Gakwaya appointed Steward for Madagascar Rally

THE International Automobile Federation (FIA) Africa has appointed Rwandan Christian Gakwaya as a steward for the final 2013 Africa Rally Championship in the Madagascar International Rally which flagged off on Friday.Gakwaya is the chairman of Rwanda Automobile Club (RAC) and he said before departure that being picked to oversee the continental championship is a sign of trust after Rwanda hosted a successful Rwanda Mt. Gorilla rally in September.Meanwhile, Ugandan Jas Mangat and Zambian Jassy Singh take their battle for the African title on the streets of Madagascar this weekend.Mangat and his co-driver Gihan Da Silva are still in pole position to win the ARC title provided they finish ahead of Singh, who is two points behind the race for the continental crown going into the final round.Mangat borrowed a Subaru N12B from Yves ‘Joda’ Ranarivelo, a five-time winner of the Rally of Madagascar as he bids to add to the ARC title to his Ugandan National Rally Championship (NRC) in the same season.Of the 450km, 210km will be special stages. The rally has 11 Special Stages (seven different) with the longest stretching up to 37km whereas the shortest is 1.270km.After a five Special Stages (SS) totaling 110km yesterday, drivers will compete in the 240km of road sections before heading east of the capital Antananarivo on Sunday where drivers will compete over four special stages totaling to 97km, with 175km of road sections.Mangat will be seeking to become the second Ugandan after 1999 Africa champion Charles Muhangi to win the ARC title.While Uganda has only one Africa championship title, Singh has seen numerous titles within his family.His grandfather Satwant Singh won seven Africa titles in (1988, 89, 91, 93, 97, 98, and 2000), while his father Muna Singh was Africa champion in 2004 and 2005.Jassy Singh could add another title to the family if Mangat fails to finish this weekend’s rally in which Rwanda’s Davite Giancarlo, who is third on the ARC drivers’ standing, will not take part after falling out of contention.

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Gakwaya appointed Steward for Madagascar Rally