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Collin Matiza

IN a major development which could uplift the standards of motocross in Zimbabwe, the country’s champion rider Emmanuel Bako has now turned into a fully-fledged professional rider.

This came after the 17-year-old talented rider recently visited and trained in a number of European countries under his French coach Joe Tavares.

Tavares is part of Zimbabwe-based Better Brands Petroleum Racing Team which is sponsored by prominent Harare businessman and politician Scott Sakupwanya. 

And Tavares revealed to Zimpapers Sport yesterday that Emmanuel Bako was now ripe and ready to take on some of the world’s top motocross riders after his recent sojourn in Europe in which he underwent some rigorous training. 

And as part of the Zimbabwe Better Brands Racing Team’s initiative, Bako visited the EMX Motocross Academy in France to attend an intensified “boot camp” under the watchful eye of Tavares to prepare for tomorrow’s Round Two of the South African National Motocross Championship series in Port Elizabeth which is one of the most difficult sand tracks in South Africa.

“We plotted out a nine-day extensive sand training programme on the most difficult sand track in Europe, amongst them the most punishing sand track in the world which is Lommel in Belgium. 

 “After landing in France we immediately left for Luxembourg where we started off with a warm-up training session and then the very next day we left for the very heavy sand track of Lommel where Manu was really thrown into the deep end as the wintry conditions made the track conditions extreme.

“Even the top GP riders were complaining and Manu immediately saw and experienced first hand what training in Europe is like.  It was an incredible experience for this young rider from Zimbabwe to train and mingle in the paddock with some of the top World MXGP riders like Prado, Vlaanderen, Febvre, Seewer, McClellan to name a few who all based in Lommel and ride regularly train there,” Tavares said. 

The very next day  they were off to Holland to another punishing GP track called Heerde where once again Manu trained with over 150 local and international riders.

 “The on track training was tough and demanding but Manu showed great potential for his very first time in these conditions.

“Without much of a break we left the very next day for Grevenbroich, Germany, where Manu once again rubbed shoulders, trained and met some of the top World GP riders and local German talent.  By now we had already covered over 1 700 km and experienced challenging conditions from riding in wet freezing conditions, but Manu dug in his heels and showed his mettle!!

“A day’s rest was desperately needed as each day also started off with a heavy cardio session, a run and every evening was spent in the swimming pool for at least an hour.

“After a day’s rest it was back once again to another punishing track in Holland called BERGHEM and an incredible opportunity arose to train on the track with multiple world champion Stefan Evert’s son, Liam who is currently the top KTM Red Bull 250 rider.

“Another hard day in the punishing sand which was followed by a day at the highly anticipated Dutch Masters of motocross where Manu rubbed shoulders with many industry leaders in the motocross racing industry and hanging out in the VIP facility and Red Bull Skybox put him at the centre of all the action.

“A final return to another two days of training at Lommel in Belgium brought the boot camp to an end and a well deserved flight back home to sunny Zimbabwe.

  “Manu covered over 2 500km crossing over 20 borders during his time in Europe and truly experiencing what it’s like to spend time like a professional motocrosser on the road and working non-stop to full-fill his passion,” Tavares said.

He said he is now convinced that Bako can stand his ground against some of top European motocross riders in international races.