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Collin Matiza Sports Editor
IN what comes as a big morale-booster for Zimbabwean riders ahead of the 2015 FIM Africa Motocross of African Nations Championships, five of the country’s top young bikers have now been officially invited for a training camp in Germany.The invitation was extended by two of that country’s top clubs — RMC Reutlingen and MSC Teutschenthal.

The 2015 FIM Africa Motocross of African Nations Championships will be held at Harare’s Donnybrook Raceway on August 29 and this annual motorcycling event usually attracts top senior and junior riders from seven African countries including Angola, Botswana, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Last year’s event was staged in Kitwe, Zambia, and Botswana were expected to host it this year but they pulled out of the race in April.

And following the formal request from Botswana Motorsport to withdraw from the hosting of the 2015 FIM Africa Motocross of African Nations Championships, the FIM Africa Motocross Council accepted a request from the Zimbabwe Motosport Federation to take over hosting this exciting event on August 29.

Zimbabwean riders have already stepped up their preparations for this continental event and this week five of the country’s top junior riders — Daiyaan Manuel, Kuda Mhene (Jnr), Davin Cocker, Ryan Masimo and Emmanuel Bako — were first officially invited by one of Germany’s big motocross clubs, RMC Reutlingen, to train and compete in the European country leading up to the August 29 competition.

RMC Reutlingen, through their president Michael Saur, on Tuesday indicated that they would like to help Manuel, Mhene (Jnr), Cocker, Masimo and Bako in their preparations for the African Championships by hosting them at their club from August 7 to 23.

“Our club RMC Reutlingen would like to invite the following motocross riders from Harare, Zimbabwe — Kuda Mhene (Jnr), Emmanuel Bako, Daiyaan Manuel, Ryan Masimo and Davin Cocker — to train at our home track in Reutlingen from August 7-23, 2015.

“The training (camp) in Germany is supposed to prepare the riders for the African Motocross Championships to be held in Zimbabwe on August 29, 2015,” Saur wrote in his invitation letter.

RMC Reutlingen are based in the South-West of Germany close to the Swiss border on the south and the French border to the west and have one of the best motocross academies in Europe.

They also have some sporting ties with the GeBe Foundation, a non-profit making German organisation, who are facilitating the five young Zimbabwean riders’ trip to Germany in August.

RMC Reutlingen indicated that they will be providing the five young Zimbabwean riders with bikes, food and accommodation during their 17-day stay in Germany where they are also expected to take part in a number of race meetings as part of their preparations for the African Championships.

Andreas Kosbahn, the chief executive of MSC Teutschenthal, also indicated on Tuesday that they would like to bring the five young Zimbabwean riders to their club in Germany for a similar training programme in August.

“Our club is the organiser of this year’s Motocross Youth Training Camp. The event will be held in the village of Teutschenthal, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, and we would like to invite Ryan Masimo, Daiyaan Manuel, Kuda Mhene (Jnr), Davin Cocker and Emmanuel Bako; and their legal representatives to this event and we will be honoured to welcome them in Germany,” Kosbahn wrote in his official letter.

Bernd Wulffen, the director and founder of the GeBe Foundation, who have a branch in Cape Town, South Africa, said they decided to help the Zimbabwean riders in their preparations for the African Championships after watching the country’s top junior bikers such as Manuel, Mhene (Jnr), Regan Wasmuth, Cocker and Bako putting up some brilliant performances in the South African National Championships in the past two years.

Manuel was last year crowned as the South African National Championship’s 50cc pro champion while eight-year-old Bako is currently making waves in the same series Down South where he is dominating in the 50cc class.