

The biting winter breeze will tomorrow not deter thousands of motorsport fanatics to travel to the mining town of Jwaneng and experience the adrenalin pumping action of the annual desert race.

This years’ Mantshwabisi, as the Toyota 1000 Desert Race has come to be known locally, will be the 26th edition of the desert classic to be run in Botswana under the Toyota banner.

Tomorrow’s race has all the ingredients of a thriller especially in the elite class FIA category where all eyes will be on defending champions, Toyota Gazoo Racing team of Leeroy Poulter and Robert Howie.

At the end of the week, the provisional entries list did not feature former champion, Anthony Taylor and in his place is 2009 Dakar Rally champion, Giniel De Villers who features in a second Toyota Hilux with co-driver Dennis Murphy.

The two Toyota teams will face a mammoth task against new entrants, the Renault Duster team, with Johan Van Staden and Mike Lawrenson in the driver’s seat and navigation board respectively.

Another interesting aspect of the race is that organisers have disclosed that this year’s route will cover 80 per cent of virgin territory which will be physically taxing for drivers and their teams while providing a perfect view for spectators.

In the special production vehicles category, also christened sandmasters, a tense weekend is in the offing between the likes of veteran driver, Evan Hutchison and navigator Danie Stassen. They are likely to face stiff competition from local racer, Keith Du Toit and his co-driver Robbie Cotzee.

The race is the third event of the South African Cross Country series starting with a qualifying race today and concluding on Sunday. Toyota crews have snatched up more victories than any other manufacturer on the desert race.

The first race was in 1991, and in the preceding years Toyota reigned supreme.

After 2000 Nissan pulled off eight wins in a row to popularise the then Nissan 3.0 litres with prominent drivers in the mold of Hannes Grobler, Duncan Vos and Alfie Cox becoming darlings of the local fans.

The Ford team won in 2011 while the following year it became the launching pad of team Toyota victories dominated by Taylor and Poulter. The event, which has grown in leaps and bounds over the years, will move from Jwaneng to Ghanzi region next year to accord other communities to benefit from it. ENDS