Though Namibian motorsport is popular among participants, family and supporters, the code suffers a lack of finance, limited sponsors and outdated tracks.
Despite all these obstacles in their way, drivers still manage to pull off good performances and excellent sportsmanship on and off the tracks.
Windhoek Motor Club (WMC) chairperson Richard Slamet says 2025 will be a challenging year due to limited sponsorships and a sponsorship recently coming to an end.
He says the season will be exciting though, and newcomers he refers to as a ‘brat pack’ are expected.
These include Clive Strydom, Rassie Rietz, his son, Richie Slamet, and Zachary Martin from Walvis Bay, he says.
The ‘brat pack’ members are all dedicated and good competition on both the circuit and rally tracks, Slamet says.
He says they all drive either Golfs or other small racing cars and race in packs.
When it comes to the rally season, Slamet says there may be some challenges due to the high costs involved to host the code, as the marshals, officials and other role players need to be accommodated.
Despite this, interest in the first rally at Swakopmund, scheduled for the first weekend of April, looks promising, he says.
Due to founding president Sam Nujoma’s funeral, motorsport events like go-kart racing, the motorsport annual general meeting and prize-giving ceremony had to postponed to this month.
Good rains also brought some obstacles as tracks were damaged and needed to be repaired before any race can proceed.
This was done thanks to Gerhard ‘Geh’ Visagie and his capable team, he says.
The racers had some drawbacks towards the end of 2024 after an incident involving a car leaving the tracks and coming to a standstill outside the safety barriers.
The driver sustained minor injuries due to the vehicle’s good safety measures, but this has led to the Namibia Motorsport Federation rethinking the upgrading of the tracks’ safety measures.
Meanwhile, Cecil Koorts has confirmed that everything is in place for this week’s first leg of the 2025 go-karting championships.
The event will take place at the Tony Rust Raceway’s go-karting tracks.
Another event slated for this week is the first leg of the 4×4 Vasbyt at Otjiwarongo.
Theuns van Zyl says the organisers are ready and looking forward to a wet and muddy track due to recent rains.
He says they are expecting at least 20 entries with new some teams.
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