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Collin Matiza Sports Editor
LOCAL junior motocross champion rider Emmanuel Bako warmed-up for next month’s Zimbabwe Summer Series when he swept the board in the 65cc Class during the final stop of the 2018 Bogwheelers Club National Championship competition at Donnybrook in Harare on Sunday.

This year’s season-ending Zimbabwe Summer Series, which brings together top junior and senior male and female riders from overseas as well as those from Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and the hosts Zimbabwe, will be held on December 12, 14 and 16 at Donnybrook.

It will once again consist of two Supercross events on the nights of December 12 and 14; and a full day of motocross action on the last day of this exciting three-day motorcycling event on December 16.

And young Bako (13) fired the early warning shots that he will be “the man” to beat in the 65cc Class at this year’s series when he won all his heats without breaking sweat in this division during the final round of the 2018 Nationals at Donnybrook on Sunday where he overlapped most of his rivals.

This saw him crowning a championship-winning season as he walked away as the 2018 65cc Class Champion in Zimbabwe.

And to cap a memorable day for himself, Bako came second overall behind another talented young rider Daiyaan Manuel in the 85cc Class championship.

In fact, Bako gave Manuel a good run for his money in the 85cc Class in which he led in the first heat and won the last heat with a big margin.

Bako’s father and manager, Brighton, was all smiles on Sunday after watching his son claiming the first step on the podium in the 65cc Class to be crowned the 2018 National Champion.

“Emmanuel did very well this year considering that he was racing both in Zimbabwe and South Africa where he was competing in two classes — 65cc and 85cc.

“He was very strong and determined; and we are now looking forward to win both classes in the Zimbabwe Summer Series next month.

“He will start preparing for the Zimbabwe Summer Series tomorrow (yesterday), with his cousin Munya Bako and younger brother Junior Bako under trainer Stanley Mugiyo.

“Most of South Africa’s top riders are all coming for this big event, so Emmanuel has to be super strong and ready to win all the way in the two classes,” Brighton Bako said after Sunday’s race meeting at Donnybrook.

Sunday also saw promising young female rider Tadiwanashe Nyamupfukudza (11) competing in the same 65cc Class with Emmanuel Bako, but she found the going tough as she finished in 10th place overall out of a strong field of 14 riders, most of whom were boys.

But Nyamupfukudza’s father and trainer, Simbarashe, thought his daughter did well considering that she only trained once last week ahead of Sunday’s event as she was writing her final end-of-the-year exams.

“I personally think that Taddy did well by coming 10th out of 14 riders as she did not prepare well for this event due to her exams and she should post better results during the upcoming Zimbabwe Summer Series,” Simba Nyamupfukudza said.

In the other classes, it was the Thixton siblings, Ashley and Cameron, who took the wins for the day in the MX2 and MX1 respectively.

They both had an excellent day and had good clean battles with each other and with Josh Goby. The duels were  very entertaining.

Both Ashley and Cameron are now looking forward to the upcoming Zimbabwe Summer Series where they will be both riding in the main MX1 Class.