'Super Lady'-sports historic success

WHAT was initially perceived by hitherto dominant male competitors as a bad joke when Susan ‘Super Lady’ Muwonge won the Mbarara Rally to take an early lead in the championship, steadily took shape and culminated into a historic victory.

The 2011 motor rally season produced Africa’s first female national champion. It was such a bumpy ride to the top. Douglas Mazune reflects on the good, bad and ugly of 2011.

The Good

Susan Muwonge changed her approach to racing as she outgrew the aggressive style common with the majority of Ugandan top drivers who are more intense than strategic.

Unlike in the past when she merely focussed on section-by-section, she planned the entire race and championship. The shift in approach saw her complete all six races in the championship, two of which she won.

With a mature approach, it was not surprising that she led the championship from start to finish.

Midway the season rivals Godfrey Lubega (Subaru N8), Nasser Mutebi (Subaru N8), Ronald Ssebuguzi (Mitsubishi Evo9) and Wycliff Bukenya title bids collapsed as the season progressed leaving Ponsiano Lwakataka as the last man standing against Muwonge.

Mutebi had upgraded from a Subaru N4 to a Subaru N8, Ssebuguzi moved from a Mitsubishi Evo5 to Mitsubishi Evo9 while Bukenya switched from Mitsubishi Evo7 to Mitsubishi Evo9 but the Super Lady’s commanding lead was unscathed by their new ammunition.

The commitment and investments made by competitors in their quest for the national title heightened the level of competition and will surely carry the momentum to 2012.

Lwakataka and Ssebuguzi made futile attempts at scoring national championship points in the Tanzania and Kenya KCB rallies respectively.

That Muwonge’s competitors gave their best shot home and away makes her even a more deserving champion.

Last season’s sprint and Clubman Rally Champion, Peter Kakaire took a year off and only appeared in Eastern Rally to test his new Subaru N10 which he intends to unleash in 2012.

Rookie Rogers Kiggundu and George Richard have taken the Clubman Rally Championship down to the wire –– it will be decided in the Champion’s Sprint on Boxing Day at Festino in Mukono.

On the international scene, Lwakataka won the Pearl of Africa Rally ending foreign dominance of the race and safety standards improved with no death report in 2011.

The bad

The sport was again rocked by controversy as Ronald Ssebuguzi queried Lwakataka’s time in one of the competitive stages in the UMOSPOC Rally. The national motorsport federation eventually exonerated Lwakataka but the sport’s image was left battered.

At the height of bad blood between the two drivers, Ssebuguzi skipped the Southern Motor Club Rally because it was organised by Lwakataka’s club which could have also affected his title aspiration. But Lwakataka and Ssebuguzi recently buried the hatchet.

The ugly

Unsubstantiated and widely circulated allegations that rival competitors ‘cooperated’ with Lwakataka in last two races in a futile attempt to deny Muwonge the title disturbed many people including officials and fans. 

Mutebi, Bukenya and Lwakataka vehemently denied the talk.

Spectators continued to die in accidents involving racing cars though the cases have since diminished.

 Super Lady’s 2011 season will always be one to remember.