Moto-X riders light-up Donnybrook

Collin Matiza-Sports Editor

A NUMBER of the country’s top junior and senior motocross riders enjoyed another great weekend during the fourth round of the 2022 Bogwheelers Club National Championship series at Donnybrook Park Raceway in Harare on Sunday.

The Bogwheelers Club, who run this exciting motorcycling sport of motocross in Zimbabwe, is renowned for putting together fast-flowing tracks and the dry winter conditions which have been hitting Harare for the past month or so added some dust to the list of challenges on Sunday.

But this did not deter the riders who congregated at Donnybrook on Sunday to produce some awesome racing as they jostled for podium places and national points in the different classes that they competed in.

The track was super demanding and really tough from lap two onwards, but everything clicked, especially for 15-year-old Emmanuel Bako who ‘’scored a double’’ by emerging as the top dog in the 125cc and MX2 classes.

Bako first laid down his marker from the get-go over Ricky Whyte and Daniel Collett in the 125cc Class.

As he often does, Bako was on fire as the race wound down to the finish. He tore past both Whyte and Collett, taking almost two minutes out of his two rivals in the process as he went to claim the first step on the podium.

Whyte settled for second place while the last step on the podium went to Collett, who put up a good fight despite coming home in third place.

Bako rode home to another first-place finish in the MX2 Class, taking the top honours ahead of Dylan Zanin to complete a memorable outing for himself on the day.

The top two places in the MX1 Class went to veteran rider Douglas Mellor and Cameron Mellor while Brett Wright claimed the first step on the podium in the MX3 Class ahead of Mark Orchard and Roy Ormerod.

In the Masters Class, the battle for the number one place was between ‘’the usual suspects’’ Shane Thomas and Lofty Versfeld.

And it was the ‘’old-warhorse’’ Thomas who came out tops ahead of Versfeld.

In the juniors section, Riley Rocher took the win from Emile Croisette in the 85cc Class. Croisette is back home in Zimbabwe after having competed in the United States a couple of months ago.