Mt. Gorilla Rally

AFTER last month’s Puma Energy Rally of Tanzania, Kigali is the battlefield for over 10 Subaru cars battling for top honours in the KCB Mountain Gorilla Rally, which gets underway today with a Super Stage session at Gahanga Quarry in Kicukiro.The people of Bugesera, Shyorongi and Nyacyonga are privileged to catch a glimpse of the race as the cars will be traversing their areas after a super special stage on day one.Home boy Giancarlo Davite, in Subaru Impreza, will be flagged first ahead of local rival Olivier Costa, also in a Subaru Impreza “Omelette”.Other Rwandan drivers in Subaru Imprezas include; Fitidis Christakis, Mitraros Elefter, Johhny Murengezi and Claude Kwizera while Said Twizeyimana and Mayaka Felekani have Mistubishis with Ange Cyatangabo driving a VW Golf, Janvier Mulemba and Genese all driving Peugeot 205s.The home drivers will face stiff competition in the battle of Subaru Imprezzas from their Ugandan rivals led by Jas Mangat, John Consta Karumuna, Ponsiano Lwakataka, Edson Mungyereza and veteran rally driver Charles Muhangi.Other Ugandans in the race but in different cars are Duncan Mugabi in a Mitsubishi, Peter Kalule in a Toyota Fx, Wampamba in Toyota Celica, and Gilberto in Toyota Levin.The engine war is destined to be settled in four key battles; (1) Mitsubishi vs Subaru, (2) battle of local drivers vying for the National Rally Championship [NRC] points, (3) battle of the top boys fighting for ARC points and (4) the battle between locals against foreign ‘invaders’.Zambia’s youthful driver Mohammed Essa, who won his maiden Africa Rally Championship (ARC) title after winning the Puma Energy Tanzania International Rally, last month, will not compete in the Mt. Gorilla Rally.Davite is ranked second on the African rally championship standings with 55 points. Essa has accumulated 115 points. However, the Italian born driver is focused on placing a strong finish to earn more points. “Even though I have lost the ARC title, I’m not ready to give up, I want to win so that I score more points and close the gap on Essa,” Davite told Times Sport.The three-day rally will cover a total of 600km, of which approximately 300km will be competitive. There is a total of 16 competitive sections which will be re-run over the course of the rally, the longest of which will be 25km and the shortest 2.4km.The rally kicks off from the Expo Grounds today. The whole rally runs in surroundings of Kigali City within a maximum of 60km as opposed to previous years where it traversed upcountry areas.Leg 1 will have 10 special stages at Gahanga quarry; Leg 2 will have 6 special stages passing through Muhanda to Shyorongi, while the drivers will cruise through Nduba to Nyacyonga. The closing ceremony will be on Sunday at the Expo Grounds in Gikondo.Davite finished second, behind Jean Yves Ranarivelo of Madagascar in last year’s edition.

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Mt. Gorilla Rally