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Collin Matiza Sports Editor
ONE of the country’s top junior motocross riders Emile Croisette was scheduled to leave the country yesterday for his annual six-month training stint in the United States where he will also compete in a number of major international amateur races.
The 14-year-old St John’s College talented rider was accompanied by his father, Joe, who told The Herald yesterday before their departure for the US that his son will be under the tutelage of one of America’s top motocross trainers, Shannon Niday, during his six-month stay there.
Emile will be based in Texas and Missouri.
“Emile is leaving Zimbabwe for six months to compete the full AMA National Championship in the US at just 14 years old. His main target is to qualify for the Loretta Lynn Ranch which is the final race of the AMA Championship. He will be staying with his coach (Shannon Niday).
“This race will place him in the top 40 of his age-group in the USA where he will be racing in the mini senior and Supermini. The bike he will riding is a 2023 Husqvarna prepared by Gizmo Mods,” Joe Croisette said.
For one to qualify for the AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn Ranch, he or she must participate in the two-step qualifying process: The Area Qualifiers and the Regional Championships in the US.
The series is the major outdoor motocross series in the United States and is sanctioned by AMA Pro Racing and managed by MX Sports Pro Racing.
And Emile’s American trainer, Niday, has already drawn up an itinerary which will prepare the young Zimbabwean rider for the AMA National Championship.
The whole of this month will see Emile competing in a number of regional events in Missouri before he moves to Illinois in April and then head back to Texas.
He is also set to race in Oklahoma, Kentucky and Michigan as he fights to qualify for the Loretta Lynn Ranch race meeting later this year.
Joe Croisette said his son’s six-month stay in the United States has already received the blessings of his school in Harare — St John’s College.
“One of the conditions for him to get the approval to go to the United States was for him to get some good school results first. He had some very good results at school so it opened the door for us to discuss with the school to organise some studies for him while he is in the US.
“So, he will do his best to represent both Zimbabwe and St John’s College in the US,” Joe Croisette said.
Before leaving for the United States, Emile was training locally with another talented young rider, Emmanuel Bako (16), who recently competed in the season-opening Ashbrook Hawkstone International Motocross Championship in England.
The Ashbrook Hawkstone International is one of the major motocross events on the British calendar and Bako’s participation in this year’s event was arranged by his France-based South African trainer Joe Tavares who also trains Emile Croisette whenever he visits Zimbabwe.
Tavares also has two promising young Zimbabwean riders — Mudiwa and Judah Sakupwanya — under his wing.
They are the sons of prominent Harare businessman, Scott Sakupwanya, and they were last year introduced to the tough world of motocross racing by Emmanuel Bako’s father, Brighton “Bucks” Bako, who recently told The Herald that he is now on a “crusade” of bringing in more youngsters into this exciting sport.
Online Reporter