28 Jan 2024

Young ladies have been encouraged to aspire to venture into motorsport, which is currently male-dominated.

The words of encouragement were shared by one of the country’s young female riders, Tadiwa Tafa during the Botswana Motorsport Awards in Gaborone on Saturday.

Tafa, whose discipline is motorcross racing, was among those at the centre stage as she scooped the overall cross country and second position on MX category awards in the ladies category.

“Motorsport is currently male-dominated, but with commitment and determination, it is possible. It is a harsh sport but with confidence in yourself and pushing hard you can do it,” said Tafa.

She said from her observation, there were many up-coming girls who ride and were set to change the playfield.

Tafa, who has been riding mostly in Botswana, said this year she planned to ride and compete in South Africa given the competitive edge.

She also said she planned to represent Botswana in Morocco.

The 18-year-old was hailed for her historic participation at the Toyota 1000 Desert Race in the women’s two-wheel bikes last year.

Another young rider, 13-year-old Jennifer Maloba crowned champion in MX overall ladies, said she was also proud of other riders, adding that she planned to improve on her performance.

“I am not much of a jumper, I just climb the ramps. But if I can improve my speed and jump further that will be much better for my career,” Maloba said.

She also noted that she had not gained much exposure in terms of training and competitions saying, if the opportunity comes I will probably go to South Africa.

However, I will not participate in those big nationals, what I want is just insider races,” she said.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Botswana Motorsport head of the Federation of International Motor Mobile Sport Jones Chibana, who encouraged riders to continue doing what they do best despite the challenges, said they were determined to grow the sport further.

Chibana acknowledged that theirs was an expensive sport but encouraged those willing to join the sport not to be discouraged.

According to BMS website, motorsport has different variations of the sport, which include cars, off-road such as the Toyota 1000 Desert Race, rally raids or the Dakar Rally, karting, 4-wheel drive events and auto-cross. ENDS