Davite ready to conquer Tanzania

Puma Energy RallyFlag-off line up1. M. Essa (ZAM) Subaru Impreza N162. G. Davite (RWA) Mitsubishi EvoX – N43. J. Mangat (UG) Mitsubishi EvoX – R44. F. Christakis (UG) Subaru Impreza N12 – N4Rwanda national rally champion Giancarlo Davite and navigator Sylvia Vindevogel will be flagged off second behind defending champion Mohammed Essa in the Puma Energy Rally of Tanzania, which gets underway Saturday morning in Dar es Salaam.The race is the fourth round on the Africa Rally Championship, which Davite leads with 33 points. Zambian Essa will hit the road first by virtue of his FIA priority seeding as Africa champion, while Davite is in second place. “We have finished the reccing. Maximum fast but jumps are expected. We will have to fasten our seat belts much tighter.”“With two vertices drops, I believe that we will fly our Miss Evo X. The competitive section is narrow in the beautiful African bush that I love. They are clean, fast, technical, and narrow but all in all it will be a beautiful rally with a beautiful tray of competitors,” Davite’s long time female navigator said after Thursday’s reccing.Mangat, Christakis Fitidis, Kenyans Don Smith and Jaspreet Singh are in third, fourth and fifth positions respectively and will be flagged off ahead of Zambian Jassy Singh. The entry list has 25 crews from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Zambia.If Davite wins this round, he would extend his lead to 58 points but if he falters, then Essa win, the reigning African champion will overtake him and go to 50 points.Uganda’s Mangat, who has 18 points having finished on the podium last month, hopes to close the 15-point gap.Next month the battle ground will shift to Nairobi for the KCB Kenya Safari Rally ahead of the Shell Pearl of Africa Rally in Uganda in August.The Mountain Gorilla Rwanda Rally in September will wrap up Africa Championship rounds in East Africa. The final round of the 2013 continental championship will be the International Rally of Madagascar in November.

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Davite ready to conquer Tanzania