Riders to invade South Africa

Collin Matiza Sports Editor
A NUMBER of top junior and senior Zimbabwean motocross riders are once again set to invade South Africa this coming weekend where they will take part in the third round of that country’s 2015 Monster Energy National Championship series.

The third round of the tough six-round 2015 South African National Motocross Championship series will be staged on Saturday at Rover in Port Elizabeth and all the top junior and senior riders from Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Botswana and the hosts South Africa are set to converge in the Eastern Cape.

And leading the Zimbabwean contingent will be the country’s champion rider Jayden Ashwell who is expected to compete in the main MX1 Class where he will take on top South African riders such as the reigning champion Sacha Naude, Ant Raynard, Kerim Fitzgerald, Wyatt Avis, Michael Docherty, Caleb Tennant, Shannon Terreblanche and David Goosen.

Zimbabwe’s junior riders — Kuda Mhene (Jnr), Emmanuel Bako, Daiyaan Manuel, Wade Ashwell, Regan Wasmuth, female rider Tanya Muzinda and Davin Cocker — will be competing in different classes on the tough track at Rover.

A lot of focus will be on Bako in the 50cc A Class.

Bako is in second place in the 2015 Monster Energy South African National Championship’s 50cc A Class standings after having impressed in the first two rounds of the series at Harrismith in March and at Zone 7 in Cape Town in April.

He was placed fifth overall at Harrismith before he raised his game in the second round at Cape Town’s Zone 7 where he emerged as the top dog in this class, outfoxing South Africans Barend du Toit and Lucca Mynhardt; and Swaziland’s Seth Young.

It is great to see the trend of 50cc racing incorporating more and more of the big tracks at national level in South Africa.

This is a great advantage to the little guys who have to make the jump to 65cc, which is a gearbox bike with clutch and huge power, but at least don’t have to now also learn new track conditions.

Bako is expected to leave for Port Elizabeth on Friday to team-up with Wasmuth who flew out to South Africa yesterday well ahead of Saturday’s event in which he will be competing in 125cc High School Class with Wade Ashwell.

Mhene (Jnr) is scheduled to leave for Port Elizabeth on Thursday and he will be fighting for the top honours there in the 65cc A Class.