MotoX fireworks at Donnybrook

Collin Matiza : Sports Editor

FIREWORKS will be the order of the day when international motocross returns to Zimbabwe for the first time this year with the staging of round three of the Southern Africa Challenge series at Donnybrook in Harare on Sunday.The opening round of the four-round 2016 Southern Africa Motocross Challenge series was held in Zambia in January while round two was staged in South Africa in July. Zimbabwe will host the penultimate round before Botswana host the final round on October 15 in Gaborone.

Gary Grainger, the chairman of the Bogwheelers Club of Harare who are hosting this Sunday’s leg of the regional motorcycling event, said yesterday that they are expecting more than 30 junior and senior riders from Botswana, Zambia and the hosts to take part in the one-day competition.

“We have a number of junior and senior riders from Botswana and Zambia who have already confirmed their participation at this event but we’ve heard no word from our colleagues in South Africa.

“Hopefully we will get five or six riders from each visiting country who will join our own bikers at what we think will be a very exciting regional motocross event,” Grainger said.

And some tough and exciting competition is expected at this event as a number of foreign riders from Zambia will still be fresh from riding at this year’s FIM Motocross of African Nations Championship which was held during the last weekend of August in Kenya where they came third in the overall standings.

Unfortunately no Zimbabwean rider took part in the Kenyan event due to some financial constraints but most of them will be back on the track on Sunday, fighting for the top honours in the different classes that they will be competing in.

Grainger said the riders will take part in eight different classes – 50cc, 65cc, 85cc, 125cc, MX1, MX2, Masters and Veterans – during the event, which will see one of the country’s top junior riders Daiyaan Manuel returning to action after having been sidelined by an ankle injury for a month.

Manuel (11), a Grade Six pupil at St. John’s Preparatory School in Harare, broke his ankle during a training session and was out of action for four weeks but he had his cast removed last Tuesday and raced in South Africa on Saturday where he finished third overall for the day in the 65cc Class.

A gifted rider, Manuel is currently lying in second place on the South African nationals 65cc Class standings and first in Zimbabwe in the same class and he will be back on the track on Sunday at Donnybrook where he has entered for both the 65cc and 85cc classes.

Another talented local young rider, Jordan Dewdney (8), is also expected to carry the country’s flag high in the 50cc Class together with Lee Chigumba, Declan Barrett and Kyle Ward.

Just like Manuel, Dewdney of Lilfordia Primary School in Harare, who has just celebrated his eighth birthday, has been having a good season both at home and in the South African nationals.

In Zimbabwe, Dewdney is leading in both the club and nationals; and he is currently placed third in the South African nationals with one round to go in the tough seven-round championship.

The last round of the 2016 South African National Championship series is scheduled for October 8 at Terra Topia in the northern farms of Johannesburg and Dewdney will use the event at Donnybrook as part of his preparations for his final visit to the south of the Limpopo this year.

And it will be interesting to see how this young, exciting rider will perform during this Sunday’s Southern Africa Challenge race meeting at Donnybrook where he will come up against local rivals Chigumba, Barrett and Ward as well as fighting for the first step on the podium with other top junior riders from Zambia in the 65cc Class.

Other top local junior and senior riders such as Regan Wasmuth, Ashley and Cameron Thixton, Cole Bond, Kuda Mhene (Jnr), Big “BJ” Chitima (Jnr), Ryan Masimo, Emmanuel Bako, Wade Ashwell, Davin Cocker, Tristan Grainger, Mudiwa Chigumba and the Musariri brothers Justin, Majaji and Nyasha are also expected to be in action on Sunday, showcasing their riding skills.

The cast is also likely to include Reagan Evans, Reagan Bond, Mark Webb, Tristan Versfeld, Bradley Perry, Ryan Webb, Travis da Silva, Ryan Wasmuth and Scott Hewer.

All these riders have lit up the track at Donnybrook with a series of eye-catching performances on their bikes in the last couple of years.

But the country’s top female rider Tanya Muzinda (11) is unlikely to take part in Sunday’s race meeting as her local handlers are still struggling to raise about $1 500 that is needed to bring her brand new KTM 85 bike from South Africa.

Racing on Sunday starts at 9:30am with entry fee for spectators pegged at $5 per adult while children under the age of 12 will get in for free. There will be full bar and catering.