Rwanda’s national rally champion Davite Giancarlo and Olivier Costa flew to Tanzania yesterday ahead of the opening round of the African Rally Championship ‘the Kobil Rally of Tanzania’ which gets underway this Friday. The three-day rally is set to run from February 20-22 in Dar es Salaam. The Rwandan pair will drive Subaru Imprezas (N11) at the three-day event as they plot to make their presence felt in the prestigious event. Before Giancarlo’s departure, he said, “It’s a great opportunity for me to compete with these top drivers and I’m looking forward to the challenge”. Some of the prominent drivers set to compete in the 650km two-day event include defending champion Muna Singh from Zambia, last year’s ARC runner-up James Whyte from Zimbabwe, Uganda’s speed merchants Riyaz Kurji, Jas Mangat and Emma Katto and Kenya’s quartet of Asad Anwar, Peter Horsey, Alfir Khan and Don Smith. All these drivers are seeking early crucial points.Tanzania is expected to field a flock of drivers ranging from Randeep Birdi, Sahir Ahmed, Kirit Pandya, Asif Haji, Salim Haji, Davis Mosha, Navraj Hans, Gamdust Haji, Amarjit Sunvic, Issa Mohamed, Aliasger Fazal, Ahmed Huwel and Patrice Comtois. Kobil Tanzania is the title sponsor of the rally while New Africa, Mlimani City, Tigo, Sadolin Paint and Knight Support are associate sponsors. After the opening round in Dar es Salaam, drivers will head to Kenya for the second round (KCB Safari Rally) in April before proceeding to Uganda for the third round (KCB Pearl of Africa rally) in May. Zimbabwe is the venue of the fourth round before Zambia hosts the final round in July. Rwanda’s Mountain Gorilla Rally is still a reserve event on this year’s ARC calendar. Ends
