Muhangi In 18th Place

Jul 13, 2002

CHARLES Muhangi was in 19th position both on road and points on a day that saw 13 cars retire from the 50th Inmarsat Safari after the first of three legs yesterday.

By Douglas Mazune and Reuben Olita inNairobiCHARLES Muhangi was in 19th position both on road and points on a day that saw 13 cars retire from the 50th Inmarsat Safari after the first of three legs yesterday.Ugandan ace Muhangi, who started in position 31, powered his Ekitaguriiro to an impressive standing as he sets for leg two that started at 4.45am Saturday.Finn Tommi Makinen holds a slender advantage after the opening leg of the Safari Rally after British rival Colin McRae closed in on the lead.Subaru driver Makinen dominated the opening stages to open a lead of more than two minutes but Ford’s McRae closed the gap to just 16.1 seconds overnight after setting the pace on the day’s final stage.Makinen had been quickest on the first and third stages with McRae setting the pace on the second and final tests of the opening leg. Championship leader Marcus Gronholm of Finland was the first and biggest casualty as he retired minutes into the opening stage, ‘Ngema’, with his Peugeot suffering engine failure.Top 18 of 35 finisihers:1. Makinen Subaru Two hours 52 minutes and 17.4 seconds2.McRae Ford 16.1 secs behind3. Sainz Ford 2:54.84.Rovanpera Peugeot 3:37.15. Eriksson Skoda 5:52.46. Martin Ford 6:34.27. Radstrom Citroen 11:00.88. Burns Peugeot 15.43.19. Loeb Citroen 18.33.810. Kresta Skoda 22.06.011.KankkunenHyundai 27:07.9 12. Dor Subaru 33:04.7 13.Panizzi Peugeot 35:18.4 14.McRae Mitsubishi 45:49.4 15. Ligato Mitsubishi 59:57.0 16. Arai Subaru 1:02:21.3 17. Singh Proton 1:03:26.1 18. Muhangi Subaru 1:22:18.0 19.Marrini Mitsu’shi 1:42:47.6Ends

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});