TheMinistry of Sports and Culture has approved a request by Rwanda Automobile Club (RAC) to stage the 2016 Mountain Gorilla Special Super Stage at the Amahoro National Stadium on Friday, August 12.

 "We got authorisation to stage the Special Super Stage at Amahoro stadium before the rally moves to Gako in Nyamata for Saturday and Sunday stages,” the rally course clerk, Eric Maxime Nzamwita said.

 Guy Rurangayire, the acting Director of Sports at the ministry, also confirmed that permission had been granted to RAC to use the venue, on top of financial support but he declined to give further details.

The three-day rally, which is the fifth round on the Africa Rally Championships (ARC) calendar, will cover a total distance of 449 kilometers of which 201km will be competitive. The special stage will be done twice like the rest of the other stages.

Meanwhile, among the African drivers who had already submitted their entry form long before last Sunday’s entry deadline, is Kenya’s Don Smith, the ARC leader with 79 points.

Last year’s event attracted 19 drivers but only 11 completed the race, which was won by Kenyan Singh Chatthe Jaspreet in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X after clocking a time of 112.7km/hs. Rwanda’s Mitraros Elefter finished 7th in a Subaru Impreza STi N10.

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