Bright future for Zim riders

Collin Matiza Sports Editor
THE future of the motorcycling sport of motocross looks bright in Zimbabwe after the country sent out a youthful team which held its own during last weekend’s 2013 FIM Africa Motocross of African Nations where they came second overall behind the host nation South Africa.

This year’s FIM Africa Motocross of African Nations was hosted by Motorsport South Africa and organised by the Syringa Motocross Club at the Syringa Park circuit in Muldersdrift, which is about an hour’s drive away from Johannesburg.

The two-day event, which started with a full-day’s practise session last Saturday and was followed by an action-packed race meeting the following day, attracted 124 riders from seven African countries — Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the hosts South Africa.

And among the 124 international riders who took part in this exciting but tough event were 19 participants from Zimbabwe who competed in six of the eight classes that were on offer at these championships — 125cc, MXI, MX Lite, 65cc, 50cc and Veterans.

The most interesting thing is that Zimbabwe fielded a team which was mostly made up of young promising riders who are under the age of 15 and they included nine-year-old Tanya Muzinda, the only female member of Team Zimbabwe.

The other youngsters who were part of Team Zimbabwe at Muldersdrift are Kuda Mhene, Big “BJ” Chitima (Junior), Mudiwa Chigumba, Davin Cocker, Ryan Masimo, Mike and Tyler Mawarire, and Daiyaan Manuel.

They were joined there by three other South Africa-based young Zimbabwean riders — Majaji, Justin and Nyasha Musariri — who all competed in this event as independent riders because they were not registered as members of Team Zimbabwe.

Most of these young Zimbabwean riders were making their first plunge at a major international motocross event outside our borders and were expected to wilt or freeze under the intense competition they were facing from seasoned riders from established countries such as Zambia, Kenya and the hosts South Africa.

But the Zimbabwean youngsters showed no ghost of inferiority complex as they wagged their tails vigourously to help Zimbabwe to amass a total of 354 points, which were good enough to secure the country a credible second-place finish behind South Africa, who ran away with the championship with a massive 622 points.

However, it is not the second-place finish by Zimbabwe that caught the eye of most South African motocross enthusiasts who converged on Syringa Park circuit on Sunday but it was the composition of the Zimbabwean team which had more than eight young riders who all have more riding years ahead of them, painting a good picture of the future of the sport in Zimbabwe.

Big “Bigs” Chitima (Senior), a member of the Bogwheelers Club who run the motorcycling sport of motocross in Zimbabwe, is convinced that the future of the sport is bright in this country as they now have a number of promising youngsters who can all become worldclass riders if given proper guidance.

“Zimbabwe’s motocross is only about four years old for all practical purposes after stopping for (some) donkey years during the inflationary period . . . As the juniors grow and turning into pros, I think that we will be very well represented up there,” Chitima (Snr) said after watching Team Zimbabwe doing wonders at Muldersdrift last weekend.

Chitima (Snr) is one of a number of Zimbabwean parents who have introduced their kids to motocross over the past four or five years and have been spending a fortune training their children and taking them to race meetings at the home of Zimbabwean motosport — Donnybrook.

The other Zimbabwean parents who are involved in the same “project” are Tawanda “Polycup” Muzinda, Junior Manuel, Kuda Mhene (Snr), Mike Mawarire (Snr), Lee Chigumba, Tobias Musariri, Gary Grainger and Innocent Masimo.

But their efforts of turning their children into big time motocross riders could be hindered by the lack of resources as motocross, just like other minority sporting disciplines in Zimbabwe before them, is struggling to have more sponsors on board.

In fact, Zimbabwe were the only country that didn’t have a corporate sponsor at this year’s FIM Africa Motocross of African Nations and Rose Rushforth, the secretary of the Zimbabwe Motorsport Federation, bemoaned the lack of sponsorship in motocross in Zimbabwe.

Speaking with Chitima (Snr) and Innocent Masimo on the sidelines of the prize-giving function of this year’s FIM Africa Motocross of African Nations in Muldersdrift on Sunday night, Rushforth said it was high time that the sport lures the corporate world to back its functions in Zimbabwe. Rushforth reckoned that the future of motocross in Zimbabwe was bright, looking at the number of promising young riders who were part of Team Zimbabwe in Muldersdrift, but she said the relevant authorities in the country’s sport have to look at the sponsorship issue seriously ahead of next year’s FIM Africa Motocross of African Nations in Zambia.

Tawanda “Polycup” Muzinda chipped in: “Sponsorship has always been a big issue for us and we, as the parents of the children who are involved in this demanding sport, have to work together in order for us to convince the corporate world to come in and partner us and make motocross grow big in Zimbabwe.

“The potential is there . . . We now have a group of promising young riders who are taking this sport seriously and are determined to turn professional but they can only realise their dreams of becoming world beaters if they get enough support, both financially and materially, from all the key stakeholders in motocross.”

Temba Mazvimbakupa, a member of the Zimbabwe Motorsport Federation, echoed the same sentiments.
“Economy is now in the hands of the black majority (in Zimbabwe) so management of motorsports should be in sync with current situation if they are to court meaningful sponsorship.

“Sponsors need value for their money and need to reach out to their potential customers through sponsorship of sport, therefore there is need to drive the message through mass media not private media.

“Part of the sponsorship should be channelled to development of raw talent from disadvantaged groups.”
Mazvimbakupa said presently motorsport management is on voluntary basis and there was need to respond to the growth of the sport by putting qualified personnel in key positions.

“Some genres of the sport (are) still erecting barriers to entry into the sport by deliberately shying away from the media in order to hide the sport from the public domain,” Mazvimbakupa said. “Donnybrook (the home of Zimbabwean motosport) is a state assert, it’s use should benefit the majority therefore those tasked with management of motorsports should not lose focus.”

The seasoned administrator, however, admitted that motorsport events are expensive to run.
“But if it (motorsport) is an expensive sport but how come Uganda are on top of their game? The answer is because they have government support and how can we have our own government support if we work against the present government.

“Lastly, I would like to say that drag racing and motocross are in the right direction and the other genres must follow suit, especially karting and main circuit,” Mazvimbakupa said.