Vincent Crosbie Gets A Hero’s Welcome
The Minister of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism Tshekedi Khama joined multitudes of Batswana at Sir Seretse Khama International Airport to welcome Botswana motor bike rider, Vincent Crosbie from the Dakar rally.Crosbie made history by being the first Motswana to compete at the Dakar Rally managed to finish his race and ultimately ranked the sixth fastest rookie in the race. He was also ranked number one in Africa and 35th in the world.
As a first timer at the competition, Vincent shocked the world making it to the finishing line, out classing some veterans of the race. His efforts and determination has impressed many people in and outside the country. He did not let challenges of not finding sponsors in the beginning dampen his spirit, and with the help of Botswana Tourism Board, Brand Botswana and other sponsors Crosbie realized his dream of competing in Dakar.
Crosbie said he enjoyed the 12 day-race which had rain, hail, heat, as well as lower to extremely high altitudes. “But 9000 kilometres, we did it, we raised the flag high, we finished the race and that is what we wanted to do,” he said. He said he managed to finish the race because he had a positive mind to make it to the finish line, adding that it was a tough experience although they started preparations only two years back. Furthermore, he said his mission was just to follow his dream of competing at the Dakar rally, and he was happy that two years later he was hoisting the country’s flag at the highest race in the world.
