admin
Collin Matiza Sports Editor
DRAG racing, the most popular motorsport event in Zimbabwe for close to a decade, is back on the local motor racing radar.
The exciting quarter mile motor racing event was last year omitted from Motorsport Zimbabwe’s calendar of events with the association’s president Ralph Stead saying there were a number of challenges they had been facing in terms of staging drag racing at the home of motorsport in this country — Donnybrook Park Raceway in Harare — and they needed to attend to those (problems) first for the smooth running of the events.
Stead noted then that Covid-19 restrictions also presented their own challenges, which complicated the situation.
But with all the national sport associations having been given the all clear by the Sports Commission to resume all their sporting activities following the relaxation of the Covid-19 restrictions in this country at the beginning of last year, Motorsport Zimbabwe have now included drag racing in their calendar of events for the 2023 season.
According to the 2023 Motorsport Zimbabwe calendar of events, which was recently released by the association, seven drag racing events have been lined-up for this season and they will be divided between Harare and Bulawayo.
The first drag racing event of the year has been slated for March 18 in Bulawayo with Harare hosting the second one on April 23 at Donnybrook Park Raceway.
The other five drag racing events have been scheduled for May 25 (Bulawayo), June 18 (Harare), July 8 (Bulawayo), August 20 (Harare) and October 29 (Bulawayo).
In fact, the 2023 motor racing calendar is pregnant of a number of interesting motorsport events which include motocross, main circuit racing, karting, 4×4 Jamboree and flat track racing.
The 2023 motocross season will rev off on February 26 with the staging of the opening round of the six-round National Championship series which will all be held at Donnybrook.
The other five rounds of the motocross Nationals will be staged on March 26, May 14, June 11, September 25 and October 26.
Apart from taking part in the National Championship series, the country’s top junior and senior motocross riders are expected to compete in the 2023 FIM Africa Motocross of African Nations Championships (MXOAN) which will be held in Cape Town, South Africa, from August 11 to 13.
The three-day continental event, which usually brings together top junior and senior male and female motocross riders from Angola, Botswana, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, will this year take place at the famous Zone 7 track in the Mother City in South Africa.
The FIM Africa Motocross of African Nations Championships were last year held in Uganda where Zimbabwe failed to send a full team due to some logistical problems. Only two Zimbabwean riders — eight-year-old Victor Nyamupfukudza and his 14-year-old sister Tadiwanashe — managed to make their way to the East African country where they competed in the 50cc Class and Ladies Class respectively but failed to get any place on the podium.
The Nyamupfukudzas’ trip to Uganda was sponsored by Mashwede Holdings and Providence Human Capital; and the young riders’ father and manager, Simbarashe, yesterday told The Herald that his kids got the much-needed international exposure during last year’s event in the East African country and they were now itching to take part in this year’s event in Cape Town.
“Our participation in last year’s African Championships in Uganda was an eye-opener and although both Victor and Tadiwanashe failed to get a place on the podium, they performed extremely well despite the tough conditions on the track and I’m quite sure the experience they got in Uganda will come in handy when they take part in this year’s event in Cape Town.
“In fact, we are planning to have both Victor and Tadiwanashe take part in this year’s South African National Championship series as part of their preparations for the FIM Africa Motocross of African Nations Championships. We are currently running around looking for some sponsorship,” Simba Nyamupfukudza said.
Apart from competing in this year’s African Championships, the Nyamupfukudzas are also expected to take part in the season-ending Zimbabwe Summer Series which has been slated for December 8 to 10 at Donnybrook in Harare.
Online Reporter