Zimbabwean Crews Fail To Pitch Up For Dave Gordon Rally Which Revs Off This Afternoon With 6 Local Crews
 
By Ignatius Mazeko
 
THE Team Madison Racing crew of driver Mohammed Essa and his Zimbabwean navigator, Greg Stead this weekend have a chance to shoot to the top of the Zim-Zam Challenge if they manage to fashion out a good run in the absence of Zimbabwean series leaders, Jamie Whyte and Philip Archenoul.
 
Whyte and his compatriot navigator Philip Archenoul each opened up eight point leads over Essa and Stead after winning the well-organised Tom Savory Memorial Rally held two weeks ago in Monze.
 
Essa and Stead, in a Madison Subaru Impreza N11, start as favourites to win the two-day 300km long Dave Gordon Rally, the penultimate round of the six-event Zim-Zam, that revs off later this afternoon with six local crews on a one loop 2km Super Special Stage at the Lusaka Motor Club (LMC) in the Showgrounds.
 
This rally means a lot to Essa because victory when the race comes to an end at the LMC tomorrow afternoon will be enough for 20-year-old lad to retain the national title having led the pack from the first rally of the season.
 
However, Essa will not have it easy because of Ashish Patel and Mark Terken, on board a Heineken Subaru N6, as well as Azim Ticklay and his navigating son Imran in a standard Toyota Landcruiser, who are all in hot pursuit for the cherished local crown.

 
The Heineken crew can whisk away the title from their Madison rivals provided they emerge victorious tomorrow and the latter fail to finish the rally, whose other entries are Paul Monge and Mtumbi Goma in a Poncho Subaru N12B.
 
The rest of the entries are Joseph Felemenga and Ernest Zulu on board a Subaru N8 and last but not the least Dani Beanie and Adrian Sutherland in a Poncho-backed Toyota Landcruiser.
 

Unfortunately, none of the Zimbabwean drivers expected for the rally, who include African champion Jamie Whyte and Richard Robinson, made it for this rally.
 
Equally not racing this weekend is Muna Singh, who dropped to third position in the Zim-Zam race two weeks ago in Monze after cooking the engine of his Madison Subaru N10 during the Tom Savory Memorial Rally.
 
According to his camp, Muna failed to repair his car in time for this rally but have promised to make the trip to Harare for the TT Rally, the closing event of this year's Zim-Zam series. ©ZMSA