28 Jan 2013

Riding Dirty's trio scooped awards for displaying skills in flat track and motor cross races on Saturday. The trio are Kitso Malebo (17), Garvinish Chutoo (15) and Kagiso Keorapetse (20).

Malebo, who is also a student, started racing in 2004 and participated in a number of races where he represented Botswana. In 2009, he represented Botswana in South Africa and got the fourth position while in 2011 he participated in the Zimbabwean Summer Series.

Malebo cited lack of sponsorship as the main challenge, adding that he would like to see the sport grow with new members joining the club. He noted that the first race of the year was billed for February.

He said the sport was financially demanding. However, he expressed gratitude to his sponsors and appealed to parents to support their children.

Malebo is a dirt bike rider of three years and has made a slight improvement from his 2011 performance of position three in both flat track and motor cross.

Chutoo, a Form 3 student at Gaborone International School, said he participated in both the flat track and motor cross races that earned him the awards.

He said he started racing in 2012 at fifth position and had improved to second and third positions. He said his eyes were on the DaKar race, Super Course and the motor cross in South Africa and the United States of America.

The 2012 Gaborone Motor Club outgoing chairperson, Wayne Jordaan decried the decline in the club’s membership from 151 to 96 attributing it to the economic pressure, which saw racers selling their bikes.

Jordaan appealed to members to attend races as the family membership fee had been increased and racing fees reduced to attract more members.

He said the mid-year special meeting indicated that there was a lot of uncertainty which showed no improvement in the motor sport. ENDS