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Collin Matiza Sports Editor
Stefy Bau, the Italian women’s motocross legend, is expected to arrive in Harare today to grace the 2013 Zimbabwe Summer Series which starts at the home of Zimbabwean motorsport — Donnybrook — this coming Saturday.
The Zimbabwe Summer Series is the country’s premier motorcycling event held annually during the second week of December and it usually attracts top international motocross riders from the United States, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Botswana and Zambia.
This year’s Zimbabwe Summer Series will once again be held over four days — December 7, 11, 13 and 15 — and it will consist of two motocross events on December 7 and 15 and as many Supercross races on the nights of December 11 and 13.
And the 2013 Zimbabwe Summer Series will have a “special guest” in former three-time World women’s motocross champion Bau of Italy who is set to arrive in Harare today from the United States at the invitation of Tawanda “Polycup” Muzinda, the father of the country’s most promising young female motocross rider, nine-year-old Tanya Muzinda, a Grade Four pupil at Eaglesvale School in Harare.
In fact, Tawanda Muzinda sent a personal invitation to Bau to come and work with his daughter prior and during the 2013 Zimbabwe Summer Series and the Italian legend agreed to be part of “Team Tanya” during this big international event at Donnybrook.
Bau confirmed from her base at Tallahassee in Florida, United States, at the weekend that she will be travelling to Zimbabwe this week and will be arriving in Harare today for her two-week training stint with Tanya Muzinda.
“Ready to make a little girl’s dream come true! (in) Zimbabwe, Africa!,” Bau wrote on her Facebook wall at the weekend where she also posted a picture of young Tanya Muzinda standing at the podium after she had won one of this year’s six-round NetOne National Motocross Championship series at Donnybrook.
Tendai “T Buns” Zhakata, who is part of Team Tanya’s organising committee for Bau’s visit to Zimbabwe, said at the weekend that all was in place for the Italian women’s motocross legend to arrive in Harare today for her two-week stay in this part of the world.
“I can safely say that the world famous women’s motocross rider Stefy Bau will be arriving in Harare on Monday (today) from the United States for her two-week stay in Harare where she will train ‘the Princess of Zimbabwean motocross’ Tanya Muzinda during her preparations for this year’s Zimbabwe Summer Series.
“In fact, the past two weeks have seen us working round the clock to make sure that Stefy Bau flies into Harare without any hitches and I am glad to say that everything is now in place and she is definitely coming down here (today) to work with Tanya Muzinda.
“We have also approached a number of motocross stakeholders and the corporate world who have all agreed to help us in hosting Stefy Bau before and during the Zimbabwe Summer Series,” Zhakata said.
Paul Chenjerai of Paza Buster, an Isuzu agent in Harare, have provided Team Tanya with a “posh car” which will be used by Bau while one of Harare’s leading hotels, the Cresta Lodge, will also be hosting her during her two-week stay.
“I personally think that this is an exciting moment or chapter in the history of motorsport in Zimbabwe because I don’t remember them bringing in or having a world renowned athlete like Stefy Bau to be part of one of their major events at Donnybrook.
“We are so excited that a popular figure like Stefy Bau has agreed to come to this country to personally work with Tanya and fine-tune her motocross riding skills during the Zimbabwe Summer Series,” Zhakata said.
Tanya Muzinda currently rides in the 65cc B Class.
She was the only female rider in the strong 19-member Zimbabwe team that took a credible second place finish behind South Africa at the 2013 FIM Africa Motocross of African Nations Championship at Muldersdrift, South Africa, at the beginning of September.
At this event, which attracted 124 male and female riders from seven African countries — Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the hosts South Africa — Tanya Muzinda won a gold medal for being the Most Promising Female Athlete.
And she is now set to take her first major step in becoming the first professional female motocross rider to emerge from Zimbabwe when she comes under the wing of professional trainer Stefy Bau for the next two weeks.
Bau will become the first former female World champion of any sporting discipline to visit Zimbabwe since the turn of the new millennium.
In fact, Bau is a woman of firsts.
The now retired 36-year-old racer was the first woman to win the Men’s Amateur 125cc National championship in Italy (in 1997) and was the first woman to participate at the World Motocross event (in 2005).
The Italy-born rider went to the US in 1999 where she won every WML (Women’s Motocross League, which then became Women’s Motocross Association) race and made history. She was the first girl to ever win every race in one year. That year she captured the women’s World Cup titles in both 125cc and 250 classes.
During her glittering career, Bau also won three World Championships, seven Italian National Championships and five US National Championships.
Unfortunately after many years of success, her career ended in 2005. She came up short on a big double jump and destroyed both of her ankles, an injury that still has complications today.
After a career-ending injury in 2005, Bau became the general manager of the newly-established FIM Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme Women’s World Motocross Championship by Youthstream.
She is also the most successful Italian motocross racer, male or female, to ever compete in the US.
Her national used to be number 211. 211 was the first number that AMA assigned her when she turned pro in the USA amongst the men in January 2000.
Today 211 is synonymous with 211 MX School, 211 media, 211 Outreach and 211 Engaging, Bau’s companies in the motorcycle industry. Bau now consults for companies and athletes, like Tanya Muzinda, that aim to make a mark in the Powersports industry.
Online Reporter