Connie Selebogo MOTOR RACING
For Batshobonke Sibuka (22), who grew up in a rural area in the Transkei where donkey tracks are the only fast lanes, a career in motor racing was something beyond imagination.
Rising star Sibuka took his opponents by surprise when he beat experienced drivers in his motor racing debut at Killarney, Cape Town, in 1998.
Sibuka, known as “Chops” to his friends and fans (for serving chops at his uncle’s butchery in the Eastern Cape), says he plans to build on the reputation he acquired in 1998 by shining in the Engen Polo Classic Cup series, which will run until November.
Sibuka and his teammates have already participated in two races in the series – in Johannesburg on February 12 and in Welkom on March 4.
This innovative motor sport series made its debut in 1997 with a field of 30 state-of-the art Polo Classic racing cars.
Until 1998, Sibuka had only one dream – to be a mechanical engineer. After dropping out of the East London Technikon, he was left with nothing but working at his uncle’s butchery.
Former South African champion Terry Moss was a friend of his uncle, and invited him to a racing track for practice. Fortunately enough, his first try on the track opened the doors to a championship, and Moss kept up the coaching.
Sibuka says he learned driving on the potholed roads of his rural village in Transkei. He never enjoyed the privileges that other drivers had – especially white drivers, who started racing at an early age. He drove his grandparents’ bakkie without a licence for more than 10 years and only acquired his driver’s licence after joining the racing team.
The road ahead wasn’t entirely clear. Sibuka had to convince his family that he wouldn’t hurt himself in a high-speed crash. But they now support his choice of career fully, so he must have been very persuasive.
He says he still cannot forget his first race in 1998 where he ended up with an overall win, a class win, a second place and an 11th place against top-class drivers, beating the most powerful cars, including BMW and Jetta VR6 with more experienced drivers at Killarney.
According to Sibuka, this amazed people who had never thought that an inexperienced person who had never owned a car in his life could do it.
“This sport has never been popular with black people, so it was unbelievable to them when a black man beat more experienced drivers, especially the whites,” he says.
However, Sibuka does not underestimate the fact that in order to remain on top, he has to work hard.
“Winning has to come with a good team,” says Sibuka.
His plan for this year’s Engen Classic Cup series is to get a good grid position in the top five or six.
Sibuka has taken part in close to 30 races, including international events, the first black person to do so.
He has also competed at Belgium’s Spa- Francochamps circuit, acknowledged as the most dangerous and longest in the world, where he qualified second out of 90 saloon cars in 1999.
Sibuka normally prepares for his race a day before – a rule for every driver, as it help them to detect faults in the car before the race starts.
When he’s not racing, he’s back behind the counter, serving chops at his family’s butchery, which he says he is planning to expand.
Engen Polo Classic marketing officer Sharon Garson says the Polo racing series is the most interesting and the toughest. She says drivers only have themselves to rely on as they pit their skills against one another to achieve victory.
“The brave and daring, who go out and record the fastest time during the qualifying session, could see their efforts go down the toilet – literally and figuratively – as the top six qualifiers have to draw grid positions by pulling their start numbers out of a toilet,” she says. She added that the grid draw is only for the first heat.