Leemisa Thuseho
THE 2020 edition of the Roof of Africa ‘The Mother of Hard Enduro’ race has been tentatively moved to next year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The event had been penned in for 18 to 21 November 2020.
Lesotho Off-Road Association (LORA) chairperson Tubatsi Kuoe told the Lesotho Times on Monday that they are now hoping to hold the race early next year.
“There is no Roof of Africa this year, however, we are now hoping to make it our first event on our calendar next year,” Kuoe said.
“Depending on the Coovid-19 situation, we are thinking of scheduling it for February.”
He added that the provisional decision is to host both the 2020 and 2021 editions next year.
The association has already started informing riders from all over the world of the decision to move the 2020 edition to next year.
Under normal circumstances the main event is preceded by qualifying events but due to Covid-19, LORA earlier this year said it had cancelled the events.
“No more qualifiers from 2020 onwards… we will work with clubs and their respective mother bodies to get rider’s information for them to qualify for a certain category,” LORA said this year.
Lesotho has been hosting the Roof of Africa event annually since 1967 except for 1998 when it was cancelled due to political unrest in Lesotho. This year will thus be the second time that the event will be cancelled.
LORA had hoped to add new events to its calendar this year but they have all be cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The events include the debut National Enduro that had been penned in for April 2020, the Retro Roof Race and the Senqu Enduro which were both meant to be held in September this year. The two have also been cancelled.
Kuoe said they have resolved to postpone the new events to 2021.
