Defending champion Mohamed Roshanali seen in his Subaru Impreza in one of this year’s national rally rounds
The 5th round of the Rwanda Automobile Association (RAC) national Motocross Championship, the Gakwaya Memorial Rally championship is set to attract a packed menu of competition in the weekend of October 28-29, 2017 in Huye District.
Eric Gakwaya, the event organizer told KT Sports on Wednesdaythat Huye residents will be in for a real treat when rally cars and motorbikes hit the dusty roads in this year’s Huye Rally dubbed ‘Gakwaya Memorial Rally’ in the Southern Province.
For a second-year running, the Gakwaya Memorial Rally will attract international rally drivers and motorcyclists taking part in the Motorbike freestyle and Motorcycle trials as well as vying for points on the national rally calendar.
“Preparations are underway and we hope to have a well-organized event. We have a good turn up of interested participants who are ready to make that event thrilling. We have 14 rally cars and 8 international motor bikes ready to take part in the event,” added Gakwaya.
The two South African freestyle motocross riders; Nick de Wit and Scott Billet are the only foreign motorcross riders taking part in the event.
In the motor rally category, defending champion Burundian Mohamed Roshanali commonly known as MoMo and his navigator Jean Giesen will grace the event with their Subaru Impreza. Roshanali is also the reigning Rwanda National Rally champion.
Other foreign drivers expected include Ugandans Jones Kansiime who will be driving a Mitsubishi (EVO 9), Byron Rugomoka (MIT), Hakim Kabanda (MIT), Rogers Kigundu (SUB) and Ismail Otega (Toyota Runx) and Ugandan female driver Leila Blick Mayanja, who will be cruising a Toyota Allex.
For the local drivers, the battle will be between Jean Claude Gakwaya, Genese Semana and Sakumi Gasarabwe among others as they fight for national championship points.
The first leg of the race will start from Rango-Gisagara covering a distance of 112 km in 7 super stages while the freestyle motocross will take on 44.10 km (156.60 km in total). The second leg will cover four super stages with a distance of 155 km while motocross riders will cover 82.50 km.
The Gakwaya Memorial Championship is the fifth round on the national rally calendar. It comes after the Sprint Rally, Kabale Rally, Pearl of Africa and Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally which was held in September.
The Gakwaya Memorial Rally edition will be staged in remembrance of Gakwaya Claude Sr who died in a rally accident in 1986.
Gakwaya Memorial Rally will pave way for the Rallye de Milles Collines, the final round of the national rally championship scheduled for October 15-16, 2017.
