South African Cross Country Series (SACCS) who own the race in partnership with Botswana Motor Sport, this week announced the return of the popular 1000 Toyota Desert Race to Jwaneng after a three-year absence.
The race which is popularly known by the locals as ‘Mantshwabisi’ is scheduled to return to the mining town this year for the third time on the 23rd to 25th June after a three year dry spell of not taking place in Botswana.
“After three years of not competing in Botswana, the TGRSA 1000 Desert Race will return to the diamond-mining town of Jwaneng for Round Three on 23, 24 and 25 June. This will be the only marathon event on the calendar. The Debswana Jwaneng mine is the richest diamond mine in the world and the historical Desert Race was hosted at Jwaneng from 2014 to 2018. Competitors can look forward to be welcomed back in Botswana by local supporters, and to the biggest sporting event on their calendar,” read the statement from SACCS.
The last TDR race to be held in Botswana was in 2019 at Selebi-Phikwe. Subsequently, the SACCS decided to shift three editions of the event to the Northern Cape in South Africa, where the 2021 and 2022 editions were hosted at Upington.
The 2020 edition was cancelled because to the COVID-19 outbreak.
