Dewdney shines at Zim Summer Series

Collin Matiza Sports Editor
ONE of the country’s most promising junior motocross riders Jordan Dewdney capped a memorable season when he came second overall in the 50cc Class at the 2016 Zimbabwe Summer Series which ended at Donnybrook Raceway in Harare on Sunday.

Dewdney, an eight-year-old Lilfordia Primary School pupil, made his presence felt during the three-day Zimbabwe Summer Series which comprised of two Supercross (night racing) meetings and one full day of motocross action where he finished second overall in the 50cc Class behind South Africa’s Jordan van Wyk.

In fact, Dewdney had an awesome final year on the 50cc, having won the Zimbabwe National Championship and then came second overall in the Southern African Championship before picking up an impressive third-place finish in the tough seven-round South African National Championship series.

Dewdney then put the icing on the cake by settling for the silver medal at the season-ending Zimbabwe Summer Series which was held at Donnybrook last Wednesday, Friday and on Sunday.

On Wednesday night, the riders only had the one heat and Dewdney led the whole race until the last corner where, due to the rains, his throttle got stuck and he had a DNF.

On Friday, the conditions for Supercross at Donnybrook were much better and Dewdney had three second place and one first place finishes.

And then during Sunday’s motocross action, Dewdney first managed two second place finishes and then he won the last race, which was his last on the 50cc, to settle for second place overall behind van Wyk from South Africa.

Dewdney’s father, Warren, yesterday thanked the country’s former champion rider Ashley Thixton for helping his son during the three days of action at the 2016 Zimbabwe Summer Series.

Jordan Dewdney was emulated by one of the country’s top female motocross riders Tanya Muzinda (13) who came third overall in the 85cc Class in which she competed with boys in the tough three-day competition.

And what made Muzinda’s third-place finish sweeter in this class is that she had just returned to the track after having been out of action locally for close to a year as she was struggling to get a proper bike to ride on as she had moved a class up from the 65cc to 85cc at the beginning of the year.

But a well-wisher came to Muzinda’s rescue at the beginning of last week when he lent her an 85cc bike ahead of the Zimbabwe Summer Series and she did not disappoint as she came third overall behind two young, exciting local junior male riders Daiyaan Manuel and Emmanuel Bako.

Muzinda also got a helping hand from former local motor rally driver Big “Bigs” Chitima (Snr) who trained her ahead of this year’s Zimbabwe Summer Series and he was also “in her corner” during the three days of racing at Donnybrook.

Last Wednesday night saw Muzinda competing in the first of the two Supercross race meetings at the same venue and she managed to come seventh out of 16 riders in heat one before the day’s racing was cancelled due to the heavy rains which pounded Donnybrook on that day.

Eddie “Mboma” Nyatanga, the founding father of the Zimbabwe National Soccer Supporters Association who is also a motorsport fan, was at Donnybrook last Wednesday night and he was really impressed with the way Muzinda handled her machine while she was racing with the boys.