Bikers who were supposed to compete in the on-going Toyota 1000 Desert Race under the Team Scoot banner had to pull out in the last minute, citing escalating costs.
According to Mogrey ‘Boyce’ Mabille, the Team Scoot bikers pulled out of the race after it emerged that the bike and motor vehicle races would not only be going in two different directions but would also be taking place on the same days, Saturday and Sunday.
Mabille told Sunday Standard that they could not afford to have different racers competing in different categories at the same time.
“We want to control our crowds. We want to take one race category at a time because our funds don’t allow us to compete in different races at a time,” he said.
He added that the bike race will be held on the same day he will be racing, but in to two different routes designated for the bikes and the special motor vehicles race. He said Team Scoot could not afford to compete in two different categories at the same time because their funds did not allow them to. In 2012, Team Scoot racer Thato “ST” Mabille was in the list of the top 10 motor bike racers at the Desert Race.
He was confident that he would put up a sterling performance this year after scooping overall fifth position in 2012 and position seven in 2013.
“If given a chance I could do better. Sadly, we have to pull out because our funds for this year’s race did not allow us to get enough fuel and lubricants in order to compete in different races at the same time,” he said.
Kagiso Keorapetse, a celebrated local scrambler rider, will also not be competing in this year’s motor bicycle category race due to lack of funding.
