Leila Mayanja has plunged in at the deep end as the only female Ugandan driver to compete in the KCB Kenya Safari Rally in Nairobi this weekend.
Leila Mayanja (middle), Ismail Otega and his co-driver being flagged off to Kenya for the KCB Safari Rally
The BIDCO Rally Team driver, in her recently acquired Mitsubishi Lancer Evo5, departed yesterday for the event that is the fifth round of the Africa Rally Championship.
“I will be driving in Kenya and I am hoping for the best,” Mayanja said.
She will be in company of compatriots Jas Mangat (Mitsubishi Evo X, R4), Ismail Otega (Toyota Runnex) and Godfrey Wampamba (Subaru N10).
The Ugandan contingent was yesterday seen off by Federation of Motorsport Clubs of Uganda (FMU) president George Kagimu who handed them the national flag.
Uganda national champion Mangat who is vying for the Africa championship left on Sunday to have ample time to map his car ahead of the race.
Mangat is second in the Africa championship with 40 points, just eight behind leader Jassy Singh with four races left.
Mangat coming off a convincing win in the Puma Energy Rally of Tanzania will top the chart if he simply gets a podium finish in Kenya and is ahead of Singh and Rwandan Giancarlo Davite. Giancarlo with 33 points is in firm contention as well.
Kenya, which has a sizeable number of crews eligible to score Africa Championship points, will bring the best out of title contenders.
Mangat’s final charge should be on his home turf in the Pearl of Africa Rally next month and the Rwanda Mountain Gorilla rally in September.
The continental championship ends in November with the Madagascar International Rally.
By Douglas Mazune, The New Vision