Muna Singh starts defence of Zambia International Rally title


By Ignatius Mazeko
 
ELEVENT crews including defending champions Muna Singh and Dave Sihoka will line up this afternoon at InterContinental Hotel for flag off of the 32nd Zambia International Rally, the penultimate round of the six-event FIA African Rally Championship (ARC).
 
Muna and Sihoka will be at the wheels of a Subaru Impreza N10 and as was the case last year the Team Madison Racing pair will be challenged by 21-year-old teammate Mohammed Essa co-driven by Ugandan Moses Matovu in a Subaru N11.
 
African champions Jamie Whyte and Philip Archenoul from Zimbabwe are chasing their maiden Zambia International Rally titles so is Essa who was pipped to the title by Muna on the last day of last year’s edition.
 
Muna will be using this rally to acquire a Prodrive-built engine recently mounted on his Subaru.
 
Rwanda champion Giancarlo Davite brings to Zambia his Subaru N11.
 
Crews, particular Whyte kept on teasing African championship series rival Davite during Reccee questioning why he was driving at a snail’s pace on the track.
 
Davite replied that he was not used to Convoy Reccee and was just short of saying he was not familiar with twisty and narrow stages coming from a country where rally is run on wide and open sections.
 
The Rwandese, who was running at the foot of Convoy Reccee, also complained for being made to close the gates in GM, Kamilonga and Westgate farms.  
 
“Hey guys I am not a farmer, I don’t know how to close the door (gate),” he said at the end GM re-run.  - ZMSA