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Collin Matiza Sports Editor
TODAY promises to be a fun-filled day for local golf enthusiasts, both amateurs and professionals, as they head out to Borrowdale Brooke to take part in a one-day Golf Day aimed at raising funds for local motor bike rider Ashley Thixton’s participation in next year’s Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia.
The 2024 Dakar Rally is set to take place from January 5 to 19 in Saudi Arabia and Thixton has already entered to race in the motorbike section of the toughest motor rally event in the world.
He is set to become the third Zimbabwean to take part in this gruelling race after renowned motor rally driver Conrad Rautenbach and fellow biker Graeme Sharp who both managed to last the distance in their respective classes a couple of years ago.
And Thixton, who is more into motocross locally than motor rally, has decided to tackle the bull by its horns by taking part in next year’s Dakar Rally in the Saudi Arabia dunes.
The 30-year-old motorbike rider needs to raise US$130 000 (not US$100 000 as earlier budgeted for) for this adventure. And inorder to raise part of this money, Thixton and his handlers will hold a Golf Day fundraising event at Borrowdale Brooke today.
Today will see Thixton hosting a Golf Day, dubbed “Get Ash to Dakar 2024” at Borrowdale Brooke.
It will be a betterball stableford which will be graced by long drive world champion Campbell MacMillan who will be joining at hole 3/9, offering to do the first drive at US$100.
A team of four will enter the event for US$200 and sponsorship opportunities will also be available with sponsors paying US$150 per hole and US$200 for gin tent.
There’s also a raffle for a brand new 2024 KTM 300 valued at US$10 000.
The raffle tickets are going for US$100 each and the final draw has been set for December 10 during the prize giving ceremony of the 2023 Zimbabwe Summer Series.
The Zimbabwe Summer Series is the season-ending motocross event which will be held over three days on December 6, 8 and 10 at Donnybrook Park in Harare. Speaking to Zimpapers Sports yesterday, Thixton said there has been an overwhelming response to today’s Golf Day.
“Initially, we aimed for 60 teams, this filled very fast and then we managed to secure another 60 slots which we only have 20 left so the reception has been great and again the power of the local community and the corporate world has been amazing…
“We have raised US$88 000 out of the US$130 000 we need as the total amount for the Dakar campaign.
“So US$42 000 left to raise but the momentum for funding has really shifted into the next gear and I am feeling more and more confident about raising these funds,” Thixton said.
He also said preparations for the Dakar Rally have been going on well for him and is confident of lasting the distance at next year’s event.
“Preparations have been great. My off the bike training has been amazing and having a great place like Migym has been amazing to have as a fitness home.
“I would like to have ridden more on the bike and possibly been to the dunes more but this wasn’t an option as work commitments unfortunately take preference. But we will be riding a lot in December so this will be a large benefit to me.
“Tickets to Saudi Arabia are booked and we are set to leave on the 1st of January.”
The 2024 Dakar Rally will be the fifth in Saudi Arabia, though sixty percent of the route will proceed through ground not previously visited.
The full route was revealed on Monday, spanning 7,891 kilometres with 4,727 km in Selective Sections.
The route is shorter than the 8,549 of the 2023 race, though it has more Selective Sections-the actual part of each stage where competitors are timed-than last year’s 4,704. However, the 4,727 km still falls just short of the highest Saudi SS of 4,767 in 2021.
Al-‘Ula will kick off the rally on January 5 with a 27-km loop, serving as its start and finish. The race “formally” begins with Stage #1 heading to Al Hinakiyah followed by Dawadmi the day after.
Marathon rules, which prohibit crews from assisting drivers and bikes, apply in Stages #3 and #4.
Both will serve as a warm-up of sorts for the bigger Chrono Stage that will run for forty-eight hours in Stage #6, taking competitors to and from Shubaytah in the easternmost part of the country. Once it is 4pm on January 11, teams must report to the nearest rest area, of which six are available, where they camp through the night before resuming the Chrono Stage the next morning.
Once they complete the stage, they head to Riyadh for the rest day on January 13 as they did in 2023.
The second half of the rally, a trip westward, commences on the 14th with the longest total stage back to Dawadmi at 873 kilometres. A stop in Ḥa’il is followed by a return to Al-‘Ula. Yanbu will host the twelfth and final stage on January 19 with another loop. The Stage #1 start date of January 6 is the latest for the Dakar since 2020, intended to give teams time to celebrate the new year. They will head to Barcelona at the end of November for inspection before shipping out to Saudi Arabia.
Online Reporter