25 Jul 2019

Hot on the heels of the Toyota 1 000 Desert Race spectacle, comes the nail biting and gruelling Kopong 200 off road race.

The Kopong 200, will not only provide teams in both the production and special vehicle with a scenic and challenging sandy route, but will also be a perfect outing for motorsport fans who are bidding the winter breeze farewell.

After more than 1 000km of tough cross country racing in the eastern side of the country in June, motorsport fans are expected to once again descend onto the sleepy village of Kopong where scores will undoubtedly be settled.

The highly anticipated race will test the country’s cross country teams both in the two wheeler bikes and production vehicles for the third time this year, after attending the physically demanding desert race and the Orapa round seven event.

Speaking in an interview, Gaborone motor club chairperson, Koziba Libala, confirmed the weekend’s race that will be hosted about 30km outside the city centre. 

The designated service point and all the spectator points will stretch along Kopong and the surrounding hamlets in the Kweneng east. 

Libala said the race would most definitely attract a good number of supporters as motorsport was growing in leaps and bounds in the country after being popularised by the annual flagship event, the Toyota desert race.

He said some of the competitors would be familiar to spectators as they took part in the last edition of the desert race, which was held for the first time in Selebi Phikwe.

Competitors can expect a low-veld terrain with some unstable ground, a few rocky ridges as well as hardpack sections, especially towards the Kopong Hill range. 

Dry and dusty conditions will form part of the challenge as the region had endured a long dry spell during the recent rainy season. 

The competitors will battle for the 200km-race on a 50km loop interval.

Some of the exciting two wheel riders to look forward to are the exciting youngsters Kosmas Mamaloukos, Vincent Crosbie and Lepsy Mosope, who should expect tough opposition from the likes of Robert Pollock and Teto Chibana amongst others. 

A tough competition is expected in the car section where Ahmed Jada, Altaf Mahe and Mohammed Moulding will battle it out in class D category. 

An interesting driver from South Africa Gideon Jacobs is expected to give local drivers in class P a run for their money. ENDS