Simo Benbachir hosted in the 14th episode of “Nayda F’Hollywood” Anas Sorhmat, who emigrated from Casablanca to the United States as a student before becoming a professional rider in the MotoAmerica Championship (MotoGP category).
The 27 year-old champion grew up in a middle-class neighbourhood in Casablanca and studied at Jabir ibn Hayyan highschool before going to France for a year and returning to Morocco to attend an engineering school.
After few years of studying, Anas realized that his academic major was of little interest to him and that he only did it to gain the appreciation of his parents and society.
Anas had a completely different passion: to become a professional motorcycle rider. It was a dream for him, as he has never seen the Moroccan flag fly in this type of international competition, just as he has never heard of a Moroccan champion in this field. “I will be the Moroccan who will carry Morocco’s flag high in the motorcycle races,” he swore!
Anas a fait part à Simo, de ses débuts avant d’arriver aux compétitions de MotoAmerica qui constituent la dernière étape avant les Championnats du Monde, à laquelle des champions issus du monde entier prennent part.
Anas told Simo about his experience before participating in the MotoAmerica competitions, which are the last step before competing in World Championships, in which champions from all over the world participate.
He also spoke about his success at the United States West Coast Regional Championship for two consecutive years. “When I arrived in America, studies were for me a simple pretext to justify my trip and not an objective as such. I knew exactly what I wanted. I started to learn about the races and the possibilities for me to participate. Thank God I met people who helped me. I rented a big bike and started training. After that, I joined a small amateur team and participated in the regional championship before joining the professional category, while accumulating the points that allow me to access the MotoAmerica race,” Anas continued, “The road was long and arduous, but I have come a long way. When you have the will to get somewhere, you always end up finding solutions.
Anas remembers the snickering he was subjected to about his dream, especially because he comes from a middle-class and modest family. “This kind of sport is only suitable for the wealthy, because it is expensive.I worked hard for three weeks in a row, just to cover the cost of a single day of training. I was saving for the rental of the motorcycle and making sure that it could not be damaged; I endured many difficulties.” he told Simo.
And when Anas finally arrived at the MotoAmerica championship, it was no longer possible for him work and at the same time save money: he had to find a sponsor in Morocco; a difficult objective to achieve because this sport is not very popular in our country.
Fortunately, the officials of the Cherifian Office of Phosphates (OCP) trusted his talent and gave him the support he needed. Thanks to this sipport, Anas proudly raised the Moroccan flag in professional motorcycle races and earnt the respect of his colleagues who call him “The Miracle Child” because he comes from a country where this type of sport is not practiced much and he did not practice it either for a long time, yet, it took him just three years to compete with the champions who have been training there since he was about 10 years old.
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