Chipper targets NRC

By Douglas Mazune CHIPPER Adams' victory in the Royal Birthday rally at the weekend to lead the NRC standings resurrected his hopes of clinching his maiden national championship. Chipper who won his second rally this season to top the NRC table on 200 points, 10 points clear of National champion Charlie Lubega, proved himself as a hot favourite for the national crown. The fans' darling, believed to be the most skilled driver in the country, but with no national title under his belt, is determined to produce results as well. "We will try our best this year, sponsorship is coming through and in the next rally we shall have spare parts because we need them to be safe," the Shell and Hima Cement sponsored Chipper said. "We have been running without spare parts." He is also inspired by the urge to reward his fans who contributed to the purchase of his Mitsubishi Evo 5. He was always let down by the old rear wheel Toyota Supra in the previous seasons. "I was unchallenged because Charlie got problems and Lumala was out, it was a very rough rally, I did not enjoy it like the one in Mbarara," he said. With two sections left, Lubega was lagging seven minutes behind second placed Kuku Ranjit but showed he is the champion when powered his Mitsubishi Evo4 to beat Kuku into third place. He won the last two sections with a big margin to move two minutes ahead of Kuku and in the process, reduced the margin between him and Chipper from 14 to 10 minutes. Giovanni Storchi, who made a first appearance in a new Lancia Integral, promises to be a big force when he masters his powerful car. Veteran Godfrey Katende who returned from retirement after 10 years, in a Ford 1978 model made a good account of himself to finish the third successive rally. Final results: 1.Chipper Adams 02:35.12 2.Charlie Lubega 02:45.22 3.Kuku Ranjit 02:47.01 4.Giovanni Storchi 03:20.19 5.Nadim Lalani 04:03.05 6.Kasozi Ssekalala 04:25.17 7.Godfrey Katende 04:42.03 8.Arthur Blick 05:11.44 Ends