Youth dominate motocross season
Miguel Katende won regional and Africa titles in MX50cc Peewee. PHOTO BY JB SSENKUBUGE
KAMPALA. If there was doubt youth riders would sustain their dominance from 2015, it was evident in the 2016 motocross season.
The sporting rivalry between the Blick and Katende families dates back to 70s and 80s. In the 90s, William Blick, the UOC president and George Ssemakula were the talk of the MX world. 2016 has been about William Blick Jr and Miguel Katende in the MX50cc Peewee.
Both parents were satisfied with their sons’ performances and progress.
“William Jr’s main objective was to retain his title which he did,” Blick Snr said recently.
In winning the title, William created history by coming out top in the entire season. He lost some heats but overall he won all the six rounds on points.
“It was sad we lost the national title, but winning the regional and Africa titles left Miguel satisfied, considering this was his first full year competitive in the sport,” Ssemakula said.
The Blick family was not done as Isabella retained the MX50 Snr, while comeback kid Imran Nkurunziza came out top in MX65 category. Nkurunziza spent the whole of 2015 recovering from a broken leg. How good is Fortune Ssentamu? Has he gone stale? We did not have the answer this season as he had no regular challenger in 85cc to push him. He has dominated on the local scene but struggled at international events. A few times he was challenged by Orland siblings, Stav and Aviv he came out second best.
While William Blick’s family was going places, you cannot say the same about Arthur Blick Jr and his sons. Paddy spent most of the year recovering from a broken arm, while Alister finished third behind ‘reborn’ Fathu Kiggundu who swept MX 2 and Ali ‘Bobo’ Omar.
Maxime van Pee, like Ssentamu was never pushed throughout the season by the likes of veteran Blick Jr, a 10-time national champion and Asaf Natan. However Maxime remains the darling of the crowd. He added the regional and Enduro to the national title. He has now won the regional MX1 title thrice.
Enduro, and 4X4 challenge events are attracting big crowds.
The year however did not go down well with the death of Maj. Muhammad Kiggundu who was brutally gunned down early this month. Kiggundu was a father to siblings Talha (MX1), Fathu (MX2) and Habib Kiggundu (MX50).
