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HIGH-FLYER . . . Jayden Ashwell executes one of his stylish jumps as he glides through the air on his way to winning the MX1 Class during Sunday’s fourth round of the NetOne National Motocross Championship series at Donnybrook in Harare. — (Picture by Desmond Hamandawana)

Collin Matiza Sports Editor
THERE was no stopping Jayden Ashwell during the fourth round of the 2013 NetOne National Motocross Championship series at Donnybrook on Sunday, where the talented rider put in a flawless ride on board his KTM to sweep the board in the main MX1 Class.Jayden Ashwell was just in a class of his own as he stylishly won all his heats to emerge tops in the MX1 Class, relegating Craig Archenoul and Ashley Thixton into second and third places.

The MX1 Class was the highlight of the day and the stylish Jayden Ashwell was just formidable, winning three out of three heats.
He was always quicker to get away from his rivals and had things under control throughout the day.

Jayden Ashwell’s main rival Ashley Thixton was not that fortunate as he sustained a leg injury during the opening heats and failed to take part in the last heat, handing the initiative to the former.

Another promising young rider Tafadzwa Mawarire won the 125cc Class while the top three podium places in the MX2 Class went to Craig Burl, Mike Young and Willie Swan.

There were also some exciting battles in the 85A Class between Wade Ashwell, Reagan Wasmuth and Mike Mawarire with these three exciting young riders pushing each other all the way during the day and it was Wade Ashwell, who finally came out tops in this class.

Reagan Wasmuth and Mike Mawarire settled for second and third places. The 50A Class was one of the best battles. The top three — Daiyaan Manuel, Big “BJ” Chitima (Jnr) and Ryan Masimo — were clearly ahead of the rest.

Daiyaan Manuel, freshly back from the FIM Africa Motocross of African Nations in South Africa, knew he would have to pull out all the stops to beat his arch-rival Chitima (Jnr) and that is exactly what he did.

Masimo also impressed in this class although he was forced to settle for third place behind Chitima (Jnr). The 65B Class was also impressive to watch as young Kuda Mhene (Jnr) edged female rider Tanya Muzinda into second place.

As expected, Muzinda put up some polished performances during the day, matching her male rivals for pace to take a credible second place in this class in which another promising young rider Majaji Musariri settled for third place.

Muzinda was her usual strong, aggressive self but she suffered from a small crash in her last race of the day, resulting in her taking second place in the 65B Class.

The top three places in the 50B class went to Travis da Silva, Emmanuel Bako and Tristian Versfeld while Emmanuel Bako emerged tops in the Pee Wee Class, for riders under the age of nine, ahead of Jordan Dewdney and Lee Chigumba.

In fact, Lee Chigumba is following the footsteps of his elder brother Mudiwa, who came second in the 65A Class which was soundly won by Reagan Bond. David Evans came third.

There was a three-horse battle in the 85B Class which was eventually won by Nicholas Mackray who beat Oscar van Outsoorn and John Evans into second and third places.

Top honours in the Veterans/Novices Class went to Trevor Thixton, who was just too good for his two main rivals Hamish Perry and Russel Mellor.
Blaize Thomas emerged as the top dog in the Masters Class in which he did well to beat Shane Thomas (second) and Lofty Versfeld (third).

Rutendo Chabururuka, the NetOne public relations manager, presented the prizes to the winners at the end of Sunday’s race meeting at Donnybrook.

NetOne this year, became the official sponsors of motocross, a sport which is on the ascendancy in Zimbabwe, judging from the number of participants who took part in Sunday’s fourth round of the national championship series at Donnybrook.

More than 60 riders took part in Sunday’s event and they are all expected to return to Donnybrook again this weekend for a club championship meet before they compete in the fifth round of the NetOne National Championship series the following weekend.

Temba Mazvimbakupa of the Zimbabwe Motorsport Federation said the large turn out by the riders, especially those in the junior ranks, was encouraging and bodes well for the future of motocross in Zimbabwe.

“As you can see we are seeing a number of talented young riders taking up the sport of motocross in Zimbabwe and from what I’ve seen today, the future of this sport is really bright in this country. Only recently we sent a strong team of 19 riders to the 2013 FIM Africa Motocross of Nations in South Africa and they did themselves and the nation proud by finishing second overall behind the hosts South Africa.

“This clearly shows that Zimbabwe are still a force to be reckoned with in African motocross and the coming in of these junior riders in numbers makes everything exciting as the future of the sport is guaranteed in this country . . . The juniors are the pride of the Bogwheers Club,” Mazvimbakupa said.

Sunday also saw a number of young newcomers taking part in the fourth round of the national championship series and they included Emmanuel Bako who competed in both the PeeWee and 50B classes.

Meanwhile, Big “Bigs” Chitima (Snr), a member of the Bogwheelers Club who run motocross in this country, has called on the organisers of the sport to have the results and national standings readily available for the riders and all the other stakeholders.

“Imagine watching Formula 1, Moto GP or any motocross or Supercross series without having a clue where the point standings are. It will be so much less fun to watch because you don’t know what the drivers or riders are chasing.

“In some cases, the drivers or riders may not even know what they are chasing too . . . This is what we may be doing to our stakeholders. I believe that national results may not be publishable till (the Zimbabwe Motorsport Federation secretary) Rose Rushforth approves them.

“Let’s do what it takes to get the results approved and publish them. This is a critical aspect of motorsport. If I recall well, NetOne funding included a budget for a computer for administration and results management. Now that we have got a website and access to a NetOne website as well as all other national media tools, maybe it’s time we got that aspect sorted,” Chitima (Snr) wrote on his Facebook wall yesterday.