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Collin Matiza Sports Editor
ONE of Zimbabwe’s top young motocross riders Kuda Mhene (Jnr) found the going tough during the sixth and final round of the 2014 Ugandan National Championship where he played second fiddle to local boy Fortune Ssentamu in the 65cc A Class on Sunday. According to reports from Kampala, Ugandan riders Ssentamu and Maxime Van Pee dominated the sixth round of their National Motocross Championship at the Extreme Sports Park Garuga on Sunday. The two won the 65cc and MX1 classes at the soggy track to underline their credentials.

What was expected to be a close battle in the 65cc class between Ssentamu and Zimbabwe’s Mhene (Jnr) was virtually a no contest from the former, with the Ugandan pulling clear of the rest of the pack.

“I wanted to prove a point that I am the best around. There was no doubt I was going to beat Kuda, but was satisfied in collecting maximum points for the championship,” the soft-spoken rider told reporters after Sunday’s event.

In fact, Ssentamu gained some measure of revenge over Mhene (Jnr) who outshone him during the fourth round of the Ugandan National Championship at the same venue in Entebbe in May this year.

By winning all the three heats, the 10-year-old Ssentamu collected 60 points to move within four points of the leader Ben Nsumba, who collected 44 points. In the MX1 class, Maxime won the first heat without a sweat, then in the second heat gave his opponents a head start of five seconds, but by the fourth lap, he had overtaken them. However, in the third heat, the 10-second head start proved too much for Maxime as he was beaten by veteran Arthur Blick (Jnr).

“I was satisfied with my performance and I am looking forward to the next round next month,” he said. Maxime also triumphed in the motocrosss shake down involving riders in MX85, MX2 and MX1.

Meanwhile, Mhene (Jnr) is now back home and is expected to compete in this weekend’s Bogwheelers Club championship race meeting at Donnybrook in Harare. This Sunday’s Bogwheelers Club’s race meeting at Donnybrook will bring together all the top Zimbabwean motocross riders who had taken a one-week break after competing in the penultimate round of the National Championship series at the same venue a fortnight ago.

And Zimbabwean motocross fans are also expecting to watch the recently crowned South African National Motocross Championship 50cc pro champion Daiyaan Manuel in action during this coming Sunday’s event.

Nine-year-old Manuel made history this last Sunday at Syringa Park in Muldersdrift, which is just outside Johhanesburg, when he walked away with the 2014 South African National Motocross Championship 50cc pro title after sweeping to victory in the last round round of this year’s tough six-round series.

He became the first Zimbabwean motocross rider to win a national championship title in South Africa. Manuel is in top form this year as he also got three out of three wins in the 50cc Class during the 2014 FIM Africa Motocross of African Nations Championship in Kitwe, Zambia, helping Zimbabwe to be placed second overall behind regional rivals South Africa.