Huye residents will be in for what the organizers are calling a "real treat” when rally cars and motorbikes hit the dusty roads in this year’s Huye Rally dubbed ‘Gakwaya Memorial Rally’ in the Southern Province.

According to Eric Gakwaya, one of the organizers of the two-day weekend event, "Butare (Huye) fans will get their wish during the rally.”

Over 13 rally crews have registered for the event; three of them are from Burundi and Rwanda while seven are coming from Uganda.

Gakwaya also revealed that, "The two South African freestyle motocross riders; Nick de Wit and Scott Billet are already in Kigali, they arrived on Wednesday.”

More good news for the rally fans is that foreign drivers led by Burundian Mohamed Roshanali and his navigator Jean Giesen have confirmed their participation in the race after arriving in Kigali yesterday—they will cruise their Subaru Impreza.  Roshanali is also the reigning Rwanda National Rally champion.

The other foreign drivers from Ugandan, who are also already in the country, include; Jones Kansiime who will be driving a Mitsubishi (EVO 9), Byron Rugomoka (MIT), Hakim Kabanda (MIT), Rogers Kigundu (SUB) and Ismail Otega (Toyota Runx).

Interestingly, this year’s Huye Rally has attracted one female driver from Uganda; Leila Blick Mayanja, who will be cruising a Toyota Allex.

For the local drivers, the battle will be between Jean Claude Gakwaya, Genese Semana and Sakumi Gasarabwe as they fight for national championship points.

This year’s course is the most important ingredient that interests all crews but also all the fans that are only eagerly waiting for the start.

The first leg of the race will start from Rango-Gisagara covering a distance of 112 km in 7 super stages while the freestyle motocross will take on 44.10 km (156.60 km in total). The second leg will cover four super stages with a distance of 155 km while motocross riders will cover 82.50 km.

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