Muhammed Bwete’s victory in the Clubman rally championship lives up to the saying that victory comes to those who are prepared.
Bwete, in a Mitsubishi VII, started the Rukungiri rally 18 points behind his counterpart Mike Mukula jr who only needed three points to seal the title.
However, a roll for the CRC leader in stage two of the event ended all his hopes of claiming the CRC title.
Bwete was then handed the opportunity to take the honours.
“I went to Rukungiri with no hopes at all for the title. Mukula was far ahead of me in everything. My focus was on my second position, which has always been the trend for us,” says Bwete.
“But all of a sudden, someone came to me saying I am a champion, I didn’t take him seriously until he showed me what had happened to the other crew.
“At that particular moment, I didn’t know how to react. Obviously, no competitor wishes the other to crash out. But the excitement of knowing that I was a champion was inevitable, with everyone congratulating me,” he added.
Bwete’s joyous moment was even doubled after registering his maiden victory in the CRC category to seal a remarkable season for them.
“I didn’t know about CRC at the beginning of the season. If had known that I was categorized there, I would have participated in Mbarara rally.
“I got to know about it when I planned to enter Jinja rally as a route opener. But we were advised that since we did an autocross event, we need not to do route opening but compete under CRC.
“We went to Jinja, had lots of fun racing and on top of it, I got a trophy. I never looked back since then as my target was to collect more trophies,” he said.
Muhammed Bwete joined the rally family as a fan. He would later be enticed into rallying by his close friend Moses Lumala; a legend in Ugandan motorsport.
However, his trigger into motor rallying happened on his sick bed.
“I was among the victims of Covid in 2021. I almost died. While on the sick bed, I reflected on my life and realized I was going to die without enjoying the things I loved to do. That is the time I made a decision to do rallying.
Just like any other crew, the rallying career has not been a smooth road for Bwete.
“I am called a champion now. But reaching such a stage involves a lot of things, from finances and much more.
“When I was starting, I got a lot of advise from so many people and I took in each and everything. And I think that is the reason why I have made it here.
“I have had people like my mentor Lumala, Simon Sekankya of Hardware World who have really pushed me financially throughout the season. And then my mechanics and the whole team, all credit goes to them,” he said.
“I am so happy that in a short time I have rallied, I have won a title as well as learned so many things and made friends too.”
Bwete and Lumu are now looking forward to the division two competition next year.