Rally Sprint to open National championship

National Rally Championship-Rally sprint & Rallye du Nord called off-Rallye de Huye - June 20-21- Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally -September 18-20- Rallye de l’Est - October 10- Rallye des 1000 Collines - December 5-6 The 2009 National Rally Championship sets off this Sunday with a rally sprint but the venue is yet to be confirmed. After calling off the opening two rounds, Rwanda’s motorsport governing body, RAC are at pains to get the championship rolling. In February, a rally sprint was called off citing few entries while in March, the 15th edition of Rallye du Nord was also called off at the last minute due to bad weather. Up to date, it is still unclear whether the two events will be re-scheduled. “Right now, we can’t say much about Rallye du Nord. Our focus now is on getting the championship rolling,” Christian Gakwaya, a RAC official said. Other events programmed on this year’s championship include 24th Rallye de Huye (June 20-21), 8th Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally (September 18-20), 8th Rallye de l’Est (October 10) and the 27th edition of Rallye des 1000 Collines (December 5-6). Defending champion Davite Giancarlo and Olivier Costa are two strong contenders for this year’s crown. Costa in particular should be a handful for Giancarlo after his remarkable run in the first three rounds of the FIA Africa Rally Championship. Costa, who claimed the final podium finish in last year’s national championship, is currently fourth on the ARC charts with 9.5 points, a whole 7.5 points more than Giancarlo. Giancarlo finally got his hands on the national title last year after spending six years in the shadows of Rudy Cantanhede (2007 & 2006), Elefter Mitraros (2005) and Tony Saegerman (2004) among others. Ends

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Rally Sprint to open National championship