How Miller, Fox won Guru Nanak Rally

Arusha. The Maji Poa Guru Nanak Rally 2016 drew an interesting conclusion over the weekend when neither of the title contenders could achieve a podium position in the penultimate race of the year.

The event was won by Arusha’s ace driver Gerard Miller/Peter Fox (Mitsubishi Evo 9) in dominant fashion after clocking a 1:47:48.

After a recent knee surgery, Babu, as he is more famously known, took to the dry stages of the Meserani Chini and Lolkisale routes to clock fastest stage times in all but two sections and put the UTrack Rally Team into the lead.

Tufail ‘FastJet’ Amin was the first casualty when his front right ball joint gave way after hitting a hump right at the flying finish of CS1.

The retirement ended his hopes for the Group S1 championship but the enthusiastic youngster went on to volunteer as a route opener for the rest of the event.

The clouds gave way for a scorching afternoon as ex-champions Ahmed Huwel (2007) and Navraj Hans (2008) made a scintillating return to the motorsports arena. Navraj, co-driven by Awadh Bafadhil got the better of Huwel in the first loop and the opposite was true during the second loop as the mini-battles raged into overdrive.

Ahmed Huwel/Moses Matovu (Subaru Impreza GDB) eventually went on to secure second place with Navraj Hans/Awadh Bafadhil (Mitsubishi Evo 9) in third after both drivers were penalized for jump starts, much to the amusement of the fans.

Title hopeful Jamil Khan looked to be feeling the pressure in the absence of his usual co-driver Maisam Fazal and managed to cross the finish line in fifth, enough to seal his maiden championship after Randeep Birdi only managed sixth overall with a 03:10 penalty for early check ins. Arusha’s Gurpal Sandhu navigated by Dave Sihoka (Mitsubishi Evo X) attained third place.

Jamil Khan (Mitsubishi Evo X) took his tally to an unbeatable 96 points for the season to stamp his mark on this year’s crown and the Group N Championship.

“This championship has been a dream come true, I have had to work hard this year but by the grace of God, we managed to acquire a new car and restructure our team. We strategized before every event and learnt from our mistakes. I dedicate this title to my family, corporate sponsors Maji Poa, Murzah Wilmar Group and Siera Zulu.

We have one more event in Morogoro and I am already looking forward to it. Maisam has been great in the co-drivers’ seat, we have to race in the final event to land him his deserved navigator’s cup. We are all in celebratory mood as of now!” exclaimed a joyous Khan.

The battle for second and third place is still undecided with Randeep Singh on 66 points, Gerard Miller (65), Gurpal Sandhu (63) and defending champion Dharam Pandya (46).

Pandya’s ill-fated run in Arusha continued with the rough terrain getting the better of his car in the final loop to add to a long list of retirements due to mechanical issues.

The Hari Singh Rally Team also managed to put up a decent show with well paced driving from Gurjit Dhani/Shameer Yusuf (Subaru GVB15) who was in top notch form until CS8.

A puncture in the final stage of the event took longer than expected after electrical failure denied them access to their boot where the spare tyres were clamped. They eventually limped over in seventh place having blown off an impressive accumulative time. Rajpal Singh and Ajminder Singh retired with mechanical failure.

Abdul Naem/Fathy Saleh were disqualified after having missed a time control during their course and were left time-barred as they attempted to rectify their mistake. Charles Bicco/David Matete, Jamil Shahbhay/James Mwangi, Preetam Gandamal/Eddy Aslam and debutant Cyprian Mwaimu were amongst the other finshers.

The result implies that Charles Bicco seals the Group S1 Championship with an unbeatable 79 points followed by Tufail Amin (50) and Preetam Gandamal (42).

Issack Taylor (BMW 318) remains undisputed in the 2WD category and fans’ favourite Said Baghoza leads the Group S2 Championship with 50 points followed by Shiraz Shahbhay on 25 points.

Maisam Fazal maintains top spot in the Navigators’ Standings and Group N Championship on 86 points, closely followed by Zubayr Piredina (76), Peter Fox (65) and Manmeet Singh (52).

David Matete claims the Group S1 Navigator’s Championship as does undisputed Monica Lyimo in the 2WD category.

The final event for the year is scheduled in Morogoro in early December.