Manuel set D/brook on fire
THERE was no stopping Daiyaan “D” Manuel during the fourth round of the 2017 Bogwheelers Club national motocross championship series at Donnybrook in Harare on Sunday where the young rider stole the show in the 65cc A Class.
Manuel, a Grade Seven pupil at St. John’s Preparatory School in Harare, was in great form in the 65cc Class winning all the three heats to take the first step on the podium ahead of his arch-rival Emmanuel Bako who also impressed during the day.
He had a busy schedule on Sunday as he took part in three different classes — 65cc, 85cc and 125cc — and this saw him riding in nine races, all in preparation for this coming Saturday’s seventh and final round of the 2017 South African National Championship series at Terra Topia in Gauteng.
Manuel is leading in the 65cc Standings of the South African National Championship series with 267 points, 10 ahead of his nearest rival Tyler Tarantino of South Africa and a top three finish on Saturday will guarantee him the South African title.
And the 12-year-old rider fine-tuned himself for this coming weekend’s makeor-break event at Terra Topia by first sweeping the board in the 65cc A Class on Sunday at Donnybrook before taking two second place finishes in the 85cc Class and 125cc Class despite having a couple of bike problems.
To show how good he is on the bike, Manuel took second place in the 125cc Class while mounting his 85cc machine.
Another top junior rider Bako (11) also impressed on Sunday, finishing second behind Manuel in the 65cc A Class and third overall in the 85cc Class behind Tristan Grainger and Manuel.
Jordan Dewdney (9) also secured a podium finish going 3-3 for third overall in the 65cc A Class behind Manuel and Bako.
Bako, a Grade Six pupil at Mai Grace Mugabe Junior School in Mazowe, took all the hole shots in both the 65cc and 85cc classes and fought some close battles with Manuel and Grainger in these two sections of the event.
Oh, by the way, there’s another Bako who is into motocross and he is threeyear-old Junior, Emmanuel’s cousin brother, who took part in the Peewees designed for riders under the age of seven.
Emmanuel’s other cousin brother Munyaradzi Bako took part in the 65cc B Class and came second overall on Sunday.
And it seems the sport of motocross is now strongly running in the Bako family.
The country’s top female rider Tanya Muzinda (13) was also in action on Sunday and came fifth overall in the 85cc Class where she was riding with boys.
Muzinda took to the track on Sunday just two days after arriving back home from England where she competed in last month’s British Girls National Championships at Wroxton in Oxford where she won a bronze medal after coming third overall in the 85cc Class (small wheel).