We often get asked “How can we enter the Toyota Kalahari Botswana 1000 Desert Race?” and our response normally is greeted with complete amazement when they realize that this simple question involves a 30 minute answer. So for the uninitiated – here goes…..
1. Join a motorsport club. Costs range from R250 up to R900. Ensure that the club is affiliated to Motorsport South Africa who is the controlling body of motorsport for South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland.

2. Decide what type of motorsport you want to do. There is karting, off road, motocross, enduro, drag racing, superbikes, etc. Then apply to Motorsport South Africa (MSA) for a competition licence.

3. Along with your MSA licence application you need to have completed a medical form. This has to be done annually. If there is any doubt about your fitness or health, your medical form is forwarded to a medical panel for further review.

4. If your medical aid company is one which will pay if you are injured in a motorsport event, you need a letter from them stating this. Otherwise, as MSA have thousands of licensed competitors, they have been able to obtain good rates for your medical/personal accident insurance. You can take out various levels of insurance, for juniors (under the age of 6) juveniles (6 -13 years) and adults, including death, disability and/or bodily injury. There are three levels of cover R60, 000 (this is only valid for club events), R250, 000 and R500, 000.

5. Please note, if you do not have some form of medical insurance, you will not be issued with a Competition licence.

6. You get different types of licences for different types of events. A National event requires a National licence, (these Nationals are where you find the top riders/drivers), and a regional event requires a regional licence. Licences start with Club licences, which are for your club races. If you wish to race in the Northern regions of SA you will need a regional licence.

7. National Championship events are obviously more difficult, and you cannot go out and just obtain a National licence, you have to prove you have experience by taking part in club races, and then compete in three regional races before obtaining your National licence. The Toyota Kalahari Botswana 1000 Desert race at National level is not for the inexperienced. It is not a matter of climbing into your bakkie and racing. You have to be physically fit, and aware of the rules and technical rules of the sport.

8. Your vehicle, bike and quad have to conform to various technical and safety rules. By joining a club, you can be advised what is suitable and what the costs are.

9. You will need to buy a bike, car or quad. Nobody hands these out for free. The top riders and drivers are professionals and are paid to race, but they started out at grass roots level just like you. They train by riding bicycles, swimming, running and going to the gym. Even in a car, your kidneys, neck and shoulders take a huge bashing and the drivers come out sweating and physically exhausted. It is even more difficult on a bike or a quad.

10. You will need all the relevant protection and safety gear. You cannot compete without helmets, boots, goggles, race pants, or fireproof race suit. A decent helmet can set you back P2000 for example. Be careful when buying second hand gear, especially helmets. If they have had a hard knock, or have loads of scratches and gouges in the paintwork, stay clear. The day you land on your head, it will not be good enough to protect you.

11. You are probably asking why you should join a club that is affiliated to MSA, and ties you down with all these rules and regulations. By being part of the MSA family, you are governed by rules which are standard throughout the world, and are ultimately part of the world controlling bodies, FIA and FIM. They are there to ensure the sport is conducted as safely as possible, they advise us of what helmets to wear, seat belt harnesses that will retain you in the car in an accident. They are also responsible for looking after your safety with regards to age limits on certain engine sizes. It is scary how many parents put a small child on a bike which is way too big for him/her resulting in an accident. Like all large sporting federations, they are there to ensure that there is no cheating, bending of the rules, and use of alcohol or performance enhancing drugs. Each and every time the club puts on an event of any sort, we have to ensure that we have complied with the safety regulations, class restrictions, that the officials are qualified to run the event etc. Only then are we issued with a permit for the event. Once we are issued with the permit, the club is covered for Public Liability Insurance.

12. If you compete at an event which is not sanctioned by MSA, your medical insurance will not cover you if you have an accident. If your car goes off the road and kills/injures spectators, damages property etc, you will be responsible for payment. Most countries and local authorities will only sanction an event whereby these insurances are in place, and they have a controlling body to go to in the event of an accident. Secondly, those of us with the correct competition licence who participate in a non sanctioned event, will have our licences removed which means we can never participate in such events as the Toyota Kalahari Botswana 1000 Desert race and in fact can be banned for life. You cannot obtain a licence in another country either as your name will go onto the banned list throughout the world.

The above is a very simplistic view of why we have to be members of a recognised club. Believe me there are a million other reasons but it would take another 500 pages of explaining. Those of you who watch the Olympics or Formula 1 must surely appreciate that these events are governed by controlling bodies that are there for the good of the sport, and run it with qualified coaches, officials, marshals, timekeepers, paramedics and administrators.

For further information and reading, go onto http://www.motorsport.co.za and go through the website completely. There are publications with the rules of motorsport for different categories, news, results and plenty of other information to help you get started.

Below is a table with a rough idea of what it could cost to do the sport, based on club level and national level. If you cannot afford to be a competitor, join a club, learn how to run a race, meet the competitors (they may even sell you a machine at a good deal if they know you), offer your services and be part of the friendliest sport in the world. All of us are volunteers in the sport and do not get paid for doing what we love. So remember this the next time you lose your temper at us.

OFF-ROAD BIKE RIDER AT CLUB LEVEL COSTS

• Membership to a recognised motorsport club 300
• MSA minimum insurance @60,000 265
• MSA licence costs 200
• Average entry fee for a race 300
• Bike – a good secondhand bike 45000
• Kit (boots, pants, goggles, gloves etc 5000
• First aid kit, Camelback, 1000
• Environmental mats, fire extinguishers 500
• TOTAL OUTLAY P 52 515

KARTING AT CLUB LEVEL COSTS

• Membership to a recognised motorsport club 250
• MSA minimum insurance @60,000 265
• MSA licence costs 200
• Average entry fee for a race 300
• Kart- a good secondhand kart 12000
• Helmet, race suit, gloves, goggles etc 5000
• Environmental mats, fire extinguishers 500
• TOTAL OUTLAY P 18 515

MOTOCROSS/FLAT TRACK AT CLUB LEVEL COSTS

• Membership to a recognised motorsport club 250
• MSA minimum insurance @60,000 265
• MSA licence costs 200
• Average entry fee for a race 300
• Bike – a good secondhand bike 30000
• Kit (boots, pants, goggles, gloves etc 5000
• Environmental mats, fire extinguishers 500
• TOTAL OUTLAY P 36 515

OFF-ROAD BIKE RIDER AT NATIONAL LEVEL COSTS

• Membership to a recognised motorsport club 250
• MSA maximum insurance @ 500,000 1440
• MSA licence costs 800
• Average entry fee for a race 1100
• Bike – a good secondhand bike 45000
• Kit (boots, pants, goggles, gloves etc 5000
• First aid kit, Camelback, 1000
• Environmental mats, fire extinguishers 500
• TOTAL OUTLAY P 55 090

OFF ROAD CAR DRIVER AT NATIONAL LEVEL

• Membership to a recognized motorsport club 250
• MSA insurance @500,000 1550
• MSA licence costs 695
• Average entry fee for a national race 1500
• Car – fully race prepped 800000
• Helmets, race suit, gloves, goggles etc 6000
• First aid kit, GPS, 2000
• Environmental mats, fire extinguishers 500
• TOTAL OUTLAY P 812 495

Please note that the above are an estimate only, and obviously if it is a junior motorbike, it will be cheaper than an adult bike. Not included in these costs are transport, travel, accommodation, spares, tools, tyres etc. Off road race cars can start for around 150000 but then you have to add in all the extras that are required to make it race ready.

We hope this answers all your questions and queries.
[RD would like to thank Gillian Dykes for the info]