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Collin Matiza Sports Editor
WITH only four months left in the year, the local motorsport family is preparing for a home stretch with several exciting events lined-up.
The majority of these events will be held at the home of motorsport competitions in Zimbabwe — Donnybrook Park Raceway in Harare — where local motor racing enthusiasts will enjoy watching their favourite races in motocross, main circuit racing, karting and drag racing. With the organisers of local motorsport events preparing to mop up what has been largely a successful season on the competitions front, the first menu to be served on the table will be the fifth of the six-round Bogwheelers Club National Championship series which has been slated for September 17 at Donnybrook Park Raceway in Harare.
The sixth and final round of the 2023 National Motocross Championship will be held at the same venue on October 22.
The 2023 Motocross season will draw to a close on December 8, 9 and 10 with the staging of an international event — the season-ending Zimbabwe Summer Series — at Donnybrook Park Raceway.
Main circuit racing also has a number of races lined-up before the season ends with Bulawayo hosting the penultimate event of the year on September 9 and Harare’s Donnybrook Park staging the last one on October 1.
The sport of karting is scheduled to stage Round 6 of the ROK Championship this coming Sunday at the National Sports Stadium while two club events have been pencilled in for October 8 and November 26 at the same venue.
The 2023 drag racing season is expected to have its last race meeting in Bulawayo on October 28.
There are other exciting motorsport events which have been lined-up before the year ends and they include Mutare Enduro (September 24), flat track (October 7, Donnybrook Park Raceway), BOG Chinhoyi Enduro (October 13 to 15, Chinhoyi), 4×4 Shamva Drive (October 28 and 29, Shamva), the 5th Bulawayo Enduro (November 3 and 4, Bulawayo) and the Arcadia Enduro (November 17 to 19, Bindura).
So this points out to an exciting year-end period for the local motorsport competitors and fans alike.
But it is the Bogwheelers Club, who run the motorsport event of motocross in this country on behalf of Motorsport Zimbabwe, who are excitingly looking forward to this period.
After having successfully hosted the first four rounds of the 2023 National Motocross Championship series, they are making sure they won’t come short in running the last two rounds of the series on September 17 and October 22 at Donnybrook Park Raceway before they stage the BIG ONE — the season-ending Zimbabwe Summer Series — at the same iconic venue from December 8 to 10.
Last year’s Zimbabwe Summer Series attracted more than 120 dirt bike riders from South Africa, Botswana, Eswatini, Zambia and the hosts Zimbabwe.
And according to one of the event’s organisers, who spoke to Zimpapers Sports Hub on condition of anonymity yesterday, they were expecting a much larger turn out of riders from the same countries for this year’s competition.
“Last year we had a good turnout of more than 120 riders for the Zimbabwe Summer Series and we should have more for this year’s competition as it gains its popularity in the Southern African region.
“All the logistics are in place and we are looking forward to hosting one of the biggest Zimbabwe Summer Series events in the history of this exciting sport,” he said.
A number of local competitors are already looking forward to taking part in this year’s Zimbabwe Summer Series and they include the in-form nine-year-old Victor Nyamupfukudza who recently helped Zimbabwe to collect a bronze medal in the 50cc Class at the 2023 FIM Africa Motocross of African Nations Championships in Cape Town, South Africa.
Nyamupfukudza’s father and manager, Simbarashe, said his son was itching to get back on the track after his remarkable achievement in Cape Town.
“Victor is now more than confident when he mounts his bike and gets back on the track. He is really itching to compete in the last two rounds of the National Motocross Championship series and then tackle the Zimbabwe Summer Series.
“We are already preparing for these last three big events of the season and we are hoping that our traditional sponsors, who include Dr Alex Mashamhanda’s Mashwede Holdings, and Cephas Albert Mutsadyanga of Multim Plastics, will once again come on board and give Victor a lift before he competes in this year’s Zimbabwe Summer Series, ” said Simbarashe Nyamupfukudza.
The Zimbabwe Summer Series will see Victor Nyamupfukudza, a Grade Four pupil at Elland Oak Junior School in the Waterfalls area of Harare, competing in the 50cc Class for the last time before he graduates to race in the more demanding 65cc Class next year.
Online Reporter