Zimpapers Logo

Collin Matiza

Sports Editor

SPILLS and thrills will once again be the order of the day when the country’s top riders congregate at the ‘’Cathedral’’ of local motorsport – Donnybrook Park Raceway in Harare – for the fourth round of the 2022 Bogwheelers Club National Motocross Championship series tomorrow.

The country’s top male and female junior and senior dirt bike riders are expected to come ‘’in full force’’ for tomorrow’s race meeting which the Bogwheelers Club, who run the motorcycling sport of motocross in Zimbabwe, will use as a selection event for Team Zimbabwe that will compete in this year’s FIM Africa Motocross of African Nations Championships.

The 2022 FIM Africa Motocross of African Nations Championships will be held at Victoria Raceway Park at Garuga in Entebbe, Uganda, from August 19 to 21.

There will be more than 200 riders from more than eight African countries who include Angola, Botswana, Kenya, South Africa, Morocco, Zambia, Zimbabwe and the hosts Uganda. 

The Bogwheelers Club have indicated that they will enter a strong team of more than 15 junior and senior male and female motorbike riders to represent Zimbabwe at this annual event which, however, was shelved in 2020 and 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

And it will be all systems go at Donnybrook Park Raceway in Harare tomorrow where the local riders will be out to catch the selectors’ eye in order to be picked for Team Zimbabwe for the 2022 FIM Africa MXOAN Championships in Uganda next month.

Battle lines will be drawn across all the classes, from the PeeWees, which caters for junior riders under the age of seven, to the Veterans Class.

The ‘’usual riders’’ such as Emmanuel Bako, Cameron Thixton, Doug Mellor, Joshua Goby, Duncan Kerwin, Daiyaan “’D’’ Manuel, Adriaan Olivier, Mark Ziemann, Shane Thomas, Lofty Versfeld, Ricky Whyte, Daniel Collett, Kudzwai Chitsurura, Junior Bako, Victor Nyamupfukudza, Tadiwanashe Nyamupfukudza, Jayden Kerwin, Karl van As, Riley Rocher, 

Joshua Mbanga, Cayden Claassen, Michael Krause and Ezra Ekron are all expected to be in action tomorrow.

Doug Mellor, one of the event’s organisers, told The Herald yesterday that all the classes – PW50, 50cc, 65cc, 85cc, 125cc, MX1/MX2, Veterans and Novices – will be competed for.

“This is the fourth round of our National Championship series in which all the top junior and senior riders will be out to pick up more points in their different classes. So, we are looking to an exciting and action packed day at Donnybrook on Sunday (tomorrow),” Mellor said.

In the juniors section, eight-year-old Victor Nyamupfukudza will be out mounting his brand new bike, which was recently bought in South Africa, in the 50cc Class, and he will be joined at the track at Donnnybrook tomorrow by his 13-year-old sister, Tadiwanashe, who will be fighting for a podium place in the 125cc Class.

The Nyamupfukudzas’ father and trainer, Simbarashe, confirmed yesterday that his two kids will be in action at Donnybrook tomorrow and will be using this event as part of their preparations for next month’s FIM Africa Motocross of African Nations Championships in Uganda.

‘’Victor and Tadiwanashe are likely to be part of Team Zimbabwe for the African Championships and they have already started preparing for this prestigious continental event. So, on Sunday (tomorrow) they will both be at Donnybrook taking part in the fourth round of the National Championships.

‘’They will be using this event as part of their final preparations for the African Championships and hopefully, they will be among the winners at the business end of the competition on Sunday and this will definitely boost their morale ahead of the big event in Uganda next month,’’ Simbarashe Nyamupfukudza said.

Racing tomorrow starts at 9am and there will be full bar and catering. Entry fee has been pegged at US$5 per person for spectators while children under the age of 12 will get in for free.