adminCollin Matiza Sports Editor
SOME brilliant performances are expected to be delivered tomorrow during the Southern Africa Challenge motocross championship at Donnybrook Raceway in Harare.
Tomorrow’s event is the third motocross competition to take place this season and it is sponsored by one of the country’s major mobile network companies, NetOne, who are likely to bankroll this exciting motorcycling sport for the second year running this year.
Temba Mazvimbakupa of the Zimbabwe Motorsport Federation, revealed yesterday that NetOne have agreed to sponsor tomorrow’s Southern Africa Challenge championship at Donnybrook and he said this will go a long way in arousing more interest in the sport in this country.
“NetOne are sponsoring the coming event on Sunday (tomorrow) and the next national championship series after this weekend’s event and they are likely to renew the sponsorship for the whole year, which is very good news for Zimbabwe’s motocross and the country’s motorsports in general,” Mazvimbakupa said.
Shaun Whyte, the chairman of the Bogwheelers Club who run motocross in this country, had earlier in the week indicated that they were engaging NetOne who they wanted to renew their sponsorship of the sport this year and was confident that the company would back them again this year.
And now all is set for the staging of the NetOne-sponsored Southern Africa Challenge championship tomorrow at Donnybrook Raceway in Harare where most of the country’s top junior and senior motocross riders will be in action, fighting for the top honours in their respective classes.
However, Mazvimbakupa said yesterday that the country’s MX1 Class champion rider Jayden Ashwell is out with a shoulder injury but the competition still has the likes of Tafadzwa Mawarire and Ashley Thixton who are also a joy to watch when mounting their bikes.
“And as you know our major strength is in our junior ranks where we have a number of talented riders such as Daiyaan Manuel, Kuda Mhene (Junior), Ryan Masimo, Big ‘BJ’ Chitima (Jnr), Mudiwa Chigumba, Tyler and Mike Mawarire, Davin Cocker, Emmanuel Bako, Tristan Grainger and Wade Ashwell,” Mazvimbakupa said.
Among these young riders, Kuda Mhene (Jnr) and Daiyaan Manuel are the riders to watch out for during tomorrow’s event as they have really improved their riding skills since they took up the sport a couple of years ago.
In fact, Kuda Mhene (Jnr) has slowly been gaining some international experience as he has of late been riding regularly in South Africa under the tutelage of his father, Kuda Mhene (Snr), who is really passionate about motocross and is determined to see his son scaling greater heights in this exciting sport.
The only sad news is that exciting young female rider Tanya Muzinda (9) is unlikely to feature in tomorrow’s event as her Kawasaki broke down during the first event of the year about a month ago and it is yet to be fixed.
Muzinda’s absence is unlikely to take the gloss off tomorrow’s event which is likely to attract other top junior and senior riders from Zambia, Botswana and South Africa.
Zambia’s former champion rider Dale Holliday is expected to lead his country’s challenge in the Veterans Class in which he will go head to head with Zimbabwe’s “old war-horses” Blaize Thomas and Trevor Thixton.
Trevor Thixton’s son, Ashley, is a safe bet to win both the main MX1 Class and the 125cc Class where he will be facing Tafadzwa Mawarire.
Racing tomorrow starts at 10am and entry fee has been pegged at US$5 per person.
Meanwhile, Big “Bigs” Chitima has been appointed as the technical delegate for Zimbabwe motocross.
This means that he is now eligible to travel across the region, representing Zimbabwe as a technical delegate which is very good news for the advancement of black administrators in the sport.
Before venturing into running motocross, Big Chitima was one of the country’s top motor rally drivers and took part in several national events with his former co-driver Amos Chamunokara.
His son, Big “Bj” Chitima (Jnr) is also into motocross.
Online Reporter