Kylan Wekesa in awe of MX85cc rival Stav Orland
Kylan Wekesa in action at Busiika. He will be joined by sibling Zion who makes his debut on Sunday. photo BY JOHN BATANUDDE
Kampala- It is not every so often than an MX rider is in absolute awe of his rival.
But in the case of Kylan Wekesa, praising Stav Orland is an obvious thing to do.
“He is quite fast and in a different class,” the 13-year-old says as he gears up for this weekend’s FIM Central Africa MX championship, which will also be the third round of the national MX championship.
Two rounds of this year’s Mountain Dew-sponsored championship have already occurred with Wekesa finishing an impressive second – to Stav – in the season opener at Garuga.
But the second event at the Uganda Motorsport Arena in Busiika saw him suffer a mechanical misfortune before he settled for sixth position.
Still, there is no denying that it has been tremendous progress for the youngster who is barely two years in the sport.
It was his father, tourism entrepreneur Amos Wekesa, who interested him in the sport and Kylan hasn’t looked back.
“Without him, maybe I wouldn’t be doing this.”
Last season he competed in a formidable MX85cc group that included Stav, Fortune Ssentamu, the Omar siblings Wazir and Waleed, and Jonathan Muhindo.
This term, the 85cc class still has Waleed, Muhindo and Stav but with new competitors in the Akena siblings Milton Apollo Akaaki and Milton Apollo Akena. Kylan has respect for his rivals but is honest with his mission.
“My target is to finish second,” he notes. “Behind Stav.”
His younger brother Zion, 7, will race in the MX50seniors and father Amos is expectant ahead of the debut.
“I see a lot more fire in Zion and after some time, he will probably emerge as the more talented rider.”
Given that Zion has an older sibling to look up to, his learning curve could well be smoother. And Amos has supreme confidence in him. “Zion in training has shown a lot of maturity in such a short time and that is why we have decided to make the Easter race his first.”
MX85cc standings
MX 50 Peewee
Stav Orland – 120pts
Waleed Omar – 85
J. Muhindo – 84
Kylan Wekesa – 81
Easter Sunday
FIM Central
Africa Motocross
Championship
Entry fees
Shs10,000 Ordinary
Shs20,000 VIP
*The event doubles as the thirrd round of the MX Championship
