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Collin Matiza Sports Editor
ONE of Zimbabwe’s top motocross riders Regan Wasmuth made a rare appearance at Donnybrook on Sunday where he produced a solid performance to claim the top step on the podium in the MX2 Class during Round Three of the 2019 Bog-wheelers Club National Championship series.

Wasmuth (17) has for the past three years been based in South Africa where he has been featuring in that country’s National and Regional championships under a French racing team, EHR Racing France,  which is owned by Joe Tavares.

And Sunday saw Wasmuth making a surprise appearance in round three of this year’s National Championship series which was used by the Bog-wheelers Club as a selection event for Team Zimbabwe for this year’s FIM Africa Motocross of African Nations Championships which will be held at Donnybrook on August 31 and September 1.

The Bog-wheelers Club run the motorcycling sport of motocross under Motorsport Zimbabwe (formerly Zimbabwe Motorsport Federation).

Racing in the MX2 Class, which had a small field of five riders, Wasmuth was looking for big things at his first home race of the year and took the lead to start moto one over Tristan Grainger and Liam Robinson and never looked back as he posted a solid 3-3 to emerge as the overall winner of this class with a maximum 60 points on the board.

And this surely saw Wasmuth punching his ticket into Team Zimbabwe for the annual African Championships which usually attract top junior, senior male and female riders from eight African countries — Angola, Botswana, Kenya, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Wasmuth was emulated by young Daiyaan Manuel (13) who was involved in another epic battle with his arch-rival Emmanuel Bako (12) in the 85cc Class, which had a good field of nine riders.

Manuel, who was back riding after recovering from a shoulder injury, was pushed all the way by the Chicken Hut-sponsored Bako whom he edged for the first step on the podium in the 85cc Class. Third place went to Jamie Doran.

Bako, who celebrated Sunday’s Father’s Day with his father and manager, Brighton, at the track at Donnybrook together with his sponsors from local food outlet Chicken Hut, also competed in the 125cc Class where he was forced to settle for second place by the irresistible Grainger who was just a joy to watch in this class where Liam le Roux came third.

In the main MX1 Class, Josh Goby upstaged Cameron Thixton for the top step on the podium with Doug Mellor coming home in third place. Consistency has been at a premium in the MX1 Class lately, and that trend continued on Sunday as Goby managed to pip Thixton in the fight for first place.

Eleven-year-old Jordan Dewdney showed that he was one for the future after sweeping the board in the 65cc Class, beating Declan Barrett and Karl van As into second and third place. There were nine riders in this class.

In the juniors 50cc Class, the day belonged to Seb Wright who came first ahead of Willem Krause, Kudzi Chitsurura, Junior Bako and George Ziemann.

In the PeeWees Class, which is designed for young riders under the age of seven, first place went to Wade Cameron while five-year-old Victor Nyamupfukudza, who fell twice during the race, and Craig Ormerod settled for second and third places respectively.

Next up for the riders is another Nationals event which has been slated for July 14 at the same venue.