Ashraf opens route in rally calendar opener
Mar 04, 2009
NATIONAL champion Ahmed Ashraf will for the first time hit the road first in the BUGMUNS/ Lake View Rally that runs in Mbarara and Bushenyi districts this weekend.
By Douglas Mazune
NATIONAL champion Ahmed Ashraf will for the first time hit the road first in the BUGMUNS/ Lake View Rally that runs in Mbarara and Bushenyi districts this weekend.
Ashraf returns to the route where he won his first rally last year with a challenge of opening the way.
The Ali Motorsport Rally Team driver has provided a more effective route opening Subaru Impreza to alert him of hazards on the road. Munir Cader will drive the route opener.
Ashraf (Subaru N 8), who will be pursued by former national champions Ponsiano Lwakataka (Subaru N8) and Ronald Ssebuguzi (Mitsubishi Evo4) is unfazed by pace of the chasing pack.
“We are not competing against anybody, we are competing against ourselves. We want to improve on last year’s performance. People are taking this rally as a do-or-die but we will keep cool and hopefully finish in a good position,†said Ashraf, a medical doctor by profession. He joined the sport in 2007.
Female drivers Susan Muwonge (Subaru N10) and Leila Mayanja (Evo4) will hit the road fourth and fifth respectively.
The opening round of the 2009 National Rally Championship has a bumper entry of 25 drivers who will traverse Mbarara and Bushenyi for two days.
The ceremonial start will be at FINA Bank, Mbarara branch on Saturday, and cars will head to Bushenyi where they will tackle six sections in the first leg. The second leg in Mbarara on Sunday will cover three sections.
Horizon Coaches, Tower Auto Parts, FINA Bank, Trust Condoms, Fire and Safety Appliances and Mityana-based St. Charles Medical Centre, Auto-craft Syndicate, Pelican Hotel and Coca Cola Mbarara have jointly sponsored the rally.
Meanwhile, tyre company Arrow Centre have announced a return to motorsport sponsorship by taking on upcoming rally driver Abu Samad Mohammed, adds Frank Sserugo.
Mohammed received a sh5m package for this weekend’s rally.
“We are trying to get back to the sport as away of reaching out to our customers. We formerly sponsored the late Jimmy Dean,†said Amin Virani, Arrow Centre’s general manager, while handing over a 600-litre voucher of fuel to the driver at the company’s offices on Bombo Road.
Mohammed, who has just upgraded to Subaru N8 said the package was timely and hoped to do better this season in his new car.
He will be navigated by Hussein Mukuye, son to Charlie Lubega’s former navigator the late Abedi Musa. Mukuye’s younger brother Musa Nsubuga will be reading for defending national champion Dr. Ashraf.
NATIONAL champion Ahmed Ashraf will for the first time hit the road first in the BUGMUNS/ Lake View Rally that runs in Mbarara and Bushenyi districts this weekend.
Ashraf returns to the route where he won his first rally last year with a challenge of opening the way.
The Ali Motorsport Rally Team driver has provided a more effective route opening Subaru Impreza to alert him of hazards on the road. Munir Cader will drive the route opener.
Ashraf (Subaru N 8), who will be pursued by former national champions Ponsiano Lwakataka (Subaru N8) and Ronald Ssebuguzi (Mitsubishi Evo4) is unfazed by pace of the chasing pack.
“We are not competing against anybody, we are competing against ourselves. We want to improve on last year’s performance. People are taking this rally as a do-or-die but we will keep cool and hopefully finish in a good position,†said Ashraf, a medical doctor by profession. He joined the sport in 2007.
Female drivers Susan Muwonge (Subaru N10) and Leila Mayanja (Evo4) will hit the road fourth and fifth respectively.
The opening round of the 2009 National Rally Championship has a bumper entry of 25 drivers who will traverse Mbarara and Bushenyi for two days.
The ceremonial start will be at FINA Bank, Mbarara branch on Saturday, and cars will head to Bushenyi where they will tackle six sections in the first leg. The second leg in Mbarara on Sunday will cover three sections.
Horizon Coaches, Tower Auto Parts, FINA Bank, Trust Condoms, Fire and Safety Appliances and Mityana-based St. Charles Medical Centre, Auto-craft Syndicate, Pelican Hotel and Coca Cola Mbarara have jointly sponsored the rally.
Meanwhile, tyre company Arrow Centre have announced a return to motorsport sponsorship by taking on upcoming rally driver Abu Samad Mohammed, adds Frank Sserugo.
Mohammed received a sh5m package for this weekend’s rally.
“We are trying to get back to the sport as away of reaching out to our customers. We formerly sponsored the late Jimmy Dean,†said Amin Virani, Arrow Centre’s general manager, while handing over a 600-litre voucher of fuel to the driver at the company’s offices on Bombo Road.
Mohammed, who has just upgraded to Subaru N8 said the package was timely and hoped to do better this season in his new car.
He will be navigated by Hussein Mukuye, son to Charlie Lubega’s former navigator the late Abedi Musa. Mukuye’s younger brother Musa Nsubuga will be reading for defending national champion Dr. Ashraf.