Muna Singh retains Zambia International Rally title
By Ignatius Mazeko
TWO-time FIA African Rally Championship (ARC) winners, Muna Singh and Dave Sihoka this afternoon retained the Zambia International Rally crown in dramatic fashion on the final day of the 476.54-km competition in Chisamba.
Muna and Sihoka, who won back-to-back African titles in 2004 and 2005, overtook overnight leaders Mohammed Essa and his caretaker Uganda co-driver Moses Matovu who were favoured to win the event in a Subaru Impreza N11 following their dominance on Friday and yesterday.
Unfortunately for the 21-year-old Essa, his chances evaporated through fumes of smoke after the engine of his Madison General Insurance Company Zambia (MGen) backed car caught fire when entering Service after the 33.60-km MSF/ Chaloshi 11th stage.
Muna, who won last year’s title in similar fashion after trailing Essa in the first three days, again capped a fantastic display on the last day to win the day after timing 2:59:32, just under a minute ahead of Zimbabweans Jamie Whyte and Philip Archenoul, who by emerging second effectively retained the African titles.
Muna, who had shown composure even when trailing Team Madison Racing mate Essa on the first two days, recalled his vast racing experience according to the script and only needed the first stage of the morning, 33.60-km MSF/ Chaloshi, to wipe out Essa’s 16-second overnight lead.
By the second stage, 16.78-km Westage, Muna at the wheels of a Subaru N10, had established a 10 second lead and his cause was aided by an unforeseen fire that torched the engine of Essa’s car following a fuel leak as the 21-year-old was entering the Service Park at Fringilla.
“With rallying it’s not over until it’s over. We knew that we had two big stages today and we pushed hard on the first stage. By the end of the first stage we already had the rally by the scruff of the neck,” Muna said.
The 2007 Zambian champion, however, commiserated with his team-mate Essa saying he would have loved to be in first and second position with his younger compatriot, who is among the four young African drivers nominated to compete in next month’s Africa Pirelli Star Driver (PSD) ‘shoot out’.
Whyte, who finished 50 seconds behind Muna, was ecstatic about retaining the African title but the veteran Zimbabwean was still complaining about not winning the Zambian International Rally for the umpteenth time.
This is the third time this Subaru N10 is winning the African title after talented compatriot Conrad Rautenbach, who campaigned in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) last season, romped to the winners’ podium in 2007.
“I am just thanking my service crew for a job well done. Am very happy to retain the African title though sad that the Zambia International Rally has still not been good for me, but I came close to winning it today,” he said.
A downcast Essa was left to rue the efforts of the first two days that culminated into watching his chances of claiming his maiden Zambia International rally disappear at the same pace as smoke from his burning engine was getting integrated into the clouds.
After the fire was quenched his panic stricken service crew, joined by his father, retired driver Khalid Essa, tried in vain to start the car but that was to be the end of his participation in the rally with the Subaru N11 only managing to leave on a tow truck.
Essa explained that he noticed the problem during the 33.60-km MSF/ Chaloshi 11th after Muna had evidently sliced into his overnight lead and tried to push the car but it only lived up to the proverbial adage of forcing a horse to the river, but not to drink water.
“We lost our lead to Muna in the first stage but we pushed hard in the second stage and managed to cut his lead to only three seconds. I know my time will come since even Jamie has never won this rally for 30 years,” mourned Essa.
Paul Monge and Ray Thornicroft (Subaru N12B) were 12 minutes and 32 seconds behind Muna in third position while Ken ‘Ntengwa mubili’ Mukosa and Nashi Chisenga (Subaru N8) were 27 minutes and 22 seconds off the pace in fourth position.
Azim Ticklay and Osward Chibebe on board a Toyota Landcruiser tail-ended in a distant fifth, 52 minutes 49 seconds behind Muna.
Mukosa attempted to make a triumphant entry into the Service Park by exhibiting a doughnut about a kilometre before the end of the final stage, 16.78-km Westage, but his ill-timed decision almost backfired when his car caught fire under the bonnet to exhaust the Amerex Fire’s sponsorship to the rally.
The Monze-based was fined K2 million for his troubles because it forbidden to perform such activities on the stage.
Rwandan Giancarlo Davite and Sylvia Vindevogel (Subaru N11), who crushed out yesterday re-entered the race this morning under SupeRally alongside Muna’s son Jassy Singh and Liam Jolly (VW Golf 3) where they both busked in billowing Chisamba.
On an incident parked day, Geoffrey Chulu his brother Lastone Chulu (Toyota Corolla) mis-timed a bend at Westgate farm and rammed into a camera mounted on a tripod stand but luckily its owner, a rally-mad Ugandan cameraman Dean Kasasa was in harm’s way at the time.
“Such things happen in rally, it is part of the sport. It is not the first time that it is happening to me I have lost five to six cameras in similar fashion,” Kasasa said.
The gruelling six-event 2010 African championship series comes to an end in Zimbabwe next monthend. - ZMSA
