Timothy Gawaya aims to make history as first 2WD winner at WRC
Philippe Bugalski won two events in a front-wheel-drive Citroën nearly 20 years after the Audi Quattro first claimed victory in 1981.
Timothy Gawaya at the park ferme during the Mbarara rally in January this year. PHOTO: Johnson Were
Johnson Were
Journalist @New Vision
Timothy Gawaya aims to become the first two-wheel-drive (2WD) competitor to win a World Rally Championship (WRC) event in the 21st century.
Philippe Bugalski won two events in a front-wheel-drive Citroën nearly 20 years after the Audi Quattro first claimed victory in 1981. However, every single WRC event held in the 21st century has been won by a four-wheel-drive (4WD) machine.
Gawaya, popularly known as "Stinger," will be driving a Toyota Ibiza, while Yasin Nasser, behind the wheel of a Ford Fiesta R5 NEMO, will join him as the two Ugandan-licensed drivers competing in this year’s WRC Kenya Safari Rally (March 20–23) in Naivasha.
“Racing in the WRC is a dream come true, and I want to set a record by finishing the WRC Safari Kenya Rally on the podium in the Africa Rally Championship (ARC) category,” Gawaya said.
The WRC Kenya Safari Rally is the third leg of the 14-event WRC season this year, and Gawaya is determined to secure a podium finish. Known as one of the toughest and most challenging rallies in the world, the WRC Safari Rally has maintained its reputation since its return to Kenya as a candidate event in 2019.
The global event was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic but made a comeback in 2021, with Sébastien Ogier emerging victorious. Ogier won again in 2023, while Kalle Rovanperä claimed victory in 2022 and 2024.
Gawaya began his racing career in 2015 as a route sweeper at the Eastern Motor Club Rally in Jinja. By 2018, he had secured the position of second runner-up in the 2WD national championship.
This year, he will compete in the Africa Rally Championship (ARC) category. His best result in the continental event so far is a seventh-place finish overall.
“I chose the Kenya edition of the WRC because it is the most affordable of all WRC events, as it’s in our neighborhood, in Kenya,” Gawaya noted.
“I want to win the ARC championship this year, just like Charles Muhangi (RIP) did in 1999, and I plan to race in all other ARC events,” Gawaya added.
Meanwhile, thousands of Ugandan fans are expected to travel to Kenya to support the Ugandan crews in this global event.
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