Rallye du Nord called off

RALLY fans will have to be a liitle patient after fresh reports that Rallye du Nord which had been scheduled for this weekend has been postponed. Rwanda Automobile Club (RAC) president Dismas Kayibanda yesterday disclosed to Times Sport that the event which is officially the season’s National Rally Championship opener has been delayed due to bad weather. “It has been raining so heavily in Gicumbi so the roads are really bad and not conducive for rally,” he said. Some of the drivers, who were looking forward to the action included reigning national champion Davite Giancarlo (Subaru Impreza), Olivier Costa (Subaru Impreza), Tony Saegerman (Subaru Impreza), Elefter Mitraros (Subaru Impreza), Claude Kwizera (Peugeot), Cristakis Fitidis (Mitsubishi) and Johnny Murengezi (Mitsubishi) amongst others. The delay will definitely not go down well with Costa, who was looking to test his new Subaru Impreza N11 ahead of next month’s KCB Safari rally; the second round of the 2009 African Rally Championship (ARC). Costa rose to fame last month when he scooped a podium finish in the Kobil rally of Tanzania; the opening round of the 2009 ARC. The Belgian-born driver finished third and currently lies third on the ARC charts with six points. In a related development, Kayibanda also hinted that details about Kenya Commercial Bank’s involvement in this year’s Mountain Gorilla rally will be finalised during the upcoming KCB Safari rally. Mountain Gorilla rally; the most coveted event on the national rally championship is battling to find its way back on the ARC charts. Ends

Lifestyle

Rallye du Nord called off