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Collin Matiza-Sports Editor
DONNYBROOK Park Raceway – the home of motorsport in Zimbabwe – will come alive for the first time this year on Sunday when some of the country’s top junior and senior motocross riders converge at this iconic venue for the opening round of the 2023 Bogwheelers Club National Championship series.
The Bogwheelers Club run the motorcycling sport of motocross in this country on behalf of Motorsport Zimbabwe and on Sunday they will be hosting the opening round of the National Championship Series which is expected to attract a full house at Donnybrook.
In fact, the National Motocross Championship series consists of six rounds spread over the whole year and the final round of this exciting motorcycling sport will be staged in November. But on Sunday, the cobwebs, which have been gathering around the bikes of most of the country’s top junior and senior motocross riders, will come off as they make their way to Donnybrook to compete in the opening round of the 2023 Nationals.
The riders last competed in a motocross event locally when they took part in the season-ending three-day Zimbabwe Summer Series which was held during the second weekend of December last year at Donnybrook.
Speaking to The Herald yesterday, Dougie Mellor of the Bogwheelers Club, said they are expecting most of the country’s top junior and senior male and female motocross riders to turn up at Donnybrook on Sunday for the opening round of this season’s National Championship series.
The only absentee on Sunday will be the 2022 125cc Class National Champion, Emmanuel Bako, who is currently in England where he is expected to take part in the Ashbrook Hawkstone International Motocross Championships on the same day.
The Ashbrook Hawkstone International Championships are the season-opening event of the 2023 British Motocross season and they will be staged this coming Sunday at Hawkstone Motocross Circuit near Market Drayton, north Shropshire, England.
Bako, a 16-year-old Form Four student at St John’s College here in Harare, flew into England on Tuesday to take part in this major international event that usually brings together some of the world’s best dirt bikers riders.
The talented Zimbabwean rider will compete in the 125cc Class on Sunday.
And Mellor said Bako will be missed during Sunday’s opening round of this year’s National Championship Series at Donnybrook.
“… Basically it’s round one of our National Motocross Championship, it’s the first race meeting of the year, it’s happening this Sunday (at Donnybrook).
“We are hoping for a good turn out, I’m not sure of the numbers… some of our top riders like (Emmanuel Bako) and the other guy are planning to race in South Africa and overseas; and we wish them every success there.
“But we are hoping to have a very successful event and we are urging all the motocross fans to come at Donnybrook in their hundreds to witness what promises to be a fun-filled day on Sunday,” said Mellor, who is one of the country’s seasoned motocross riders.
On Sunday, the riders will compete in all the classes from the PeeWees, which is designed for young bikers under the age of seven, up to the seniors’ main MX1 and MX2 Classes.
Racing on Sunday starts at 9am and entry fees for spectators have been pegged at US$5 per person. There will be full bar and catering.
Online Reporter