Friday 23rd September 2011 - Singapore
The FIA World Motor Sports Council today approved the 2012 FIA African Rally Championship calendar below:
16-18 March - Zimbabwe Challenge Rally
19-21 April - Sasol Rally South Africa
11-13 May - Zambia InternationalRally
8-10 June - Safari Rally Kenya
13-15 July - KCB Pearl of Africa Rally
24-26 August - Kobil Rally of Tanzania
13-15 Sept - KCB Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally
16-18 Nov - Rally InternationalMadagascar
Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally 2011 - 2nd October 2011
FINAL RESULTS
1. Jean-Yves RANARIVELO / Rila RANAIVANANPIANIO (MDG) Subaru 3:38:38
2. Gaincarlo DAVITE / Sylvia VINDEVOGEL (RWA) Subaru 3:43:02
3. Valery BUKERA / Nital KHETIA (BUR) Subaru 3:45:15
4. Christakis FITIDES / Julie VAN DER HAERT (RWA)Subaru 3:53:47
5. Alain DETHISE / Roland VAN DER VEKEN (BUR) Subaru 4:02:17
6. Freddy RAKOTOMANGA / Adam YACHINE (MDG) Subaru 4:02:32
7. Elefter MITRAROS / Paolo PAGININ (RWA) Subaru 4:18:38
8. Wycliff BUKENYA / Ahmed SENYONJO (UG) Mitsubishi 4:19:39

Jean-Yves Ranarivelo and Rils Ranaivomamianina in their Subaru at speed on route to win the 2011 Kobil Rally of Tanzania and also make history to be the first ever Madagascar crew to win an FIA International rally
KOBIL RALLY OF TANZANIA 2011
JEAN-YVES RANARIVELO WINS FIRST FIA INTERNATION EVENT IN AFRICA
Jean-Yves Ranarivelo and Rila Ranaivomamiana are the Kobil Rally of Tanzania Champions after winning the sixth round of the 2011 African Rally Championship in Dar-es-salaam. The Subaru Impreza drivers become the first-ever set of competitors from Madagascar to win a round of FIA-sanctioned series in the African Continent since making their debut in the competition at the beginning of last season.
“I am over excited and very happy to win my first-ever ARC rally. Rally was good and our car was also good with no major mechanical problem. But it was scary at times to find motor bikes on the roads at speeds of 190kph,’’ said Ranaivomamianini. His victory in one of the most famous rounds of the ARC series overshadowed the anticipated battle between Zimbabwe’s Jamie Whyte and his compatriot Conrad Rautenbach, whose interest in the chase for ARC title was the focal point of the competition.
Despite finishing fourth overall in at the wheels of a hired-Subaru Impreza N16, Rautenbach still maintains the lead of the overall standings of the FIA-sanctioned series with Rwanda and Madagascar yet to host their events. “Constant overheating problems which were caused by the influx of sand that was finding its way into the radiator was a major cause of us slowing down. Mechanics changed the radiator on three different occasions, but we were never able to stop the sand from being scooped from underneath the engine due to the shape of the car,’’ said Rautenbach.
Whyte’s second overall place in Dar-es-salaam has helped him clip six points off Rautencbach’s tally at the top of the table. He is out to register a hat-trick of championship-winning streak following his wins in 2009 and 2010. “Being the first car on the road did not help us on the second day. It was just crazy and at times extremely dangerous to find big trucks on either sides of the road at those high speeds. Amazingly we were still able to set superior stage times to finish second overall,’’ said Archenoul.
The Subaru Impreza of Mohamed Essa of Zambia cruised to third place in his probably last ARC rally this year. “I am very happy with the third place. This is the end of my contest for the 2011 ARC series but may look at South Africa for one off events. The Zambian championship is still very young and has no strong opposition,’’ said Mohammed Rwanda’s Valery Bukera scored his best result in Tanzania by taking up the fifth place in the rally filled with Subaru models.
“I am excited and now looking forward to our rally in Rwanda next. The car behaved well,’’ said Bukera. Patrice Comtois and Carl Voltaire were the best-placed home drivers following their fifth-place finish at the wheel of yet another Subaru Impreza. The only brother and sister crew of Zambia’s Jassy Singh and Jasmeen Singh were forced out on the final day with transmission failure.
Aged 18, Jassy and Jasmeen are children of former African Champion, Muna Singh. They were considered to be among the youngest crews to be participating in the Kobil Rally of Tanzania. “We had all the troubles today with our car. First we broke the rear shock in the first stage before we broke both the arm and bolt joints in the later stage.’’ Asked how his sister would be of help in such cases, with a cheeky smile on his face, Jassy said “it is always a handicap but I am sure she is will be able to carry out a tyre or jack up the car.”
The Nissan 206Z of Jayant Shah and Ravi Chana was the best-placed two-wheel-drive machine in the 11th place out of the 14 finishers.
Provisional Results:
1.Ranarivelo Jean Yves/Ranaivomamiana (Subaru Impreza N12) 02:17:12;
2. James Whyte/Phil Archenoul (Subaru Impreza) 02:18:21;
3. Mohamed Essa/Greg Stead (Subaru Impreza) 02:19:04;
4.Conrad Rautenbach/Nicholas Klinger (Subaru Impreza) 02:19:13;
5. Velary Bukera/Nital Khetia (Subaru Impreza) 02:24:41;
6. Patrice Comotois (Subaru Impreza) 02:37:55;
7. Kirit Pandya/Awadh/Bafadhili (Subaru Legacy) 02:41:50;
8. Dharam Pandya/Sanjay Pandya (Subaru Impreza) 02:42:58;
9. Marco Ferreira/Ratanveer S. Darbar (Subaru Legacy) 02:49:06;
10. Pano Calavrias/Odile Kramer (Subaru Impreza) 02:50:23;
11. Jayant Shah/Ravi Chana (Nissan 260Z) 03:04:35;
12. Alain Dethise/R.Vander Veken (Subaru Impreza) 03:09:58;
13. Nizar Abba/Hetul Dilip Premji (Toyota Celica) 04:14:35.
14. Anthony John/Kurban Harjeet (Land Rover) 04:23:10.
ARC DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP 2011 - After Tanzania - Round 6
1. Conrad RAUTENBACH (Zimbabwe) 105 points
2. James WHYTE (Zimbabwe) 94 points
3. Alain DETHISE (Burundi) 45 points
4. Jean-Yves RANARIVELO (Mad) 40 points
5. Mohammed ESSA (Zambia) 30 points
6. Frederik ROKOTOMANGA (Mad) 28 points
7. Muna SINGH (Zambia) 24 points
8. Schalk BURGER (South Africa) 18 points
9. Giancarlo DAVITE (Rwanda) 15 points
10 Valery BUKERA (Burundi) 10 points
ARC NAVIGATORS CHAMPIONSHIP 2011 - After Tanzania Round 6
1. Nicolas KLINGER (France) 108 points
2. Phil ARCHENOUL (Zimbabwe) 94 points
3. Rila RANAIVOMAMIANIRA (Mad) 40 points
4. Adam YACHINE (Mad) 28 points
5. David SIHOKA (Zambia) 24 points
6. Roland VAN DER VEKEN (Burundi) 22 points
7= Armand DU TOIT (South Africa) 18 points
7= Sylvia VINDEVOGEL (Rwanda) 15 points
9. Nital KETHIA (Burundi) 9 points
MANUFACTURERS 2011 - After Tanzania Round 4
1. Subaru 123 points
2. Ford 93 points
3. Mitsubishi 18 points
4. Toyota 15 points
KOBIL RALLY OF TANZANIA - Saturday 3rd September 2011 - 21h00
End of Leg 1 - results
1. Jean-Yves Ranarivelo / Rila Ranaivamampianio Subaru 1:32:22
2. James Whyte / Phil Archenoul Subaru 1:33:46
3. Essa Mohammed / Greg Stead Subaru 1:34:38
4. Conrad Rautenbach / Nicolas Klinger 1:34:44
5. Valery Bukera / Nital Kethia Subaru 1:38:19
5. Patrice Comitos / Carl Voltaire Subaru 1:46:59
6. Fredeic Rakatomanga / Adam Yachine Subaru 1:47:14

Alain Dethise and Jimmy Rakotofriniga in action on the way to win the ARC section in the 2011 KCB Pearl of Africa Uganda Rally.
KCB PEARL OF AFRICA UGANDA RALLY – Sunday 17th July 2011 – 17h30
ALAIN DETHISE CLAIMS ARC HONORS AS LWAKATAKA WINS KCB UGANDA RALLY
BY SAMSON ATEKA
Burundian Alain Dethise navigated by Madagascar FSAM President Jimmy Rakotofriniga savoured his maiden FIA African Rally Championship (ARC) victory despite finishing third overall behind 2010 Rwanda Champion Christakis Fitidis and trailing Lwakataka by a massive 11.01 minutes margin.
Amiably referred to as “Mafu Mafu” by Ugandan spectators, two times Ugandan Champion Ponsiano Lwakataka was the surprise winner of the 2011 KCB Pearl of Africa Uganda Rally (POAUR).
And just like the KCB Safari Rally last month, the Ugandan tour proved quite unforgiving to foreigners with only two ARC finishers making it to the finish ramp at Oasis KCB Branch.
The Madagascan crew of Fredrick Rakotomanaga and Adam Yachine settled for second in the continental series and 5th in the overall classification. Susan Muwonge, the Ugandan “Super Lady” was named the best female driver when she romped home fourth overall in a day full of drama and gremlins.
But Lwakataka, who won back to back Uganda National Rally Championship (NRC) titles in 2005 and 2006, had his Pearl campaign effectively sewn up when event pace-setters Jas Mangat of Uganda and Zim oldie James Whyte retired on Leg2.
Recounting some of the tormenting moments he has had to contend with since the rally zoomed off on Friday, the Ugandan speed merchant, nevertheless, thanked God for his first ever Pearl of Africa victory.
"In fact, it has come as a big surprise to me because the way I started wasn't good. I didn't want to open the road so I took a penalty for that on Saturday. On leg 1A (spectator stage), I found myself in an unfamiliar 16th place and though the position was later overruled by stewards, such things really affected my driving. I have done my best- pushed my best and God has given me the victory," said Lwakataka.
Mangat had been the talk of town what with his new-found high-octane approach and had his Subaru Impreza N12 going at full blast in the first two days, but with just one stage to spare, he exited the rally at full pelt.
Mangat’s game plan was to just take it easy on Sunday and get to the end but the rally gods proved otherwise.
“We were driving really safe as we didn’t have the front traction. We were just on rear drive and when we came round the corner, a pretty easy corner, we cut a bit to the right and hit an anthill,” Mangat expounded how he rolled at CS16 (Mbalala-Bibbo) stage.
This was incidentally the same spot where his compatriot Ronald Sebuguzi had rolled on Saturday.
Whyte was well on course for another ARC win until gear box gremlins forced him out in the 14th Competitive Section at Nakifuma 3.
His retirement was indeed Conrad Rautenbach’s delight.
With three more rallies in Rwanda, Tanzania and Madagascar and 75 points up for grabs, Rautenbach still leads the ARC table standings with 93points despite opting for VW Rally South Africa this weekend.
Mangat had fought a good fight but as the old adage goes “he had not survived to seep in it” with a whole 5minutes ahead of Lwakataka at the penultimate competitive section.
“This morning (Sunday) we felt a bit nervous because we have not led in a big rally like this one. But we felt pretty confident because we had a big lead at penultimate stage,” continued Mangat.
Whyte’s navigator Phil Archenoul looked rather dejected with their Ugandan tour.
“We are a bit sad because we were hoping for a bit of an advantage on Conrad. We were comfortably on the lead of Africa-but you know Jamie races not just for the championship-Jamie races to win and we were really going for that,” explained Archenoul.
As Leg 2 zoomed off at Hotel Africana in Kampala, Mangat enjoyed a 3minutes cushion but Whyte put his stuff together and was really flying in the morning run.
“We realized that Jas (Mangat) had a problem with the centre diff so we thought it was a chance of catching him. Unfortunately, that is what happens in rallying-the gods of rallying take over-but we are still going to Tanzania and we just don’t gonna give it up to Conrad,” explained Whyte.
ARC STANDINGS AFTER UGANDA
1.Conrad RAUTENBACH (Zim) 93
2.James WHYTE (Zim) 76
3. Alain Dethise (Bur) 25
PROVISIONAL FINAL RESULTS POAUR:
1. Ponsiano Lwakataka/Musa Nsubuga (Subaru N8-UG) 2.05.42
2. Christakis Fitidis/Eric Maxime (Subaru N12-RWA) 2.14.45
3. Alain Dethise/R. Vander Veken (Subaru N11-BUR) 2.15.16
4. Susan Muwonge/Edmond Kyeyune (Subaru N10-UG) 2.16.52
5. Dr. Ashraf Ahmed/Daniel Ayebare (Subaru-UG) 2.17.28
6. Freddy Rakotomanga/Adam Yachine (Subaru N11-MAD) 2.20.25
7. Wycliff Bukenya/Frank Serugo (EVO9-UG) 2.21.00
8. Jagjit Singh Liddar/Joseph Kamya (VW Golf-UG) 2.32.28
9. Edson Mungeyereza/Ronald Luwangula (Subaru N10-UG) 2.34.53
10. Haji Sempebwa/Uarban Mulindwa (Subaru-UG) 2.37.22
11. Geoffrey Kiaga/ Paul Nsubuga (Subaru N10-UG) 2.37.26
12. Savtinder Singh Saini/Vimal Gajjar (Subaru N8-UG) 2.41.29
13. Ismail Ortega/John Achal (Toyota Levin) 2.50.34
14. Mansoor Sanya/Abdallah Nyombi (Subaru Impreza-UG) 2.58.05
15. Frank Lubowa/Francis Wamala (Subaru-UG) 3.10.04
16. John Burrows Lumu/Shafiq Senabulya (Subaru-UG) 3.37.21
Conrad Rautenbach and Nicolas Klinger extended their lead in the 2011 FIA African Rally Championship, winning the Sasol Rally in South Africa by a dominant 11½ minutes..... more