Dewdney soars high in SA

Collin Matiza Sports Editor
YOUNG Jordan Dewdney was the star of the show for Zimbabwean motocross riders who took part in the second round of the 2016 South African National Championship series at Zone 7 in Cape Town on Saturday, finishing second overall in the 50cc Class.

Coming up against some of South Africa’s most promising junior riders in the 50cc Class, the eight-year-old Lilfordia School Grade Four pupil showed no ghost of inferiority complex as he handled his KTM machine with the aplomb of a seasoned biker to finish second overall behind local lad Niel van der Vyver. Jordan van Vyk came third.

In the first heat, Dewdney got a bad start and managed to finish fourth but he upped his game in the second in which he got a much better start, coming out second behind van der Vyver and stayed there throughout the race without making any mistakes.

This saw him finishing second overall for the day and is now placed second behind van der Vyver in the 50cc Class Standings of the 2016 South African National Championship series after the first two rounds of the tough seven-round competition.

On Saturday, Dewdney produced a far much better performance than he did in the opening round of the series on February 26 at Rover in Port Elizabeth where he finished third overall and with five more rounds to go, he looks a safe bet to finish among the top three at the end of the competition in October.

Two other top Zimbabwean junior riders Daiyaan Manuel and Regan Wasmuth took part in the same event at Zone 7 where the former finished fourth overall in the 65cc Class while the latter came sixth in the 125cc High School Class.

Manuel failed to reproduce the form which saw him finishing second overall in the 65cc Class behind Johannesburg’s Hayden Tulley in the first round of the series at Rover on February 26 while Wasmuth has to contend with another sixth-place finish in the 125cc High School Class for the second time in a row.

Meanwhile, two other top Zimbabwean junior riders Emmanuel Bako and Kuda Mhene (Jnr) did not take part in Saturday’s race meeting at Zone 7 after they “struggled” to get their bikes to Cape Town.

However, Brighton “Bucks” Bako, the manager of 65cc rider Emmanuel, said this won’t affect his son’s position in this class as he will still make up for the lost points in the remaining five rounds of the 2016 South African National Championship series.

“In fact, most guys, including the South Africans themselves, regularly miss the Cape Town leg of this series and for Emmanuel it’s 75 points less but he will cover them up in the next race meetings. Remember, you only drop two of your worst races in the series when it comes to determine the overall champion of the year in each class.” Brighton Bako said.