D’banj named Nigeria’s motorsport team captain ahead of World Championships

D’banj, Nigerian singer, has been named captain of the racing Nigeria motorsport team ahead of the Federation International de l’ Automobile (FIA) World Championships in October.

NAN reports that the award-winning musician was unveiled on Friday at a ceremony in Abuja attended by motorsport personalities including Mahdi Mohammed, the deputy governor of Zamfara.

Ishaku Bamaiyi, president of Automobile and Touring Club of Nigeria (ATCN), said the unveiling was the first step towards preparing the country’s representatives for the world championships scheduled for Marseille in France.

“The first FIA Motorsport Games held in Rome, Italy, in 2019, saw the participation of about 46 countries in the championship. The next event was scheduled for October 2020 but due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was postponed and rescheduled for October 2021, thereby creating room to increase the motorsports disciplines from six to 18,” he said.

“The FIA having reviewed our plans for the development of Motorsports in Nigeria asked that the ATCN puts together a team that will participate in the FIA Motorsport Games in 2021.

“This gave birth to Festival of Motorsport which will serve as our qualifying series for the FIA Motorsport Games to give everyone the opportunity to try out his or her skills.

“With the exception of the Karting Sprint Junior and Senior, all other disciplines are mix gender with a minimum of two participants and maximum of four participants in a team in the discipline we intend to compete in.

“We intend to compete in the following disciplines – Karting junior and senior, Karting endurance, Karting Slalom, Auto Slalom, Digital Games, Drifting and Rally 2.”

Bamaiyi said a festival of motorsport is scheduled to hold between June 16 and June 19 in Abuja to further hone the talents of participants at the World Championship.

In his remark, D’banj commended the group for picking him as team captain, noting that his energy would propel the country to victory at the world event.

“You know me as a pacesetter and being the first time this is happening in Nigeria, I am looking forward to us winning,” he said.

“Motorsport is good for us now that we are talking about creativity; when you look at the creative industry, even those of them in sports, they think creative industry is only about music or movies.

“But I say no because for you to be a successful sportsman, you have to be creative, just like Lewis Hamilton in Formula One that started Motorsport from a tender age.

“We should all support this initiative because it will create jobs for the youths. My expectation is to make sure the right funding and investment needed to propel the sports is achieved.”