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Collin Matiza Sports Editor
PREPARATIONS for this Saturday’s Toyota Zimbabwe/hp lubes Castrol 3-hour Endurance Race at Bulawayo Motorsport Park in Bulawayo are gathering a healthy dose of momentum with the news that one of the country’s top motocross riders, Doug Mellor, will be making his debut appearance as a Superbike rider at this biggest motor racing event of the year.

The combined sponsored Toyota Zimbabwe and hp lubes Castrol three-hour car endurance race and one-hour motorbike endurance race is expected to bring together top Zimbabwean and South African motor racing drivers and Superbike riders who will be burning the track in what promises to be an exciting one-day event at Bulawayo Motorsport Park, also known as the Vic Falls Road Circuit.

This year expects a large turnout of about 40 cars and 15 motorbikes competing head-to-head to see who will reign as champion of the 2018 endurance race. And among the latest entries for the one-hour Superbike endurance will be Harare’s Mellor, who on Tuesday became the eighth bike entered and will be piloting a Yamaha R6. #49.

Mellor, an MX1 Class motocross rider, said he was looking forward to race in Bulawayo on a Superbike for the first time in his illustrious motorcycling career.

“Having recently started riding a Superbike and having never raced in Bulawayo, I am looking forward to it,” Mellor was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

Mellor will be joined in the one-hour bike endurance by fellow Harare-based rider Shaun Whyte, a former Superbike national champion in South Africa.

Whyte said: “As usual I’m looking forward to the Bulawayo one-hour endurance race . . . It has been won by South Africans for the last two years, thanks for their support, especially the Monroe Racing Team run by Vic Rich. He has helped keep Zimbabwe racing alive.

“Hopefully one of us (Zimbabwean riders) can keep the trophy on home soil this year. Warren Thorne, on his Kawasaki ZX10 and Mat Schultz, on Yamaha R6, will be local guys to watch out for. Thanks to Byron Norman, the 2018 BMC chairman, and his committee for a well- run season. You can bet that this one-hour endurance race is going to be a good one.” — AFP.