Lumala the toast in Pearl

Sep 03, 2003

LOCAL heroes Charlie Lubega and Moses Lumala are favourites but Zimbabwean teenager Conrad Rautenbach and Burundian Rudi Cantanhede should not be ruled out of contention for the TOTAL Pearl of Africa rally this weekend. Fernando Rueda of South Africa did not make the trip.

By Douglas Mazune

LOCAL heroes Charlie Lubega and Moses Lumala are favourites but Zimbabwean teenager Conrad Rautenbach and Burundian Rudi Cantanhede should not be ruled out of contention for the TOTAL Pearl of Africa rally this weekend. Fernando Rueda of South Africa did not make the trip.

Buoyed by victory over reigning national champion Lubega (320) in the Uganda Motor Club (UMC) rally in July to take the lead in the championship, Lumala (400) is in the mood to follow it up with another win.

“Charlie is the man to beat, we shall mount pressure on him. I have to be cautious with the national championship in sight because third position is good enough,” said Lumala.

He added: “But when you sit in the car and it is moving well, the spirit of competition comes and you forget your strategy. I hope to be calm and if a win comes it is most welcome.”

Lubega, who has fixed a group A engine in his Mitsubishi Evo4, will be hard to tame despite the handicap of running first on road.

Kuku Ranjit, Arthur Blick, Dipu Ruparelia, Ismail Lule, William Blick and Ponsiano Lwakataka are expected to feature prominently in the event.

Drivers will hand in turbo chargers for sealing today at 10.00am at Speke Resort Munyonyo.

Scrutineering of cars will be conducted tomorrow morning at TOTAL Nakawa station before the special stage at Akright estate in the afternoon.

On Saturday, cars will be flagged off at Munyonyo for the second leg in Mityana. The final leg will cover Jinja and Mayuge districts on Sunday.

Meanwhile, William Blick yesterday received a sh12m boost from Protector Condoms.

Protector Condom Product coordinator Twebese Rukandema handed over the package to Blick who will spread the message of condom usage among the rally fraternity.

“Our goal is to contribute to the reduction of HIV/AIDS in Uganda through the promotion of abstinence. It should be the first line of defence, faithfulness, consistence and correct condom use,” Rukandema said.

“The sponsorship of Blick is an effective medium through which we can promote one of the above options.”

Draw list:
C.Lubega (Mitsubishi Evo4)
M. Lumala (Celica ST185)
R. Cantanhede (Mitsubishi Evo3)
R. Kuku (Subaru Impreza)
C. Rautenbach (Toyota Corolla)
R. Dipu (Mitsubishi Evo4)
P. Lwakataka (Subaru Impreza)
A. Blick (Toyota Supra)
J. Ngunjiri (Subaru Impreza)
I. Lule (Subaru Impreza)
W. Blick (Mitsubishi Evo4)
D. Mubarak (Mitsubishi Evo)
E. Mitraros (Peugeot 106)
J. Senyonjo (Mitsubishi Mirage)
I. Numba (Mazda 323)
R. Sebuguzi (Celica ST165)
O. Mayanja (Mitsubishi Galant)
K. Riyaz (Mitsubishi Evo7)
B. Roberts (Celica ST 185)
B Kasamali (Golf GTI)
J. Mangat Golf GTI
B. Puggia (Peugeot 106)
G. Davite (Golf GTI)
M. Sanya (Mazda)
E. Golooba (Mitsubishi Galant)
R. Ogwal (Mitsubishi Evo5)

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