Despite finishing sixth in the 2013 Madagascar rally, Zambia’s Jassy Singh was crowned the king of the 2013 Africa Rally Championship (ARC) after amassing 106 points from this year’s events.
The Zambian who went into the event in second place on the standings behind Ugandan Jas Mangat completed the 461.08 kilometer event in three hours, eight minutes and twenty one seconds which was 19 minutes and 14 seconds behind eventual winner Olivier Haingo who had no opportunity to clinch the ARC.
Jassy was aided by Jas Mangat’s failure to complete the rally after his Subaru N12 dropped mechanical problems and failed to complete the rally. It was the second consecutive time that Mangat failed to complete an event after he also dropped out of the Rwanda Mountain Gorilla rally a few months ago due to similar problems.
The triumph means that Jassy Singh becomes the youngest driver to win the continental crown after Mohammed Essa, who triumphed last year, and brings the number of titles won by Zambians to 12 while Uganda has only managed one thanks to Charles Muhangi’s victory in 1999.
Other Zambians to have won it include Satwant Singh who boosts of eight unprecedented titles with his nephew Muna Singh winning twice before Essa put his name on the winners’ list.
“Finally crowned youngest ever ARC champion. A very, very big thank you, to my God who guided me from the beginning to the end and through thick and thin; my sponsors believing and investing in me, this is your victory,” Jassy posted on his facebook timeline.
It was an easy and lucky triumph for Jassy since Jas Mangat’s crashing out of the rally out on Saturday meant Jassy had to finish the race to secure his title but got a scare in stage nine after hitting rocks.
Nevertheless, he managed to ‘limp’ into service before the organisers cancelled stage 10 which was littered with rocks with the drivers heading straight to stage 11 which the Zambian crew successfully managed to finish.
