Speedsters poised for Guru Nanak Rally battle

Arusha. As the National Rally Championship draws towards a conclusion, Tanzanians will switch their focus from the polls to the two-day Guru Nanak Rally 2015, which will starts here on Saturday.

The battlegrounds include the super-fast stages of the semi-arid Nanja Escarpment, Ardhai and the Monduli Juu area where the battle for top honours in motor rallying will resume.

The organisers have also ‘spiced it up’ with a 40-km twisty, technical and hilly route that adds up to a total of 170km of competitive sections that shall be covered in the penultimate rallying event.

The championship is poised for a grand finale with front-runner and 2012 National Champion Dharam Pandya (Mitsubishi Evolution 9) well placed in top spot with 90 points followed by MMSC speedster Jamil Khan (Subaru N12) in second with 76 points. Randeep Singh Birdi (Mitsubishi Evolution 9) sits in 3rd place with 65 points closely followed by Moshi-based Gurjit Singh Dhani just three points adrift.

Sanjeev Pandya has officially decided to take a break from the sport at the end of this year due to other commitments.

Sanju, as he is better known, started rallying in 2005 and was at his peak when he lifted the 2012 co-drivers’ crown. One of his personal moments of pride came when he participated in Kenya back in 2013. He currently leads the Navigators’ Standings with 90 points followed by Moses Matovu (76), Gurvinder Singh (65) and Shameer Yusuf (62) and looks to grab top honors in motor rallying once again this year.

ARC 2015 winner & Veteran driver Gerard Miller has triumphed in the event for three consecutive years in the recent past and may consider a return to rallying after a short absence from the sport. The event is expected to draw other notable drivers from within and outside the country including Rajpal Dhani, Tufail Amin, local boy and defending champion Gurpal Sandhu, Kelvin Taylor, Larry Horn, Saleem Haji, Faisal Nayani and Erfan Aladin.

Rally fans in Sub Saharan Africa will also have their eyes on the Hari Singh Rally Team who are gearing up to unleash the Subaru MY2015 for the first time on African soil. The weather is expected to be hot and dry but the organizers are optimistic of brief spells of rainfall that may lead to a wet rally.

The cars will undergo scruteneering at Sable Square on Saturday morning and will head on to compete in two stages in the afternoon after the ceremonial start. The race will resume on Sunday with the competitors completing the remaining five sections with an overnight parc ferme and a spectators’ zone at Mti Mmoja.