THERE will be a hive of activities at Donnybrook in Harare this weekend when the home of local motorsport hosts two high profile national events on Saturday and Sunday.

Local motorsport enthusiasts are in for a treat this weekend as they are expected to first throng Donnybrook on Saturday to watch the opening round of the 2016 Telecel Drag Racing Series before returning to the same venue the following day for the second round of this year’s National Motocross Championship Series.

The opening round of the 2016 Telecel Drag Racing Series was initially scheduled for April 24, but it was cancelled at the last minute as the resurfaced track was deemed unsafe and this forced the organisers of this most popular motorsport event to move it to this Saturday.

Mano Zevgolis, the chairman of the Sables Dragpro Club who run drag racing in this country, on Tuesday said they’ve since held several tests on the resurfaced track at Donnybrook during the past few weeks and it was now in great condition, paving the way for the opening round of this year’s drag racing series to be staged this Saturday.

And all is now set for local “speed demons” such as Leslie Carlsson, Alan Cacace and Zevgolis to burn the track at Donnybrook in both the motorcycle and motor vehicle sections in front of what is expected to be another huge crowd of drag racing fans on Saturday.

During last year’s drag racing series, Carlsson set the fastest time of 10.141 seconds on his way to be crowned the Class MB 751-1000cc motorbike champion and he will be back on the track at Donnybrook on Saturday to open his title defence in this section where he is once again expected to face some stiff competition from Brian Westland (Yamaha R1) and Theo Da Fonseca (Suzuki Gsxr).

Veteran biker Phil “Archie” Archenoul will also be back to defend his Class MA 0-750cc title on his Kawasaki ZX6R, but he still has to contend with the country’s top female rider Tiffany Fisher (Honda CBR600) and Russel Tudhope (Suzuki GSXR).

Grant Smith, the 2015 Class MC 1001cc-Open champion, mounting a Suzuki B-King, will also resume his rivalry with Kyle Bews (Honda Blackbird).

In the motor vehicles’ naturally aspirated section, veteran Alan Cacace, who set the fastest time of 11.091sec during last year’s series, will be back driving his “monster” AC Cobra in the 3001cc-Open Class where he will be coming up against the likes of Terry Allberry, also in an AC Cobra and Michael Raw (Mazda RX7).

Crowd favourite Zevgolis, who clocked the fastest time of 215.14km/h in his hp lubes Toyota MR2 last year, will once again be the man to beat in one of the Turbo/Supercharged sections on Saturday.

The other top drivers who are expected to be in action on Saturday include the likes of Kyle Da Silva (Toyota Starlet), Bornwell Bonde (Toyota Starlet), Wayne Nichole (Subaru Sti), Nigel Bunting-Grey (Subaru Wrx), Tatenda Nyamazana (Subaru Legacy), Miaynoodin “Mebs” Kerbelker (Subaru Sti), Kevin Allmark (Subaru Sti), Jonathan Brash (Nissan Skyline), Libor Jira (Nissan Skyline), Saeed Bhura (BMW 335i), Susan Zevgolis (Nissan Skyline), Nabil Ebrahim (Audi Rs4), Calstain Sibanda (Mercedes Cl600) and Zaks Sapa (Merc E500).

The highly successful 2015 Drag Racing Series carries on into 2016 not only with long-standing partners — Telecel, hp Lubes/Castrol, Turbo Solutions Africa, Financial Gazette and Skyscape Aerial Imaging & Survey — but also with the addition of two new partners — Nemchem and Glass Creations.

And Zimbabwe’s most popular motorsport event — drag racing — looks set to continue in drawing a record number of competitors and spectators alike for yet another year.

An average of 4 000 spectators pass through the gates at Donnybrook to watch each drag racing action and Saturday’s event will be no exception. Meanwhile, one of the country’s top junior motocross riders Kuda Mhene (Jnr) has been ruled out of Sunday’s second round of the 2016 National Championship series at Donnybrook due to a hand injury.

According to his father, Kuda Mhene (Snr), the 12-year-old talented rider recently “lost his nail” while loading his bike and he will not be competing in the 85cc Class on Sunday.

This should come as a big disappointment for young Kuda Mhene (Jnr) who came first in the 85cc Class during last weekend’s flat track event at Donnybrook.

But his absence is unlikely to take the gloss off Sunday’s event as the other top local junior and senior motocross riders such as the exciting Emmanuel Bako, Daiyaan Manuel, Jordan Dewdney, Josh Goby, Regan and Ryan Wasmuth, Ryan Masimo, Big “BJ” Chitima (Jnr), Lee and Mudiwa Chigumba, Ricky White, Ashley Thixton, Tristan Grainger, Davin Cocker and Bradley Perry are all expected to be in action.