BY Munyaradzi Madzokere
Zimbabwe car racing sensation Axcil Jefferies is delighted by a positive start to the season after his family cheered him, and his team Toksport WRT, on to a second place finish at the Dubai 24 Hour Race in the United Arab Emirates last week.
It is a great way to start the year for Jefferies’ team who agonisingly missed the podium in the last campaign after suffering a mechanical fault late in the race at the Austin Circuit of The Americas (COTA) 24-Hour Endurance Race in Texas last November.
The 24-year-old driver is looking to build upon the impressive performance going forward.
“I knew coming into 2020 this is the year I have to really be at my best so I trained very hard in the off season and I intend to carry the momentum through the year. The year has kicked off in a very positive way. Firstly, being invited by Toksport to join them again after the race in Austin Texas was nice,” Jefferies told Newsday Sport.
“The Dubai 24-hr always has one of the strongest driver fields, so it was important for me to do well. We all did an amazing job as a team and we finished in position two in the class.
So overall, I am very happy with a podium to kick of the year,” he added.
For Jefferies, the recent performance was made sweeter because of the fact that his parents were part of the iconic Dubai Autodrome crowd.
“It was nice to have my family supporting in Dubai and sharing the podium celebrations with me. With my busy racing schedule unfortunately my family cannot be at all the races, so it’s nice having them around sometimes,” Jefferies said.
“I would never be where I am if it was not for the support and sacrifices my family made for me over the last 20 years. Both my parents and my sister gave their all to see me succeed and I will for ever be grateful. My mum only attends a few races a year and she prefers to watch from home,” he said.
Axcil’s father Suhail has been his manager for the better part of his journey to become the first African driver to race in the competitions. His mother Jolyn has often been in the background while sister Melissa has attended many of his races. The next endurance race assignment for Jefferies is the The Hankook 12H Monza which will kick off the 24H Series Europe season from March 27-28 this year.
“I will be announcing my 2020 calendar in due course and hopefully it should be a busy and successful one. But I would like to thank everyone that has made it all possible and for all the support I get from so many different people around the world,” he said.
