Frank Kaheesi- FMU media Head
FRESH and breathy from the WRC Rally of Grece, Kenya’s Hamza Anwar decided to draw the 1st position to sweep the stages on leg 1 of the Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally, as the fifth ARC round gets underway on Saturday morning.
Anwar co-driven by Din Adnan in a Mitsubishi EvoX gladly took on the role in a bid to enjoy the wide and fast Rwandan roads. At the start draw held at Kigali Convention Centre after the day’s qualifier run, Anwar promised to make lines in the stages for others to follow.
“I prefer going first on the road, and am going to put mark-up lines for chasers,”
“I prefer going first on the road, and am going to put mark-up lines for chasers,” bossed Anwar.
Like Anwar, other ARC contenders seemed internally boiling after Karan Patel posted the fastest qualifier times, giving them a test of what they should expect in long stages.
“I Am ultimately here for a win,”
“I Am ultimately here for a win,” said Patel.
Ugandan top contenders at the event, Jas Mangat and Yasin Nasser, sounded cautious about how they are planning to take on the three-day event, in mind the crucial points desired from the event for their ARC title hopes.
The fifth African Rally championship round rolled off at KCC with a pompous ceremony start and cultural performances from Rwandese cultural groups.
Saturday opens with three stage runs, these include the event’s shortest stage of Gako1(8.3km), Gasenyi1(19.8km) and Nemba1(10km), after refuelling, they are repeated before the day’s first service.
After they will go for the event’s longest stage, Ruhuha1(24.07km), there will be a regroup and then service before it repeats to end the day.
Overnight Parc ferme will be at La Palisse Hotel in Nyamata, Eastern province of the capital Kigali.
