Kenyan Bailey grabs Petro rally title

KENYAN Paul Bailey in a Toyota Celica ST 205 yesterday built on his first leg lead to win the Petro Pearl of Africa Uganda rally, reports Douglas Mazune. Bailey beat his countryman Fazal Butt in a Subaru Impreza by 29 minutes after Rory Green who was running neck to neck with the winner was forced out by a gearbox problem on the fifth section. John Ngungiri and Jamil Khan completed the Kenyans 1-2-3-4 rout of Uganda’s Africa Rally Championship (ARC). A host of local drivers boycotted the rally due to wrangles that have hit the sport. Bailey decried the absence of local drivers in the AAU organised event. “The sport is bigger than individuals, why boycott an ARC event like this. We should be fighting with Ugandan top drivers for victory but not ourselves (Kenyans),” Bailey said. “We needed big guys like Katto, Charlie and Lumala — this problem should be resolved.” Uganda’s Ismail Lule (Subaru Impreza) and Umar Mukiibi in a Datsun 120Y came fifth and seventh respectively in what will go down as the most embarrassing edition of the Pearl of Africa rally. Kaka Jr in a Golf GTI was sidelined by a mechanical problem in the third section — joining Dembe team mate Kuku Ranjit (Subaru) who dropped out on day one. Ugandans Moses Mujabi, Godfrey Katende and Godfrey Katumba, and Rwandan Nathalie Cox also fell out of the rally that had seven finishers. The rally that is the sixth round of the ARC series was sponsored by Petro Uganda, Hotel Equatoria, Viper room and TV Africa. Provisional results: Paul Bailey 3:38.55 Fazal Butt 4:17.52 John Ngunjiri 4:28.13 Jamil Khan 4:31.09 Ismail Lule 4:44.46 Elefter Mitraros 4:52.44 Umar Mukiibi 6:22.21 Ends