Spotlight on Ashwell

Collin Matiza Sports Editor
ALL eyes will once again be on Zimbabwe’s top motocross rider Jayden Ashwell when the 2013 Summer Series enters its second day with the staging of the first of the two Supercross meetings at Donnybrook Raceway in Harare tonight. The 2013 Zimbabwe Summer Series, which is spread over four days, is the country’s premier motorcycling event and it opened last Saturday with a motocross meet which saw the supremely talented Ashwell playing second fiddle to South Africa’s Kerim Fitzgerald in the main MX1 Class before a good crowd of more than 2 000.

On Saturday, Fitzgerald ended the day as the top dog in the MX1 Class after taking fourth, first and second places respectively in the three heats, pipping Ashwell into second place.

United States-based South African rider Michael Docherty came off his bike in Heat Two and DNF (did not finish), handing the initiative to Fitzgerald who then went on to finish second behind Ashwell in Heat Three to claim the chequered flag after the three exciting heats on Saturday.

Ashwell’s best ride came in Heat Three in which he mounted his KTM bike with aplomb, putting Fitzgerald and his fellow South African rider Lloyd Vercuel in the shade.

But that was not good enough to stop Fitzgerald from emerging as the top rider of the day in the MX1 Class on Saturday.

And now another “Battle Royale” between Ashwell and his “newly-found” South African rival Fitzgerald is on the cards in tonight’s Supercross event which is likely to keep hundreds of motorcycling racing fans, who are expected to throng Donnybrook tonight, spellbound throughout the night.

It is no secret that Ashwell will be out to gain some measure of revenge over Fitzgerald who stole the thunder from him during last Saturday’s motocross meet and it will be interesting to see how the talented Zimbabwean rider will handle the pressure against his “combative” opponent from South Africa tonight.

Six other top South African riders Ross Branch, Docherty, Michael Kok, Vercuel, Grant Frerichs and Wyatt Avis are also expected to be in contention in the MX1 Class tonight.

Some exciting duels between another top Zimbabwean rider Ashley Thixton and South Africa’s Bradley Cox are also expected tonight in the 125cc Class after the two jostled for first place in last Saturday’s opening motocross meet where the former eventually pipped the latter for the first step on the podium.

In fact, Thixton won all the three heats to reassert his claim as one of the the best riders in the 125cc Class in the Southern African region. Tafadzwa Mawarire of Zimbabwe will also be in contention in the 125cc Class in tonight’s Supercross racing at the same venue.

The 65cc Class will also be hotly contested as it has a number of good young riders such as Davin Cocker, Reagan Bond, Tristan Grainger, Mudiwa Chigumba, Kuda Mhene (Jnr) and nine-year-old Tanya Muzinda, the only female competitor in this class.

At this year’s Zimbabwe Summer Series, Muzinda is under the guidance of United States-based three-time World women’s motocross champion Stefy Bau of Italy.

Meanwhile, Gary Grainger, the chairman of the Bogwheelers Club who are the organisers of the Zimbabwe Summer Series, said yesterday that more top riders from South Africa and Zambia are expected to enter the fray in tonight’s Supercross meet at Donnybrook.

“We are expecting more riders from South Africa and Zambia to come in today (yesterday) and tomorrow (today) for the final three rounds of this year’s Zimbabwe Summer Series.

“They are all expected to start by competing in the first Supercross meet tomorrow night (tonight) and we are all excited about it because it brings more competition and class to this event,” Grainger said.

The Bogwheelers chairman said tonight will also see some freestyle demonstrations which will add more excitement to the day’s proceedings.

A number of talented junior riders from Zimbabwe and South Africa will also be in action in tonight’s Supercross meet at Donnybrook and they will be led by the Mlimi brothers, Jono and Joshua, of South Africa who compete in the 65cc and 125cc classes respectively.

The Mlimi brothers are just a joy to watch on the track and on Saturday they gave their opponents from Zimbabwe some food for thought with their excellent riding.

Joshua Mlimi also competes in the 85cc Class in which he will be taking on Zimbabwe’s Regan Wasmuth, Wade Ashwell and Mike Mawarire tonight.

Tonight’s racing, which starts at 6pm, will be followed by another Supercross meet at the same time on Friday night before the 2013 Zimbabwe Summer Series closes with an all-day motocross event at Donnybrook on Sunday.

Entry fees for tonight’s and Friday night’s Supercross events have been pegged at US$5 per adult and children under the age of 12 will each pay US$2.

There will be full bar and catering at both events as well as at Sunday’s final round.