Lubega on cloud nine

By Douglas Mazune HAVING led for the better part of the Royal Birthday rally Chipper Adams did not know that Charlie Lubega had turned tables in the ultimate section to snatch victory by the breadth of a razor blade. Neither was Lubega who recovered at an incredible rate of about half a second per kilometre in the 30-km section sure he had made one of the most dramatic finishes in the history of Ugandan rallying. “J.B, J.B by how many seconds?” inquired Lubega as he ran towards Chipper’s navigator (Justin Beyendeza) in the service park. “You were driving crazy. You have beaten us by two seconds,” Beyendeza replied in disbelief. When Chipper’s navigator told him that they had been beaten by two seconds, the American thought Lubega had only won the last section but not the entire rally. Even sportswriters (the author inclusive) were already interviewing Chipper in the Naggalama service park — mistaken that Lubega had only managed to recover two of his 15-seconds deficit. A jubilant Lubega later offered his sympathy to Chipper: “Sorry. I know how it pains but I badly needed that win for the championship.” The early part of the highly competitive 2001 season was characterised by such tight contests. Chipper had earlier held off such a late charge by Lumala (Toyota Celica ST185) in the Caltex rally, the opening round of the National rally championship series in January. Chipper edged Lumala by seven seconds. Lumala actually lost the rally at the Lugazi service park where he incurred a 30-second penalty on a mechanical problem he did not rectify. “It is painful that we did not rectify the problem that caused the penalty, it is more painful that we went on to win the last two sections with the problem. And now the man has beaten us by just seven seconds,” Lumala lamented. In the first half of the season, Chipper and Lubega ran neck to neck for the title race. But the former bowed out in July after he crashed his sh150m Mitsubishi Evo5 beyond repair during the Shell Helix rally. Earlier Lubega had also rolled the Mitsubishi Evo4 at Kaazi during the super special stage of the same rally. Lumala in Toyota Celica ST 185 ‘Tiger 2’ won the Shell rally to end an 18-month winless streak. Like Chipper, Lumala also lost his Toyota Celica ST 185 ‘Tiger 1’ at Lubiri in a crash that brought down the roof of a nearby home and tree branches. With Chipper out of contention Lubega then beat Lumala to capture his second national title with two events to spare. The season had a sad moment in September. The month had the worst hitherto prestigious Pearl of Africa rally this time organised by out of favour AAU. The finish ramp was a bad sight as mediocre Kenyans led by Paul Bailey swept the top four positions of the low-key event boycotted by the majority of local drivers. Seven days later, drivers graced the TOTAL Quartz rally organised under the auspices of Federation of Motorsport of Uganda (FMU). The Mbarara rally that covered the hilly terrain of western Uganda came off as the most challenging event of the season. Dare devils Lubega and Lumala beat home-boy Charles Muhangi into third place — the former Africa champion has since never returned to the cockpit of his Subaru Impreza. Lubega said his national championship was hard earned. “Last year I beat the WRC (World Rally Car) two times, but this season was tough. I had those close battles with Chipper and Lumala,” Lubega said. Nadim Lalani exhibited consistence to beat Ponsiano Lwakataka to the 2001 Clubman Rally Championship. Nadim, faces top guns in the NRC next season. The 2001 season was a thriller. ends