The eventual start list of 12 fell far short of the initial promise of 18 drivers.  But this being a “long-haul” event it was understandable.  Vincent Kibudde’s Mirage was spotted on Saturday morning “on a rope” being pulled in the direction of Kampala.  Gearbox failure apparently.  Mustapha Jamal’s Impreza had been panel-beaten and sprayed following an accident on the way back from scrutineering and the car had made it to Mbarara in one piece.  But on the morning of the race, it lost boost and failed to recover even after the turbo was changed.  For the first time in years, Ben Koyesiga found the journey home from his base in Jinja too distant to make. 

Edson Mungyereza experienced the same problem.  But the disappointment of the rally came from Charles Muhangi who opted to route-open rather than compete after promising “fire”!  So it was Sebuguzi (Lancer Evo, JOMAYI), Lwakataka (Impreza, WBS/Wavah Water), Nnumba back with the Supra, Bob Roberts (Ford pickup, Pearl Petroleum), Susan Muwonge (Impreza, St Francis Buddo), Leonard Bagarukayo (Impreza, Rwenzori mineral water), Mansur Sanya (impreza ), Dr Ashraf Ahmed (impreza), Ahmed Sempebwa (legacy), ?? (Mazda), Anne Mungoma (Mirage) and Robert Kakogoso (Celica).

We were caught by surprise when Sebuguzi burst onto the stage when we were expecting a warning shot from Muhangi who did not show until 1 minute after Lwakataka had passed, meaning he had been overtaken on the stage by both crews, losing them time and damaging Lwakataka’s campaign by more  than a minute!  Not far from the truth but not exactly either.   The 2 drivers reported that they had not seen the African champion meaning he had lost his way on the stage!  Lwakataka had lost a minute and a second due to clutch failure.  Susan Muwonge had been beaten on the stage by Bagarukayo and lost 2 minutes, not consistent with her pre-event assertion that she was not impressed by her competitor’s speed.  Robert Kakogoso, Mbarara’s second born son after Muhangi did not disappoint the locals.  I lazily commented that I would not be surprised if he finished 3rd on this event. I did not realize the accuracy of this prediction until the end!

A number of crews transported themselves to the end of the stage rather than the start meaning that quite a few people had not completed the recce.  Numba was shocked when on “entering the stage” he encountered Sebuguzi flying into the finish.  Sebuguzi also reported that the safety car had in an effort to block spectator traffic parked on the wrong spot of a hairpin, losing him valuable time, and the stage win to Lwakataka by 7s, despite the clutch problem.  Bagarukayo experienced some suspension problems and had cut Susan some slack.

Service A- Kabwohe

Lwakataka’s clutch was fixed while Sebuguzi reported no problems whatsoever.  Muhangi’s route opening N10 had suffered some problems and would not be able to continue on duty. 

Stage 3 – Kabwohe – Itendero 29kms

The longest stage of the rally was also the smoothest however, negating the distance’s impact.  We were surprised however when Lwakataka who appeared to be driving faster than Sebuguzi’s leading EVO, showed up 5min and 41 seconds after the leader had passed.  We suspected that something was not right and on returning to service we found out.  Sebuguzi had made an early booking at the first service control earning himself a hefty 3 minutes penalty, cancelling his overall lead and effectively increasing his interval on the road ahead of Lwakataka to 6 minutes.  Lwakataka had in fact beaten Sebuguzi by 19s on this stage and extended his lead to more than 2 and a half minutes overall.

Service B – Kabwohe

Bob Roberts had overheated his truck and retired at the beginning of Stage 3.  Lwakataka admitted that he had seen Sebuguzi’s mistake in the first service stop but did not want to warn him too early in case he stepped up to the plate and made it hard for Lwakataka to maintain the lead.  But now that the 2006 champion had found out, Lwakataka threw down the gauntlet, vowing to win the rally by a margin bigger than the 3 minutes he had been handed on a platter!

Stage 4  Itendero – Bwizibwera

Lwakataka extended his lead here by a further 28s to more than 3 mins while Robert Kakogoso started to press the 3 imprezas of Sanya, Bagarukayo and Muwonge.

Steg 5 – Bwizibwera – Kyamugorani

It was Lwakataka again who passed the viewing point (Max humps x 3 over Max right into Fast left into Max Jump) leaving spectators with their hands on their heads and beating the current title holder by 15s.  Bagarukayo was pushing Susan Muwonge hard but then again, he was also feeling the pressure from Kakogoso 2 cars behind him.  Kakogoso who was driving a normally aspirated, 2WD, Kisenyi-prepped Celica on street shocks was beating the Impreza of Sanya ahead of him by almost 2minutes per stage!

End of day Service – Kakyeeka

Lwakataka had finished the day with a lead of about 3 and a half minutes.  Sebuguzi appeared to have been beaten into submission with a little less than half the distance to go.  Kakogoso was however firmly in 3rd with Bagarukayo and Susan Muwonge in 4th and 5th respectively.  It was only at this point that the super lady realized what her competition was about.

Dinner time – Saturday night

Sebuguzi’s camp was mixed.  The original plan to give up, save the car for the Pearl rally next month was thrown out.  Sebuguzi was ready to accept his personal mistake that earned him the 3 minute penalty but not his pride on the stages.  Lwakataka had lived up to his proclamation that he would win the rally even after discounting the 3 minute gift from his rival.  It was at this point that Sebuguzi pushed away his dinner plate, picked up his keys, summoned Jeff Kabagambe and vowed to win the “real” competition on the stages back from Lwakataka.  He departed to complete another pass in the route, which he did very late in the night!

Stage 6 – Biharwe – Kyamugorani

Sebuguzi had obviously had a tough night, this time being the one who left spectators holding their heads when he passed the Kyamugorani viewing point.  From the overnight recce, the reading had become “max humps x 3 into fast left CUT INNER TRENCH into Max jump”, the man was attacking and he reaped 30s from Lwakataka effectively neutralizing the “real” time difference between them!  Sebuguzi however reported encountering Lwakataka’s street car, which had unofficially been put on route opening duties when Lwakataka took charge of first car on the road.  It was a clear case for protesting although some had blamed Sebuguzi for not running the car off the road, retiring and seeking disqualification of his opponent.  Robert Kakogoso now running 3rd on the road was not surprisingly a further 3-4 minutes back but also to their chagrin, beating the 3 imprezas now behind him impressively.  Susan Muwonge was charging into Bagarukayo’s dust – with a puncture!

Stage 7 – Bwizibwera – Kyamugorani

Lwakataka had picked up on the big man’s ire and stepped up to the plate nipping back 7s from Sebuguzi.  The rally was still firmly in control of the smaller man although the big man’s pride was still safe.

Service D – Kyamugorani

No news from the service park except perhaps that Lwakataka’s route opener had been retired and seized in evidence!

Stage 8 – Kanyaryeru – Biharwe

This was a rough 20-something km stage originally run at the beginning of the rally as a longer 42km stage terminating at Kakoba.  On a long and medium rough stretch near the end of the stage, Lwakataka did not disappoint when he charged flat out, into and out of a broken bridge and kept center over the stretch of medium rough.  Barely 2 minutes later, Sebuguzi showed up, literally bouncing into and out of the broken bridge and keeping to one side over the bumpy stretch.  More dramatically he was 25s quicker than Lwakataka – over territory that has traditionally been Lwakataka’s, having won this stage all the 3 years it has been run!  With one stage to go, the rally lead was unassailable but egos were now at an all time high.

Lwakataka made it to the end of the stage but was visibly slow, making some people murmur that Sebuguzi had retired and Lwakataka was driving at leisure to ensure a trouble-free finish!  This was reminiscent of 2006 when the same 2 drivers entered the stage being separated by 11s, and then Sebuguzi unexpectedly showed up at the VP before Lwakataka who had retired 6kms into the stage with transmission failure.  The rally leader however confirmed that this time his fuel pump was giving him trouble and that he suspected Sebuguzi’s car of severe overheating caused by mud on the face of the car (probably picked up from the broken bridge)– The 2005 champ however said he had never experienced such relief at finishing (forget winning) a rally as he did now – given that he had retired from 2nd position in the both the 2004 and 2006 editions – mystically, on this same stage! 

Kakogoso now running 2nd on the road was just as impressive as he had been all day, clearing the humps at the VP flat out and taking the fast left like a PRO!  Susan Muwonge continued to pull up to Bagarukayo’s bumper, this time showing up less than 50m behind last round’s CRC winner but not making any attempt to pass.  Later Bagarukayo reported suffering bent suspension arms and a collapsed damper from the previous rough stage.

After about 7 cars, Sebuguzi showed up to the relief of everyone who had feared that he would lose 2nd place to Kakogoso if he was slapped with a super rally penalty for the last 2 stages. It turned out that the car had cut out again in the middle of the stage after having started the stage on the spare fuel pump.  Now it appeared that the problem was in the tank whose interior contains sponge which after aging starts to pulverize, blocking the fuel feed.  Of course this was catalysed by the punishment the car had taken on the rough stage where it was apparent now, even the windshield had been shattered severely.

Final Service Stop – End of Rally

Talk of Sebuguzi’s protest from the route-opening incident of the morning gripped the service park. Lwakataka was pleading with everyone, anyone to get Sebuguzi to drop the protest, admitting his liability but also claiming that he only sent his car out because the route opener had run out of fuel.  He further claimed that he had also trailed the same car for 6kms, and found that after he had passed it, the route was a mess filled with cattle and non-rally traffic.  He accordingly fueled the original route opener from his own pocket and ordered it to resume duties on the morning’s second stage.  I advised him that the only way to get Sebuguzi to drop the protest was to face him as a “man”, admit his liability, concede defeat on the stages (with the exception of the last stage, Sebuguzi had beaten Lwakataka on stage time alone i.e. Lwakataka had won the rally on the basis of the penalty suffered by Sebuguzi the previous day).  This seemed to have done the trick and the rally ended on a happy note with Sebuguzi dropping the protest and looking forward to another competitive day on the stages.  Further, 40kms on the way back to Kampala, Lwakataka’s engine gave up the ghost and guess who towed it back home?

Robert Kakogoso revealed that he had spent every single day since the publication of the route, on recce!  But he also proved that he had the skill and reliability.  He had the entire Muhangi fan base behind him and in true form, they were already wearing his T-shirts.  A serious challenge to the current crop of competitors has been set.

The top 5 results

P.Lwakataka 02:05:47
R.Ssebuguzi 02:21:41
R.Kakogoso 02:32:00
L.Bagarukayo 02:54:19
S.Muwonge 02:56:12

Full results will be available later.