Bako continues to impress

Collin Matiza in CAPE TOWN, South Africa
YOUNG Zimbabwean motocross sensation Emmanuel Bako fired the early warning shots that he will be the one to beat in the 50cc Class during this year’s African Championship when he swept to victory in the third round of the WOMZA SUNOCO National series at Harrismith here at the weekend. The 2015 FIM Africa Motocross of African Nations Championship is scheduled to be held at Donnybrook Raceway in Harare on August 28-29 and brings together top junior and senior riders from seven African countries — Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Bako (9) travelled to South Africa at the weekend to compete in the third of the four-round WOMZA SUNOCO National series ahead of the African Championship and won all the three heats convincingly against strong opposition from South Africa.

The Zimbabwean rider on Saturday emerged as the overall winner in the 50cc Pro Class after amassing a total of 72 points, beating South Africa’s Wian du Plooy (69 points) and Luke Grundy (59 points) into second and third place.

This saw Bako regaining his number one position in the WOMZA SUNOCO National series’ 50cc Pro standings with 207 points, three ahead of his nearest rival du Plooy of South Africa with only one round to go in this competition.

Bako is on the verge of scoring a double in South Africa this year as he is also sitting pretty at the top of that country’s Monster Energy National Championship series which has two rounds to go before the season ends.

On Saturday at Harrismith, Bako impressed from heat one to beat his nearest rival du Plooy by 10 points in the 50cc Pro Class which had a big field of 22 riders.

This saw him recovering all the points that he lost in the last round in Bloemfontein where he came third overall and he is strongly tipped to lift this year’s 50cc Pro title in the WOMZA SUNOCO series.

The South Africans are now worried that the young rider from Zimbabwe will walk away with both this year’s Monster Energy National Championship and the WOMZA SUNOCO titles.

Bako declared he was now ready to take on some of the finest riders in Africa in the 50cc Class during the FIM Africa Motocross of African Nations Championship at Donnybrook in Harare on August 28-29.