Ashley Thixton honoured

By Collin Matiza
YOUNG local motocross speed demon Ashley Thixton was honoured for a glittering year in 2010 by being crowned as the Champion of Champions for motorcycle riders at the prestigious annual Zimbabwe Motorsports Federation awards ceremony in Harare on Saturday night.
The ZMSF annual awards were being held for the 48th time and they saw Ashley Thixton walking away with the Yamaha Trophy in recognition of his outstanding performance during the 2010 season in which he dominated the local motocross events.
And apart from being crowned as the Champion of Champions for 2010, Ashley Thixton also picked up two more awards on Saturday night.
He first won the Castrol GTX Trophy after emerged as the top rider in the over 120cc Class with a total of 180 points, beating veteran Dougie Mellor (102 points) and Hannes Swan (101 points) into second and third places respectively.
Ashley Thixton went on to win B & S Trucks Trophy for coming out tops in the senior dirt track events after amassing a total of 167 points during the 2010 season.
Cole Bond (122 points) and Shaun Whyte (108 points) came second and third in this category.
And to put the icing on the cake, Ashley Thixton was then named as the Champion of Champions for motorcycle riders in what will go down as one of the most memorable nights for the young rider.
Winning all these accolades on Saturday night was definitely a seminal moment in Ashley Thixton’s burgeoning career.
Not to be outdone by Ashley Thixton was veteran local motorsport competitor Shaun Whyte who was presented with MMCC Stokes Trophy for winning the 2010 National Motor Rally Championship series.
Shaun Whyte, young brother of two-time African motor rally champion Jamie Whyte, emerged as the overall winner of this award with 50 points, four ahead of Craig Green and Stuart Haddon who were tied on second place with 46 points each.
After picking up the MMCC Stokes Trophy, Shaun Whyte went on to receive The Herald Trophy for coming out as the top driver in the Group N4 Class.
Shaun Whyte, who amassed 26 points, won this award ahead of Green (23 points) and Haddon (22 points).
Veteran motor rally navigator Mike Exton also walked away with two awards on Saturday night.
He first won the MMCC Stokes Trophy which was on the table for the best co-driver for the 2010 season.
Gareth Dawe (52 points) and Amos Chamunokara (46 points) were placed second and third in this award category.
After he was named as the best co-driver for the 2010 season, Exton went on to win the best co-driver’s accolade in the N4 Class.
Exton, who amassed 28 points, beat Dawe (28 points), Dave Milner and Chamunokara (both 20 points) for this award.
Laureen Marufu, the country’s only black female motor rally driver, was also honoured for her outstanding performance in the women’s N4 Class during the 2010 season in which she came out tops with 28 points, a massive 18 ahead of her nearest rival Michelle Fortmann,
Marufu was presented with the Pioneer Panel Beaters Trophy while her navigator Clint Ashdown won the best co-driver’s award in this class in which he accumulated a total of 28 points.
Miles Skinner came second with 10 points.
Saturday night also saw a number of young motocross and karting riders being honoured for their outstanding performances during the 2010 season.
On a good night for the Thixtons, Ashley’s young brother Cameron won the Junior Dirt track’s up to 125cc Class award while Carl Robinson and Stephanus van der Linde came second and third in this category.
And as if this was not enough, Cameron Thixton beat van der Linde and Hamish Perry for the Junior MX85cc’s Riders 77 & Kevin Mayes Memorial Trophy.
Cameron Thixton also came third in motocross’ Junior Champion of Champions award, which went to Cole Onorati while Bradley Perry came second.
Promising young motocross rider Reagan Bond walked away with the Mitchell Trophy for the Junior 50cc Class, winning the award ahead of Tristan Grainger and Tyler Mawarire of Zvhishavane.
The Aitken Trophy for the Junior 65cc Class was won by Perry with Mike Mawarire (Jnr) and Dylan Ashwell settling for second and third places.
The Bogwheelers Trophy for motocross’ up to 125cc Class was won by Ricardo Jardin ahead of Kurt Greatorex and Jayden Ashwell.
In karting, Joey Cameron won the Craig Kongkow Trophy which was awarded to the best driver in the Max 1255cc Class.