Last weekend marked the return of the Iringa Rally after a ten year lull. The event offered a perfect moment for Ahmed Huwel to debut his Ford Fiesta Proto.
The Ford was manufactured by the Stec Motorsports from Poland.
Navigated by Maisam Fazal, Huwel was optimistic ahead of his home rally in Iringa. He was also among the favourite crews for the top positions.
The Mkwawa Rally Team crew started the event on a bad note with the car misfiring in the Super Special Stage despite finishing fourth.
“It was a big disappointment for us on day one. But we decided to endure the challenges since it was all a new experience for us,” said Huwel.
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Despite posting impressive stage times in stage two, the crew suffered a four minute penalty in the last stage on leg one. The suffered similar misfortunes on day two but consoled with a stage seven win.
“We decided to take it slow since it was very hard to recover the four minutes and the other crews were equally fast and we still had challenges with the car.
“But the car is totally different from what I heard, so you expect such to happen,” he added.”
Huwel however looks forward for better days ahead with the Ford.
“It was our first experience and at least now we know a bit of what it can do. The mechanics will now try and trace the problem and have it fixed.
“We hope in the next events we shall be a bit much better as we continue to learn the car.”
The third round of TNRC is scheduled for May 20-21 in Dar es Salaam.