CONRAD RAUTENBACH & PETER MARSH.......WIN AGAIN !!
CONRAD Rautenbach of Zimbabwe became only the second foreign driver to win the Pearl of Africa Uganda Rally in its nine years history.
The event was the third round of 2007 Africa Rally Championship (ARC). Johnny Gemmel from South Africa in 2002 is the other foreigner to triumph in the Ugandan event bfore yesterday. A delighted Rautenbach said that it was good to come back in Uganda after four years and win. “ In 2003 I was still a teenager and managed to finish third but this was a sweet victory. He thanked the organisers for a good competitive event and mechanics for doing a work on the Subaru. Conrad Rautenebach now leads the ARC race with 37 points one ahead of Miyoshi.
The 22-year-old Zimbabwe with co-driver Peter Marsh finished in a time of 2:52:52 beating second placed Hideaki Miyoshi and Hakaru Ichino of Japanese by over four minutes. Miyoshi and Ichino fought hard to grab second place from Zambian Muna Singh and David Sihoka by only 5 seconds in the last stage of the rally.
Dissappointed were South Africans Lola and Megan Verlaque who retired only 2 km from the end of the last stage with a broken rear differenial on their Subaru.
Jas Mangat and Olivier Meganck in a VW Golf (Group S) who finished fourth was the best placed Ugandan and received cheers for the effort. But the biggest cheers were reserved for Susan ‘Super Lady’ Muwonge the only lady to finish the event. “ This is the best moment of my rallying career so far and I thank my husband for all the support,” an overwhelmed Muwonge said.
Emma Katto and Moses Matovu in Subaru who dropped out on Saturday came back on Sunday in a Super Rally won leg two to claim maximum three bonus points. Earlier Ponsiano Lwakataka and Omar Mayanja dropped out in CS16. Fifteen cars stated the three-day 812.40km event and only five finished.
Championship contender Asad Anwar from Kenya succumbed to electric problems in Leg 1 and decided not to continue with the Super Rally.
15 cars started the rally and only 5 finished. The event was run in 20 Competitive section over a competitive distance of 284.90 km. The next fourth round of ARC is the Mountain Gorilla Rally of Rwanda on May 4-5.
The Final overall results are:
1. Conrad Rautenbach/Peter Marsh (ZW/ZW) Subaru Impreza 2:52:52
2. Hideaki Miyoshi / Hakaru Ichino (J / J) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9 2:56:20
3. Muna Singh / David Sihoka (Z / Z) Subaru Impreza 2:56:25
4. Jas Mangat / Oliver Meganck (EAU / EAU) VW Golf GpS 3:42:41
5. Susan Muwonge / E.Keyune (EAU / EAU) Subaru Impreza 4:09:43
2007 ARC standings after Round 3 - P.O.A Uganda Rally
DRIVERS
1. Conrad Rautenbach (Zimbabwe) 37 points
2. Hideaki Miyoshi (Japan) 36 points
3. Muna Singh (Zambia) 16 points
4. Asad Anwar (Kenya) 15 points
5. Patrick Emontspool (Belgium) 9 points
6. Lola Verlaque (South Africa) 7 points
7. Issa Mohamed (Tanzania) 6 points
8. Emmanuel Katto (Uganda) 5 points
9. Don Smith (Kenya) 2 points
10. Anwar Pandya (Tanzania) 1 point
10= Omar Bakressa (Tanzania) 1 point
NAVIGATORS
1. Peter Marsh (Zimbabwe) 37 points
2. Hakaru Ichino (Japan) 36 points
3. David Sihoka (Zambia) 16 points
4. Nicholas Patel (Kenya) 15 points
5. Benoit Daubie (Belgium) 9 points
6. Megan Verlaque (South Africa) 7 points
7. Awadh Bafadhil (Tanzania) 6 points
8. Moses Matovu (Uganda) 5 points
9. Maisam Fazal (Tanzania) 1 point
MANUFACTURERS
1. Subaru 41 points
2. Mitsubishi 36 points
PICTURE CAPTION
Conrad Rautenbach and Peter Marsh in their Subaru at speed in Luwero in front of a 10000 strong crowd at the Spectator Stage within the grounds of the "Kabaka" in Kampala. The Kabaka was the ruler of Uganda before the British came to East Africa.
