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Collin Matiza Sports Editor
AFTER having claimed the first step on the podium during the final round of the 2020 Inland Championship in South Africa last weekend, Zimbabwe’s junior motocross champion rider Emmanuel Bako sizzled again at a pre-national event in the same country on Saturday.

Bako (14) took part in a pre-national event in Bloemfontein on Saturday where he grabbed the first runner-up spot behind Wian du Plooy in the 85cc Pro-Mini Class. The young Zimbabwean rider amassed 66 points after three heats.

The class had a strong field of 23 riders and Bako was the only Zimbabwean rider who took part at this one-day event in which he was riding a brand new bike which he recently received from one of his main sponsors, Better Brands Jewellery of Zimbabwe.

According to reports from Bloemfontein, Bako gave a good account of himself in all the three heats in which he came second thrice to settle for second place behind du Plooy while third place went to another South African rider Bryce Petersen, who won Heat Three.

Bako had solid starts in all the three heats. He got a hole shot in Heat One and was leading in the first four-five laps and made a few mistakes on the corners but he had a good fight with du Plooy who is from Bloemfontein and was racing on his home track.

In the second heat Bako took another hole shot and led for four laps but he made a small mistake that cost him and this saw him finishing second again in this heat.

And in the third heat, Bako had another hole shot but he did another small mistake again that saw him finishing second overall at the end of the day “but he did very well considering that he hasn’t raced in Bloemfontein for a very very long time and the track didn’t change but of course it was a bit difficult and muddy but that didn’t stop him from riding very well”.

“That was the (most fun) race I’ve had all year,” Bako said after Saturday’s race meeting. “I know I didn’t get the win today, which is always the goal. I don’t like to lose, but it felt good to see myself up there in the top three and giving Wian (du Plooy), who is a very good rider, a run.

“It was pretty cool settling for second place as this was my second race here in South Africa inside a week and I really enjoyed myself on this track which is one of my favourite tracks in this country… I just kind of rode my own race and tried to survive. It was brutal out there. It was right down to the end in all the three heats, so I was happy to get a podium.”

Bako will spend the whole of this month in South Africa where he is expected to take part in a couple of races.

He will first race on October 24 and 25 in the two-day last race of the South African National Championship event at the same track in Bloemfontein and then after that he will continue taking part in the Inland Championship in November.

After that he will head back home to Zimbabwe for a short break ahead of his preparations for the 2021 season in which he is expected to tour Europe.

In fact, one of Bako’s main sponsors in Zimbabwe, Better Brands Jewellery, last week indicated that they will be taking care of all his expenses during his European tour and the young rider’s manager and father, Brighton, said they were looking forward to this trip.

“Emmanuel was actually meant to tour Europe in August this year but he couldn’t go there because of the travel restrictions which were caused by the Covid-19 outbreak. So, we are just hoping that everything will be back to normal at the beginning of next year and this will allow us to go and race there,” Brighton Bako said.

During the European tour, Emmanuel is expected to race in France and Belgium where there are several junior race meetings lined-up for him.