adminCollin Matiza
THE final countdown to this year’s Surge Energy Drink Zimbabwe Summer Series is very much underway, with the motorcycling event scheduled to take place in one month’s time at the iconic Donnybrook Park Raceway here in Harare still expected to attract a galaxy of international riders from overseas.
The Zimbabwe Summer Series is hosted annually by the Bogwheelers Club who run motocross in this country on behalf of Motorsport Zimbabwe.
It is, in fact, one of the jewels of Motorsport Zimbabwe’s events and it closes the motocross season in this country every second week of December at Donnybrook.
The Zimbabwe Summer Series has since its inception more than two decades ago been turned into an international event as it now brings together professional riders from overseas and neighbouring South Africa.
This year’s event, which has been slated for December 11, 13 and 15, is once again expected to bring together overseas riders in a way never seen before and will provide an outstanding and important international platform for local young riders in partnership with Surge Energy Drink, the competition’s title sponsors.
Last year, the Zimbabwe Summer Series attracted about 22 to 24 riders from overseas and 14 from South Africa, making it the biggest event in its history.
But this year’s event promises to be bigger and far much better after Scott Fraser, the chairman of the Bogwheelers Club, said they were expecting more than 30 professional dirt bike riders from overseas and Southern Africa to burn the track at Donnybrook next month.
Frenchman Joe Tavares, who was behind the participation of the professional riders from overseas at last year’s Zimbabwe Summer Series, said there’s more to come from him for next month’s big international event.
Tavares will once again spearhead the Bogwheelers Club’s efforts to bring the professional riders for the 2024 Surge Energy Drink Zimbabwe Summer Series.
He said he was still working on the logistics but was quite confident that he will attract and bring more than the 22 or 24 riders he brought to last year’s Zimbabwe Summer Series.
“I’m working on it… Nothing new, I’m still working on the logistics,” Tavares recently said from his base in France.
But he indicated that the number of foreign riders that he is likely to bring to Zimbabwe next month will be quite big as he also has some connections in South Africa.
Last year, Tavares got a helping hand in bringing the 22-plus international riders to this part of the world for the Zimbabwe Summer Series by Betterbrands Petroleum.
Betterbrands Petroleum were last year the main sponsors of the Zimbabwe Summer Series but they have since pulled aside for energy drink company, Surge Energy Drink, who will bankroll next month’s big international motocross event at Donnybrook Park.
The 2024 Surge Energy Drink Zimbabwe Summer Series will come to life on December 11with the staging of the first of its two Supercross (night racing) events.
The second Supercross race meeting will be held on December 13.
This big international event will close with a full day of some motocross racing on December 15.
Last year’s three-day international event was watched by a record 5 000 motocross fans from in and around Zimbabwe.
Online Reporter