Kenya’s Carl Tundo and Tim Jessop could end the weekend as Africa Rally ARC champions after their closest rival to the title, South African Guy Botterill, dropped out of the Mountain Gorilla Rally in Rwanda.
Tundo and Botterill were expected to go head to head in the ARC penultimate round which would push the title to the wire in the finale in South Africa.
However, Botterill and Simon Vacy-lyle are unable to hung on to the battle after their Toyota Etios suffered engine failure in Stage Seven. That ended all hope in what has been a resilient fight for the ARC.
The title is now for Tundo and Jessop to lose. They currently lead the rally standings by 21 seconds over Kenyan counterpart Karan Patel.
The Kenyan crew can adjust their strategy from aiming for maximum points to just securing a finish in Rwanda to claim their maiden Africa Rally Championship.
Crews will tackle four stages in Sunday’s final leg.