ARC: A milestone in Tanzania's motor sports history
by Our Sports Correspondent
 |
|
Arusha's Navraj Hans, Frank Gitau and
Hans rally team celebrating at the African Rally Championship finish. |
Tanzania was host to the opening round of the prestigious
African Rally Championship (ARC) held in Dar es Salaam from the 11th to the 13th
February 2005. The ARC 2005 known as the Knight support rally of Tanzania was
sponsored and promoted by the Knight Support (T) Limited based in Dar es Salaam
and made a very visible presence with its fleet of fire engines, ambulances and
security guards posted all along the strategic rally route. The stewards also
monitored the rally from an aircraft which followed the rally cars throughout
the two day event. The Knight support rally was the first international rally
staged in Tanzania since the collapse of the East African Safari Rally in 1977.
The Tanzanian Vice President Ali Mohamed Shein flagged off 36 rally cars outside
the New Africa Hotel in Dar es Salaam in the first round of the internationally
recognized African Rally Championship. This event was run as a candidate rally
last year and promoted by FIA this year to a prestigious status of ARC, truly a
milestone in the history of motor sports in Tanzania and a great achievement for
all those who worked extremely hard to get this status.
The natural topographical landscape on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam makes it
ideal for hosting motor rallies and challenges the drivers, navigators, and
rally cars to perform their best on its fast murram/sandy roads, winding hilly
sections and forest tracks, and also promises an exciting weekend for motor
sports fans.
Ugandans Riyaz Kurji and Sayed Kadri driving a Alpha Team prodrive Subaru
Imprezza led with confidence from the start to the finish and dominated the
event with a spectacular show of sideways motoring. Second overall was the
reigning ARC champion Muna Singh and David Sihoka of Zambia also driving a
Subaru Imprezza, in spite of losing in the first round his moral was high and
remarked that a 'new broom always sweeps clean' and wished Riyaz luck in the
forthcoming ARC event.
Third overall was a complete surprise with 22-year-old Navraj Hans from Arusha
navigated by Frank Gitau in a Mitsubishi Evo 4. Hans set the second fastest time
on the first stage to make his presence felt and at the end of leg one he had
better section timings than most of the top drivers and was lying third.
Sandwiched between two veteran drivers car No.1 Zambian champion Muna Singh and
Kenyan top rally driver, Azar Anwar only 20 second behind him with 268km to
maintain his position. A ferocious battle was fought in the competitive sections
where a small error could have changed the overall positions. Navraj analyzing
the consequences of driving under pressure drove with incredible driving skills
and lived up to the expectations of his fans and made sure by all means Tanzania
was represented on the podium. To everybody's surprise at the finish of the
Knight Support Rally, Hans had increased his lead to 2min. 20 seconds taking the
Kenyan top driver a total surprise. Navraj Hans and Frank Gitau had the honour
to carry the Tanzania's flag on the podium and were also awarded the most
meritorious award by the stewards of the rally for his accomplishment.
The the rest of the Tanzanian entries include Issa Mohamed/Hassan, Murtaza Kara/Jatish
Vara, Amarjeet Dhillon/Wenna Brown, Hamid Khan/Nadeen Khan and Khalid Kassam/Shahir
Khan who drove extremely well in the rally.
The full results of the ARC Knight Support Rally were: 1.Riyaz Kurji/Sayed Kadri
- EAU - Subaru Impreza N4 (2:43:27), 2.Muna Singh/David Sihoka - Z - Subaru
Impreza N4 (2:49:08), 3.Navraj Hans/Frank Gitau - EAT - Mitsubishi Evo 4 N4
(2:55:00), 4.Azar Anwar/Kashif Sheikh - EAK - Mitsubishi Evo 6 N4 (2:57:32),
5.Issa Mohamed/Hassan Mamdali - EAT - Subaru Impreza N4 (3:32:31), 6.Murtaza
Kara/Jatish Vara - EAT - Toyota Celica N4 (3:41:58), 7.Amarjeet Dillion/Wenna
Brown - EAT - Subaru Impreza N4 (3:48:52), 8.Hamid Khan/Nadeen Khan - EAT -
Nissan Pulsar N4 (3:49:50), 9.Kahlid Kassam/Shahir Khan - EAT - Subaru Impreza
N4 (3:52:48) and 10.Elefter Mitraros/Paolo Paganin - RWA - Peugeot 106 A6
(3:52:53).
|
