Part Four – 2019 SMC Masaka Rally Fight to the death…. Kikankane fans in heart wrenching scare…Mafu Mafu wins it again

Previously on Blow by Blow “…Jas mangat .. leapt two places to take Hassan Alwi Jr’s 4^th position.  Similarly Omar Mayanja had posted a 4^th fastest time and gained two positions into 6^th, pushing Kepher and Fitidis down into 7^th and 8^th respectively.  More interestingly, Omar was now just 1.6s from taking Hassan’s place “

The repeat of General Kayanja stage was up next.  Remember this is where fortunes are made and fallen heroes interred.  The first pass had condemned a podium contender to the bottom of the top ten, it was time to reveal the bounties of the second run.  Susan Muwonge had had a bad day in the office, not the first since the beginning of the season, but this was shaping out worse than any before it.  When mechanics can’t find fault with a non-performing rally car, you drive it regardless, you drive the wheels off to make the time. 

In an attempt to just go harder in pursuit of better time, at a particularly iconic rock slab, one of the features that define this stage, the reigning champion’s Subaru tail was kicked up, landed offside and slid on the slippery rock face, careering off the road and into the scenery.  2018 2WD champion Edwin Kalule who is taking a break this season, was filming footage thru the viewfinder of his phone when the beast lost control. Another spectator noticing that Edwin was not running for cover, pushed the champion out of harms way.  Edwin leapt and landed chest down upon a protruding rock which crashed his rib cage and caused his injuries.  So contrary to popular stories, although the Team Kacungwa N12B retired at this same point, it did not collide with any spectators when it went off.

Back at the head of the competition, repairs to Blick’s evo X had resuscitated it and he bounced back to set another 6^th fastest time to reduce the gap from Yasin to just 9s now.  Kepher and Fitidis, just like Yasin also held on to their positions in 7^th and 8^th, no heroics.  Omar Mayanja surpassed his record on the first run by 19s, but this time to go 3^rd fastest and fast enough to dislodge Hassan alwi Jr from 5^th.  Hassan had lost more than a minute following drive shaft failure and was less than 7s ahead of Kepher.  A brave lunge from Duncan Mubiru netted him 2^nd fastest on stage and stole 2^nd overall from Sebuguzi but only by the slimmest of margins, only 3 tenths of a second with one short stage to go.  Jas Mangat won the stage after improving his earlier stage performance by 29s.  Up at the helm, Ponsiano had managed to create sufficient altitude of more than 56s from Duncan Mubiru and Sebuguzi to cruise through the last stage.

The Kasasa spectator stage has already been noted for its folly and it did not disappoint.  Kepher took on the stage first and set the benchmark at 2m04s but this was quickly erased by Fitidis who went 7s quicker with 1m57s, fast but not enough to move ahead of Kepher in the overall results.  He remained in 8th. Hassan Alwi Jr's task was to stop the clock in 2m10s to stay ahead of Kepher however his ailing N14 didn't have the juice.  He clocked in at 2m17s losing his 6th place to Kepher. Next up Yasin Nasser reminded us of his Mukono form when he equalled Fitidis interim stage record of 01:57, remaining in 9th behind Fitidis. Arthur Blick came into the finale looking for 9s to move a place up.  This was near enough impossible even if his car would have been 100% and it wasn't.  He ended the stage slower than Yasin by 8s to remain in 10th.  Sebuguzi was next and he stopped the clock in exactly 2:00 minutes, 3s slower than Fitidis - clearly not the stage performance he needed to overhaul Duncan's advantage of just 0.3s.

The next two crews were Duncan Mubiru and Jas Mangat, with the former going in 2 minutes earlier.  We don’t know if Mangat could see and tell what was going on in stage as he waited on the start line but it was all dejavu from the standpoint of Sebuguzi who would have been waiting at the finish control hands on the clock.  1m24s seconds into the run, Duncan came at the penultimate hairpin left towards the end of the stage, got his right side wheels into a deep rut dug by preceding cars, leaned in and put the GVB on its side.  Spectators rushed to the car and put it back at 1m38s initially losing him 14s.  The car moved about a couple of metres but then stalled again.  By this time Jas had started his count down to come into the stage and while he didn't need the distraction of another car on stage, he needed this particular car to remain stranded a little longer than 45s if he was to move into the last step on the podium.  But at 1m53s the GVB came to life and throttled away into the last hairpin and the finish stopping the clock in 2m28s.  A loss of second position to Sebuguzi would sting but not as much as losing 3rd to Mangat or even a DNF so close to the finish. 

 

Jas won the stage in 01:54 to finish 4^th behind the GVB which had repeated history by rolling on the stage but then recovering to finish on the podium.  Lwakataka completed the stage in 2:01 to win the rally by 55.4s from Ronald Sebuguzi.Omar Mayanja clocked in at 2m07s to remain in 5th.

 

By the time the 2 wheelers lined up for Kasasa, Waliggo had won every single stage of day two.  he then won the Kasasa stage to make it a wrap and win the category by more than 5 minutes from Watendwa, Senkumba and Umar Kakyama.  Watendwa had looked dangerous in stage but perhaps had in fact chosen to play it safe, second was sufficient for him to retain his lead in the standings. 

Just like Waliggo and Bukenya, Jas Mangat and Jo Kamya had won every single competitive stage of the rally but had been denied victory by a costly service stop.  The pilipili crew had handed the lead on a platter to Sebuguzi who chose not to fight for it.  In the end he kept the second place he had booked on day one and with Mangat and Alwi finishing behind, is more than he needed to stretch his lead at the top of the championship standings.  Duncan Mubiru had put up a spirited fight that momentarily delivered 2^nd but there were simply not enough competitive kilometres left for him to consolidate it.  3^rd was not a bad consolation considering his own mistakes.  Omar Mayanja and Hussein Mukuye fought from 11^th on day one to climb to 5^th putting in great stage times up there with the event winners.  Ponsiano Lwakataka and Samuel Mugisha grabbed the lead from Ronald Sebuguzi and then put themselves beyond challenge to defend their victory here a year ago and crash the championship party.  A consistent drive from Yasin and Fitidis delivered less but all the same important points that keep the two in the fight for the championship.  The big losers of the weekend were Susan Muwonge and Arthur Blick Jr who were let down by car trouble.  

We now go into a long mid season break of 4 months which will end with the Pearl of Africa rally in August.  IN the meantime we shall be keeping you entertained with unique insights into different facets of rally sport in Uganda and with particular interest in our Clean Lines Racing team and the brands we represent.  Keep checking in.   

Championship Standings

Rank	Driver	Total
1	Ronald Sebuguzi	240
2	Hassan Alwi Jr	180
3	Jas Mangat	160
3	Ponsiano Lwakataka	160
5	Yasin Nasser	145
6	Christakis Fitidis	125
7	Duncan Mubiru	120
8	Omar Mayanja	90
9	Arthur Blick Jr	85
10	Fred Busuulwa	70
11	Godfrey Lubega	65
12	Ashraf Ahmed	58
14	Sam Bwete	40
15	Abdul Kateete	33
16	Musa Kabega	30
13	Kepher Walubi	55
17	Susan Muwonge	20
18	Aine Sodo	10