It’s been awhile since the National Rally Championship (NRC) title looked so open from the start but 2014 seems to be that year.
With two events (Western Rally Mbarara and Source of the Nile Rally Jinja) now done, there is no outright favourite for the crown.
Last year’s champion Jas Mangat plus former winners Susan Muwonge and Ponsiano Lwakataka have missed the opening two rounds and reports indicate they are likely not to compete.
No driver has won back to back events this year and this appears will be the trend for the whole season.
Duncan Mubiru; winner of the first event in Mbarara went into the Source of the Nile Rally in Jinja as favourite but failed to complete leaving outsider Jonas Kansiime to clinch the event.
Nevertheless, Ronald Ssebuguzi who currently leads the NRC standings with 150 points appears favourite for the title. If he remains consistent and finishes most of the events, there is no denying the fact he can clinch the championship though it’s too early to bet on him.
EVENTS SAFETY
Motorsport is amongst the most risky sports in the world and this only calls for safety measures to be put in place in order to combat the likely events that don’t only leave people with wounds but also claim lives as witnessed in Jinja where fans were knocked down by a speeding car.
I must commend the organizers from different clubs and Federation of Motorsport Union (FMU) in general for they have tried all they can to ensure safety is in place.
Going by the two events, there is clearly an improvement but that is just slight. I spoke to some officials on why enforcing/putting in place adequate safety measures are not ensured at events and all they said was due to financial constraints.
They confessed that in most cases, they would want to employ say twenty (20) marshals but find themselves only able to manage only half of the number.
PRIZE GIVING
Unlike past events, there are prizes won by drivers for each event and this only adds glamour to the sport. It’s too early to judge them but so far so good from the new management since this wasn’t the case before.
Good luck to all the drivers plus fans ahead of the upcoming events starting with Masaka. May the best Crew win.
The Writer is Sharifah Ramah, an ardent fan of Motorsport.