Ilara-Mokin agog as drivers set for Ondo Auto Rally’s X-Kart

The tracks of the Ilara Mokin, Ondo State, have been primed for the 2024 Ondo Auto Rally, which will feature the newly commissioned X-kart race series from March 29 to 30, the organisers have said.

The organisers, Work and Play Group, said the X-Kart series, which started in February in Shagamu, is a five-prong series that would be concluded later in the year.

President of Work and Play Group, Adeoye Ojuoko, said this year’s event would witness a lot of innovations and side attractions to thrill participants and spectators.

“At this year’s event, we are raising the level of activity with the onboarding of the X-Kart series to the Ondo Auto Race. The race in Ilara-Mokin will be the second in five series of the X-Kart for the year. This is because we are a partner in the series’ development and a frontline promoter of Motorsports,” Ojuoko said.

The Ilara Mokin racing track is the first off-road track in the country and has hosted three series of off-road races over the years, hence more positioned to feature the growing X-kart racers.

“Most of the set-up of the track in Ilara has been optimised for the demand of the X-Kart Series and we are only waiting to get the races going,” Ojuoko added.

Participants at this year’s edition have been widened due to the X-Kart inclusion, he said, adding that the regular car races and bike races would still run their course at the Auto Rally.

He revealed that racers are expected to turn up from Lagos, Oyo, Edo, Enugu, Nasarawa, Kwara, Osun Kebbi, and Rivers states.

The Ondo Auto Rally is one of the key drivers of tourism to Ondo State with such activities as on-road races in Akure, which in the past was flagged off by the state’s former governor, the late Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu.

The organsiers have assured that apart from the X Kart series, the usual trappings of vintage car exhibitions, bike races, drifting, food exhibitions, and live music shows will all be served at the event.