Mt Gorilla Rally

July 31-August 1

Rwanda’s number one rally driver Davite Giancarlo is hoping home advantage will come into play at the upcoming Mt Gorilla Rally championship from July 31-August 1 in Nyamata and Rugende.

Giancarlo, who has won this annual event twice in 2009 and 2013, believes he can replicate his past performances on home soil.

In an exclusive interview with Times Sports, Giancarlo said, "I expect to win. We are there for it. Home advantage always helps. We know the roads. Even before wrecking, we know the roads.  When you get on the roads, it is always an advantage but you never know, mechanics is mechanics and rally is rally. We will see. We will try to win.”

Giancarlo noted that the roads would be very fast. "Drivers with Mitsubishi will have a very big advantage over those driving Subaru because they are much faster.”

Giancarlo alongside navigator Sylvia Vindevogel will drive a Mitsubishi Evolution X and will face stiff competition from Kenyan Jaspreet Chatte (Mitsubishi Evolution X) who is currently leading the Africa Rally Championship table standings with 50 points, 20 points ahead of Jassy Singh (Subaru Impreza) of Zambia who will also be looking to earn maximum points in Rwanda.

"Jassy Singh is a favourite because he has made a very big improvement this year in the African Championship. He is racing in Africa so for me, he is the guy to beat. It depends on how they will fight with Chatte for the points. Rudy has an old car but very reliable. Rudy is Rudy. We will see,” added Giancarlo.

Burundian driver Rudy Cantanhede is the record winner of this ARC event having won the annual competition thrice – 2004, 2008 and 2010.