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Collin Matiza Sports Editor

EMMANUEL Bako is on fire!

Fresh from winning the 85cc Pro Mini Class during the penultimate round of the 2021 South African National Motocross Championship series at BORC in Bloemfontein on October 23, the 14-year-old Zimbabwean rider chalked up another sweet victory in the Northern Interprovincial Championship at Smoking Pistons in Johannesburg on Saturday.

Coming up against some of South Africa’s top junior motocross riders in the seventh and final round of this regional championship, Bako, who was mounting a Husqvarna, took centre stage as he went 1-1 in both heats to continue with his winning streak in South Africa.

Bako didn’t make any mistake as he lapped most of his rivals in the 85cc Pro Mini Class which had a good field of 14 riders.

After a game of cat and mouse, it was Bako who pulled a gap and got the upper hand over the other riders in muddy and difficult conditions after it rained the whole night on Friday and into the early hours of Saturday morning.

The young rider’s father and manager, Brighton “Bucks” Bako, was satisfied by his son’s overall performance ahead of the seventh and final round of the 2021 South African National Motocross Championship series at Legends track in Pretoria on November 20 where an outright victory will see him being crowned this year’s 85cc Pro Mini Champion across the Limpopo.

Elated with the result, he commented: “Emmanuel entered this event just to keep fit as he prepares for the final round of the South African Nationals and he produced another impressive performance to romp home virtually unchallenged.

“It rained the whole night on Friday and it was nice seeing him riding well in muddy and difficult conditions. In fact, when you become a professional like Emmanuel, you have to adjust to any condition and that’s exactly what he did on Saturday at Smoking Pistons where he was just in a class of his own.

‘’And we would like to thank our sponsors Better Brands Jewellery, for their continued support, and his bike mechanic Peter Raaf, who had it in perfect condition. . . We thank God for this good team we are working with here in South Africa.”

Emmanuel’s next race is another regional competition at Legends track in Pretoria this coming weekend as he continues to prepare for the final round of this year’s South African Nationals on November 20.

The gifted Zimbabwean dirt bike rider has been relentless in pursuit of the prestigious national title in South Africa this year where he has claimed a place on the podium in all the opening rounds, culminating in a stellar performance in the penultimate round of the South African Nationals at BORC in Bloemfontein on October 23.