adminCollin Matiza
Sports Editor
WITH the last and final round of the 2023 main circuit racing now done and dusted, local motor racing drivers and motorsport enthusiasts alike now shift their attention to the Grand Finale of this year’s drag racing season.
The curtains finally came down on this year’s main circuit racing season at Donnybrook Park Raceway in Harare this last Sunday.
But the event turned out to be a low key one as there were no major sponsors for it although there was a good turnout of drivers from Harare and Bulawayo.
There were about 25 drivers and no bikers.
And now the attention shifts to the staging of the final round of 2023 drag racing season which has been slated for October 28 at Bulawayo Motorsport Park in Bulawayo.
The event’s major sponsors are hp lubes Castrol and one of its organisers, Graham Mellors, told Zimpapers Sports yesterday that they were expecting all the top drag racing drivers from Harare and Bulawayo to attend.
“In most cases drivers don’t advise if they coming for drags, they like to be silent on their arrival.
“At the moment only six have confirmed but we normally have at least 15 or 20 drivers for this big event,” Mellors said.
After taking part in the final round of the 2023 drag racing season on October 28, the drivers will take a short break before they start preparing for the last motor racing event of the year — the 3-hour Enduro.
This year’s 3-hour Enduro will once again return to Bulawayo on December 2 and it promises to be an exciting event.
Motocross riders are, meanwhile, also preparing for the sixth and final round of the 2023 Bogwheelers Club National Championship series which will be held at Donnybrook Park Raceway in Harare on October 22.
The Bogwheelers Club run the motorcycling sport of motocross on behalf of Motorsport Zimbabwe in this country.
And October 22 will see them hosting the final round of their six-round National Motocross Championship series at Donnybrook where a number of top junior and senior riders will be out to sew up the points to be crowned the 2023 National Champions in their respective classes.
They will be competing in the PeeWees, which is designed for young riders under the age of seven, 50cc, 65cc, 85cc, 125cc, MX1 and MX2 classes.
And after competing in the final round of the National Championship series, all the riders will then start preparing for the season-ending Zimbabwe Summer Series which will be held in December.
This year’s Zimbabwe Summer Series has been slated for December 6, 8 and 10 at Donnybrook Park Raceway in Harare.
It will comprise of two Supercross (night racing) action on December 6 and 8 followed by a full day of motocross competition on the final day of the event on December 10. The Zimbabwe Summer Series usually attracts top international motocross riders from the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Namibia and Zambia.
And this year is no exception as, according to the Bogwheelers Club, there are already enquiries from South Africa which usually sends a big chunk of riders to this annual end-of-the-year dirt bike riding event.
Last year’s Zimbabwe Summer Series attracted more than 120 junior and senior riders and more than 2 000 spectators thronged Donnybrook to watch the final day of this exciting three-day event.
Online Reporter