After a thrilling first day of the 2017 Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally on Friday, action heads to Bugesera in Eastern Province today as drivers battle in five competitive super stages. The Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally is the 6th round of the Africa Rally Championship.

Day two will see drivers racing on the rough roads of Nyamizi – Gashora (19.69kms), Gaharwa – Nemba (11.56kms), Gako-Gasenyi (14.41kms) and Gasenyi-Nemba (22.22kms).

And the one man, who could not hide his excitement after dominating day one in Rugende, is Kenyan driver Manvir Baryan as he edges closer to clinching his first ARC title.

His driving skills were on full display when he put up an exciting and spectacular show in front of hundreds of rally fans during the Super Special Stage at Amahoro National Stadium.

He said, "It’s our first time to race in Rwanda, the first day has been good, it went as planned, we did not have mechanical troubles with the car on Day one, and hopefully day two will go in similar fashion.”

With only five competitive Sections remaining, the Multiple Racing Team driver needs to maintain the lead or finish the race in the top three in Rwanda, in order to be the champion of Africa, with one more race to spare in Zambia next month.

Day one was an ultimate test for drivers like Burundi’s Bukera Valery, who won last year’s Mt. Gorilla Rally and former Rwanda national champion Giancarlo Davite, who will start day two in second and third positions respectively.

Zambia’s Leroy Gomes, who is second in the ARC points standing, behind Manvir, sets off on the final day in the fourth position.

Gomes will need a flat out attack to make sure he closes the gap on the top. He was flagged off in the third position on Day one.

The Rwanda crew of Jean Claude Gakwaya and Jean Claude Mugabo in their Subaru Impreza dropped from fifth to tenth after losing time when they were forced to stop to clean the fuel tank.

Another Rwandan driver, Christophe Nizette, will be flagged off in the fifth place ahead of Semana Remeza (Rwanda), Din Imitiaz (Burundi) and Gilberto Balendondemu (Uganda).

Burundi’s Rudy Cantanhede and David Israel; the three-time Mountain Gorilla victors dropped out on day one after suffering a mechanical problem when their Evo X  hit a tree stump.

Also out is Zambia’s Gomes Klaveen and co-navigator Latife Riyaz- they rolled their Evo X but luckily they were not injured.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw