Kenya name strong team

SWEET LITTLE BUDDIES . . .Young Zimbabwean motocross rider Daiyaan Manuel (second from left) meets his new German friends during his training stint with one of that country’s top clubs MSC Reutlingen in Reutlingen, Germany, yesterday. Manuel will be in Germany for the next two weeks where he will be attached at RMC Reutlingen and then at MSC Waldkappel ahead of the FIM Africa Motocross of African Nations Championship which will be held at Donnybrook here in Harare on August 29-30

Collin Matiza Sports Editor
KENYA’S motocross ace Ivan Vanz Guya will lead 12 of his country’s finest riders at the 2015 FIM Africa Motocross of African Nations Championship that will be staged at Donnybrook Raceway in Harare on August 29-30.

Guya, who rides in the main MX1 Class, will lead a Kenyan motorcycling team of Jaiden and Jet Takkunen (both 50cc Class), Dekker Kihara, Dylan Mutahi (both 65cc Class), Rolf Kihara, Ethan Nyachae, Maina Wanjigi (all 85cc Class), Alex Moi, Ngugi Waeru, Orobia Malungu (all 125cc Class) and Andrew Kenneth (MX1 Class), according to the East African country’s team list which was released yesterday by Temba Mazvimbakupa of the Zimbabwe Motorsport Federation.

Guya also confirmed on his Facebook wall yesterday that he will lead his country during the continental championship in Harare later this month

“Just got the good news that I have been named the Kenya Team captain ahead of the international race at the end of the month. My goal is to bring back the trophy to Kenya and I am willing to work hard for it. Great thanks to everyone supporting the team,” Guya wrote on his Facebook wall yesterday.

The Kenyans, who are expected to arrive in Harare in two weeks time, will do battle with fellow top African riders from Angola, Botswana, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia and the hosts Zimbabwe, during the one-day FIM Africa Motocross of African Nations Championship at Donnybrook.

And it will be interesting to see how Guya, who is a dominant force on the track in his home country Kenya, will handle the pressure when he takes on the cream of the MX1 Class riders from South Africa and Zimbabwe who are expected to dominate this section of the event during the August 29 continental championship.

In fact, South Africa have been dominating this event for the past two years, coming out as the overall winners at home in 2013 and in Kitwe, Zambia, in August last year.

On both occasions, South Africa beat their main rivals Zimbabwe for the number position and the hosts of this year’s event will be out to gain some measure of revenge over their neighbours from the south of the Limpopo on August 29-30.

Zimbabwe are yet to name their final team for this championship but it is expected to be led by the country’s champion rider Jayden Ashwell who is currently plying his trade in South Africa where he has been competing in that country’s National Championship this year.

Ashwell is likely to be ably backed by his fellow senior riders such as Ashley and Cameron Thixton while in the junior category, Zimbabwe have an array of talented riders who will also be out to get some top spots on the podium during the African championship.

Leading the top junior Zimbabwean riders at this event will be the exciting Regan Wasmuth, who rides in the 125cc Class, Davin Cocker, Tristan Grainger (both 85cc Class), Kuda Mhene (Jnr), Daiyaan Manuel, Big “BJ” Chitima (all 65cc A Class), Ryan Masimo (65B Class) and Emmanuel Bako (50cc Class).