Zim’s Whyte wins Pearl rally

ARC standings after two rounds: 1. S.Muna (ZAM) 16 2. J.Whyte (ZIM) 15 3. H.Miyoshi (JAP) 11 Pearly Rally results: J. White 2:39.05 H. Miyoshi 2:39.38 S. Muna 2:40.19 J. Williams 2:45.19 A. Khan 2:50.48 D. Smith 2:59.09 R. Lwakataka 3:13.39 A. Ashraff 3:36.13 P. Horsey 3:42.20 S. Muwonge 4:33.23 J. Gatonye 5:04.29 Zimbabwean Jamie Whyte won the second leg of the African rally championship dubbed KCB Pearl rally which climaxed on Sunday in Kampala, Uganda. Whyte sensationally came from behind to beat Japan’s Hideoshi Miyoshi and Zambia’s Muna Singh to the title. The Zimbabwean, who ensured that the Pearl rally trophy goes to his country for the second year running, beat Miyoshi by 33 seconds. Zimbabwean, Conrad Rautenbach, now a world rally championship driver won the event last year. The victory propelled Whyte from fourth to second position in the Africa Rally Championship with 15 points, just one behind Zambian Muna Singh. Muna Singh pipped Jas Mangat to the podium by 13 seconds but Mangat faced disqualification after the Zambian protested to the stewards that Mangat received assistance after his car developed problems. Jon Williams won the junior Pirelli category and inherited the fourth overall position from Mangat. Rose Lwakataka who finished seventh overall on her international debut was the second best Ugandan driver. Susan Muwonge returned to ramp 11th, registering her second successive Pearl rally finish. Only five Ugandan drivers completed the rally as a host of other local competitors including pre-event favorite Emma Katto dropped out in the grueling Mityana route. Meanwhile, Rwanda’s Rudy cantanhede who withdrew at the last minute has two points which he attained after finishing seventh in the first leg of the African rally championship held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in February. The next event on the African rally championship calendar is the KCB Safari rally set for June in Kenya after the Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally was cancelled due to lack of sponsorship. However, the local event will be made international with an aim of attracting European and African drivers. Ends

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Zim’s Whyte wins Pearl rally