Uganda aim for unassailable lead at Africa MX in Busiika
Van Pee pulls off one of his stunts during the National Championship. PHOTO BY ISMAIL KEZAALA
What you need to know:
Motocross. Uganda has three junior champions in Omar, Ssentamu and Alestair Blick and the trio will be charged with giving Uganda a flying start.
THE PAST WINNERS
2012: Uganda
2013: Kenya
Team Uganda skipper Arthur Blick Jr is confident his young riders will come out on top during the first leg of FIM Africa Central Africa Motocross Championship at the Busiika Arena today.
Regional rivals Kenya, the reigning champions, and Tanzania are the other nations taking part.
The veteran rider mentioned Walid Omar (MX50cc), Fortune Ssentamu (MX65cc), Alestair Blick (MX85cc), all reigning regional champions in their respective classes, plus Maxime Van Pee, the top seed in MX1 as the men to bank on as Uganda go for broke seeking unassailable lead.
“We have had a perfect preparation in the past three weeks for this event,” said the 10-time national champion.
“We need to take full advantage of our home turf during this First Leg before we travel to Kenya for leg two in August. We need to score as many points as possible.”
Despite the confident talk, Blick Jr knows that Kenya will be no pushovers as they have shown in the past.
Out of 25 riders in the Kenyan team, 15 are youngsters in MX50cc - MX85cc, two classes Uganda has dominated in the past. “We are not worried. We have enough experience to keep off the Kenyans. I just urge the fans to come in large numbers and support us,” he ended.
The event is sponsored by Total Uganda, IAA Health/ Resolution Health, UAP/AON Insurance, Safe Solutions, Fotogenix and Mountain Dew. Entry fee is Shs10,000 for ordinary tickets and Shs30,000 for VIP.
PART OF TEAM UGANDA
MX50cc
Imran Nkuruziza ( KTM)
Habibu Kiggundu (Yamaha)
Esther Mwangala (KTM)
Ashi Junior (Yamaha)
Milton Akiki ( KTM)
MX65cc
Fortune Ssentamu (KTM)
Ben Nsumba( KTM)
Waleed Omar( KTM)
Joshua Mwangala (KTM)
Vince Schrier (KTM)
Sharifa Nansereka (KTM)
MX85cc
Alestair Blick (KTM)
Ali Omar ( KTM)
Wazir Omar( KTM)
Stav Orland (Kawasaki)
Eddy Mugwanya (Yamaha)
MX125cc
Harm Kamstra (KTM)
MX2cc
Fatuh Kiggundu (Kawasaki)
Michael Ntayiro (Honda)
Ashraf Papa (Honda)
Ahmed Tamale (Yamaha)
Josiah Gordon (Kawasaki)
MX1cc
Maxime Van Pee ( KTM)
Arthur Blick Jr (Kawasaki)
Talha Kiggundu ( Yamaha)
Ashraf Mbabazi ( Honda)
Ladies class
Esther Mwangala (KTM)
Aminah Zawedde ( Yamaha)
Isabella Blick (KTM)
Veterans class
Patrick Van Pee (KTM)
Dave Cliff (Yamaha)
Barak Orland (Kawasaki)
Jesse Kamstra (Suzuki)
