Insurance cover delays motorsport season
The Botswana Motor Sport (BMS) 2023 season will begin later this month after a two-month delay. The BMS season usually starts between February and March but will only kick off on May 27 with the Two Rivers Cross-Country Off-Road Race to be held in Metsimotlhabe. Speaking to Mmegi Sport, BMS president, Simon Modisaemang said the engines have been on hold for a deliberate reason, which is to satisfy all the necessities for public liability to avoid possible sanctions by the world governing bodies, the FIA and the FIM. Public liability is the competitor’s and association’s insurance cover. These include insurance cover where there is an incident involving a competitor and a third party. It also includes insurance cover for group personal accidents for competitors while the federation also needs its insurance cover. These are safety and insurance precautions for the competitors, spectators and the sporting federation that needs to be satisfied before any event or championship.
“As per our affiliation, it is required for affiliated members that there shall not be any calendar sanctioned by the motorsport without a public liability and when I checked the public liability it was not in order. I could not take a chance. I said no public liability, no events,” Modisaemang said.
He further said the BMS has been negotiating with the right insurance companies for cover. Modisaemang said the BMS had these insurance covers in place and provided by the Botswana Insurance Company. However, the BMS has since switched to Old Mutual Insurance. “When we first started this, we couldn’t get it anywhere but the Botswana Insurance Company was able to help. But during the time we were covered, they picked some of the things that may be high risk to them but when they placed our cover with their reinsurer based in South Africa, they found that the re-insurer does not cover motorsport so they were looking for another re-insurer.”
“It took a bit of time until now when Old Mutual managed to find another re-insurer in South Africa. So the transition from BIC to Old Mutual came about that it was not that BIC did not cover but their re-insurer did not cover the high risks of motorsport but that Old Mutual was able to find such a re-insurer. The insurer covers motorsport in South Africa and Namibia, so it was easy for us,” Modisaemang said.
The BMS has now started preparations to have a full championship season. A motorsport championship should have at least six rounds and Modisaemang said the BMS technical departments have made arrangements to satisfy the requirements of a full championship. “We have not lost much in terms of championship because our technical people had to squeeze in, to do our best so that we meet the required slots that are available.
We said let’s start and see how it will go. I think I am in a position that I would say we would be able to accommodate all the stages required,” he said.
Modisaemang said the BMS is yet to finalise their agreement with South Africa Cross-Country Championship Series (SACCS) to host the rounds of the BMS championship parallel with the SACCS at the 1,000km Toyota Desert Race (TDR). The TDR holds the third and fourth rounds of the SACCS and it has been a norm that the BMS also holds its third and fourth rounds of national championship. The TDR will return to Jwaneng in June for the first time in four years