Fitidis finishes fifth on day two

KCB Pearl of Africa rallyResults after Stage 121. Jas Mangat (Ken) 1:20:192. James Whyte (Zim) 1:23:273. Ponsiano Lwakataka (Uga) 1:27:304. Susan Muwonge (Uga) 1:31:385. Christakis Fitidis (Rwa) 1:31:53 NATIONAL rally champion Christakis Fitidis finished fifth on the second day of the KCB Uganda Pearl rally yesterday in Kampala. Fitidis, navigated by Eric Nzamwita cruised through the 12 stages in both Mukono and Jinja to clock one hour, thirty one minutes and fifty three seconds. He came 11 minutes and 34 seconds behind Jas Mangat, who maintained his firm grip to the ARC round. In the 5.30km super special stage on Saturday, Fitidis, in a Subaru Impreza N12, cruised to eighth position in three minutes and 54 seconds in Lubiri. The ARC defending champion Jamie Whyte rose to second position in one hour, 23 minutes and 27 seconds while Uganda’s Ponsiano Lwakataka finished in third slot four minutes later. The only woman driver in the rally Susan Muwonge finished the second day in fourth position, 15 seconds ahead of Fitidis. Uganda’s Roland Sebuguzi rolled his Mitsubishi while in 5th place and Alain Dethise from Burundi arrived back at the service park on the end of a tow breakdown. Fitidis, who finished third in this rally last year, must up his speed to be able to finish among the top three this afternoon when drivers make the 69.11km in the final day. The event which is the fifth round of the Africa Rally Championship has attracted 21 crews from Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Madagascar and Zimbabwe. Kenya Commercial Bank is the main sponsors with a package of $50,000. Ends