16 Jun 2021

Botswana biker, Ross Branch, clinched his first ever Federation of International Motocyclisme (FIM) Cross-Country Rallies World Championship title at the Kazakhstan Rally, which ended Sunday.

In an interview on Tuesday, Branch said,  ‘it was an incredible two weeks and we did a lot of work on the bike with my mechanic and it was good to get this win’.

He said the Kazakhstan Rally was incredible with two good leading stages.

Branch said on stage three, they had a few problems with navigation and made mistakes resulting in loss of time.

This, he said, was worsened by a tyre problem that led to another loss of time. “I did not think we would get to the finish because it was really close, but we managed to control the last two days really well,” Branch said.

Kazakhstan Rally was cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the five-stage race (about 2000km) kicked off on June 7.

According to a statement from Kazakhstan Rally organising team, restrictions on international flights did not affect the rally because the organisers engaged chartered flights from European countries.

“COVID-19 did not allow us to hold a planned rally last year.We were determined to conduct a successful one this year,” the statement says.

On June 24, Branch would leave for Russia for a Silk Way Rally, which would start in July 1.

“It is the longest race of the year and a little longer than Dakar,” said Branch.

He said this race would be a good test for them and their machines. ENDS