Entry List for the Mbarara TAP Rally 2007
The release of the entry list for the Mbarara Tower Auto Parts Rally 2007 reveals interesting information. Unusually, the entry of Charles Muhangi in the rally has not raised much hullabaloo. Not among the rally fans and definitely not amongst the competitors. The favourites for the rally are clear and Muhangi is sadly not one of them. One wonders how victory in Mbarara sounds like a dream never to be realized for this son of the soil.
The rally follows a route very similar to last year, with Leg 1 starting in Bushenyi district but ending, and moving the end of leg service, to Mbarara. Leg 2 is concentrated in roads top drivers will find familiar around Mbarara. Last year Ponsiano Lwakataka led the rally over leg 1, lost the lead on the morning to Ronald Sebuguzi, regained it temporarily before bowing to pressure and relinquishing the win to the 2006 National Champion.
It was an epic battle however, one which I know will be repeated this year. The blood drawn over the final stage shoot-out in the Masaka Challenge Rally which formed Round 1 of the National rally Championship is too fresh, the memory too vivid to be forgotten. Sebuguzi will be out not only to defend his win over these same stages last year, but also to restore his claim at the top of the most respected driver in the series. As it is, Lwakataka has made sure it is not lost to whoever cares to listen, that he is the fastest-out-of-the-blocks driver in the country and that Sebuguzi only took victory when the former made mistakes and crashed out.
After winning in Masaka, Lwakataka has resolved to retain the lead and win the 2007 championship. It wasn't easy in Masaka last month and it will not be easy this time either. Back then, the COC changed the basis for determining order of start from the usual seeding points to rally plate ranking (based on overall championship standings at the end of the preceding season). This meant that Sebuguzi was running first car on the road, a situation he believes disadvantaged him immensely, while Lwakataka was running in 3 rd behind Faisal Tezikuba. Faisal and his Impreza and not on the entry list yet but Charles Muhangi is. It remains to be seen where this new way of seeding drivers will place Muhangi who has not garnered any championship points in years, but who on the basis of his local and continental titles is entitled to a top position in the starting order.
Susan Muwonge is back, unfazed after a high-speed crash in Masaka. Before she crashed she was closest of the rest to the leading duo. Now in the absence of Tezikuba she can confidently, if slowly, grab a podium finish if she can show more consistency than Charles Muhangi and Isa Nyanzi. Nyanzi who has literally arisen from the dead was setting top 4 times in Masaka. Isa Numba is also back after taking a year's sabbatical. However his return with old machinery means not much is expected from him in this particular rally.
The rest of the entry list is names which are completely new to motorsport. Notable among these is Ghalip Rabea who is entering a rally in Uganda for the first time ever but whose entry in an N10 Subaru Impreza WRX has gotten people talking. Robert Kakogoso has however competed twice before and has beaten 4wd turbo charged cars with his "street" celica. Vincent Kibudde has also done a handful of events but is known as a consistent finisher. Edson Mungyereza, 2wd champion 2006 is expected to win that class without a problem although entries in the category are still too low to make any assessment of his individual abilities behind the wheel.
Entries close Tuesday, 20th March 2007 and un updated entry list will be published during the course of the week.
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