This year the MXoAN was hosted by Motor Sport South Africa(MSA) in the beautiful coastal city of Cape Town, South Africa at the Zone 7 track in the Cape Farmland area. This mammoth competition attracted representation from 11 countries across the African continent amounting to the involvement of over 200 participants. Some of the countries who participated this year were Tanzania, Namibia, and Madagascar which presented some strong competition. Throughout the competition the excitement was palpable. It was impressive to see that the sport expanded so far across the continent and the participation illustrated the level of interest and pride that made many travel from afar.
Zambia Motor Sport Association sent a delegation of 23 riders to participate in this annual event. The terrain was challenging as its very different from what the riders were exposed to at the Zambian MX race facilities and the competition was fierce. Regardless, our riders gave it their best.
Naturally, the highlights for our team was, the strong performance of Leah Heygate, who won her the Individual Ladies Title for the 7th consecutive year whilst being the only Zambian lady rider on the team she also managed to take the 2nd place trophy of the Ladies Country Overall. Master riders Dale Holiday and Nick Heygate finished first and 1st and 3rd in their class as Individual Overall and secured a 1st place victory in the Masters Team Overall. MX1 AND MX2 both won 3rd place for Team Overall. The junior riders did not achieve any podium positions however gained invaluable experience for the future. It’s impressive to see the rising talent in these classes grow. Through all the victories Zambia walked with the 3rd place trophy, whilst South Africa and Zimbabwe claimed 1st and 2nd position respectively. Well done Team Zambia and all other countries!
The competition as a whole was well organized. From the initial online registration to the prize-giving ceremony, all was well planned, thoroughly thought through, and punctual.
A massive well done and thank you to Motor Sport South Africa for organizing and hosting us.
Next year the event is destined for Morocco. Already, Zambia MX is looking forward to representing MXoAN 2024.
Published by: Rolinda Lucia