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All systems go fo Lechana 260km Bush Race
Petrol heads and off-roaders are gearing up for a dust-filled weekend at the Lechana 260km Bush Race, slated for 17 – 19 June.
Starting some 30km north of Palapye along the A1 road, the one-of-a-kind motorsport event will see bikers and wheelers cover 130kms of tricky bush terrain twice in two days.
The circuit passes through villages such as: Lechana, Shalakwe, Mmantshadidi, Ditootso, Tshimoyapula, Mabaleapudi, Rancheng and Motolong.
The brainchild of Borvic Botswana (Pty) Ltd, the Bush Race is organised by a team of experienced local motorsport drivers and enthusiasts led by veteran broadcaster, Goabaone Rabantheng.
It is an event accredited by Botswana Motorsport Association (BMA) as an amateur race and has been listed in the Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO) calendar of events for the year.
Briefing the media recently, Rabantheng said Batswana hungers for motor sports events, as evidenced by the impressive interest and following The Toyota 1, 000KM Desert Race has enjoyed over the years.
“Botswana Police Services is from time to time inundated with incidents of unauthorised motor competitions which indicates a thirst that perhaps has not found enough legitimate outlets,” she noted.
Rabantheng is adamant sports tourism has the potential to attract high-yield visitors and repeat visitors to a destination, which ultimately creates opportunities to develop new infrastructure in the area.
“This includes public services, means of communications, public transport, and many others with the overall benefit to the local residents,” she said, expressing her gratitude to VW Auto House under their flagship VW Amarok for supporting the race.
She also thanked Sally’s Dairy Products and Morupule Coal Mine, who are the prize sponsors for the race.