Giancarlo Davite drops out of Zambia rally

The 2017 Africa Rally Championship (ARC) will go down as another bad year for Giancarlo Davite after he failed to finish the Zambia International Rally on Sunday, which was won by Kenyan driver Manvir Baryan. Davite, together with his co-navigator Sylvia Vindevogel, abandoned the last ARC series on Day 1 due to a broken steering arm when their Mitsubishi Evo X hit the rocks. The Italian-born Rwandan driver will now finish the season without any trophies after coming second in the Mount Gorilla rally in September which was won by Manvir Bryan. The Kenyan Multiple Racing Team dominated six stages of the Zambia Rally leading from start to end, to make it four victories in the 2017 six ARC rounds in their Skoda Fabia RS. Baryan gave Kenya a third ARC title in a row, and his crew became the fourth Kenyan duo to win the coveted honor after Don Smith (2016), Jaspreet Chatthe (2015) and David Horsey (1984). The Multiple Racing Team only participated in five ARC rounds, winning four rounds including Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally, Tanzania Rally and Uganda Pearl of African Race to collect 115 points this year. The victory in Zambia also seals the 2017 FIA Continental Navigators Championship title with Sturrock snatching the title under the nose of Zambia’s Ushlla Gomes. Zambia’s Leroy Gomes, navigated by wife Ushall, finished the ARC series in second position with 86 points while Uganda’s Christakis Fitidis navigated by Rwandan Eric Nzamwita finished third after collecting 54 points. Meanwhile, according to the Confederation of Africa Countries in Motorsport (CACAMs), the 2018 ARC series will start with Rally Bandama Côte d’Ivoire in February, followed by Kenyan Safari Rally in March and York Rally in South Africa in April. Final ARC Rankings1. Manvir Baryan (Kenya): 115 pts2. Leroy Gomes (Zimbabwe): 863. Christakis Fitidis (Uganda): 54 Co-drivers1. Drew Sturrock (Scotland): 115 pts2. Urshlla Gomes (Zimbabwe): 863. Eric Nzamwita (Rwanda): 54 editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Giancarlo Davite drops out of Zambia rally