Mohammed Essa crashed out as Muna Singh takes over lead
 
By Ignatius Mazeko
 
ZAMBIAN champion Mohammed Essa this morning retired from the 32nd Zambia International Rally he had lead from Friday after the engine of his Subaru Impreza N11 caught fire when entering the Service Park after winning the 16.78-km Westage 11th stage by two seconds and leading the park by 10 seconds.
 
Essa and his Ugandan caretaker co-driver Moses Matovu had earlier lost the 16 second overnight lead he had established on reigning champions Muna Singh and Dave Sihoka, who are now on course to mint their fourth Zambia International Rally titles.
 
Muna, at the wheels of a Subaru N10 that has a Prodrive-built engine, took the lead for the first time in this rally as early as the first stage of the day, 33.60-km MSF/ Chaloshi, when he beat Essa by a health 28 seconds.
 
Essa, who is scoring points for the FIA African Rally Championship (ARC) and is one of the four nominees for next month’s Africa Pirelli Star Driver (PSD) shoot-out in Zimbabwe, was second fastest on the subsequent stage, Westgate.
 
The stage was won by Zimbabweans Jamie Whyte and Philip Archenoul, who were a second quicker than Essa in a Subaru N10 while in third position and three seconds off the pace was Muna. 
   
Essa’s misfortune is a blessing in disguise for now second-placed Whyte and Archenoul, who will be crowned African champions for the second successive year if they finish the final two stages, a repeat of MSF/ Chaloshi and Westage.
 
The 476.54-km rally, which attracted 11 entries, comes to an end just after midday at the plush InterContinental Hotel in Lusaka. - ZMSA