Bubba gets Mandela invite for Sun City GP.

125cc AMA superstar James 'Bubba' Stewart has been sent an invite, personally signed by Nelson Mandela, to compete in the season ending South African Grand Prix.

'Bubba' burst onto the professional AMA motocross scene in 2002 and won the 125cc title in his first year as a professional. The 18-year-old is again dominating the eighth-litre class in the USA this year, having already won the Supercross series and taken victory in all but one race so far in the Motocross championship.

Stewart is the first black motocross racer to have made such an impact and is increasingly referred to as the 'Tiger Woods' of motocross.

"We believe he will be an inspiration to the black community, who don't have much exposure to Motocross," said Dan Ntsala, manager of corporate affairs at Sun City.

James has rarely raced outside the US and his appearance in a GP would cause a massive stir. However, no official word has yet been received from either Kawasaki USA or Stewart himself and with an intense testing schedule having already ruled him out of the Motocross des Nations - which takes place the week after the Sun City GP - considerable doubt remains as to his attendance.

"We are expecting a response from James' management team soon," stated Bret Hoppe, events and incentives manager for Sun City.

Bubba' has been racing since he was 4 years old and has been riding for Kawasaki since he was 7. His family lived out of a camper van for a few years to enable the young James to compete in all the amateur races. It paid off: He won 11 AMA National titles before he was 17 and has also won the Mini Motocross World Champs on 2 separate occasions.

Should Stewart - who will graduate to the premier 250cc AMA class next season - accept the Sun City offer, it would mark his world championship debut.