TANZANIA rally driver Randeep Birdi has announced his withdrawal from the Pirelli Star Challenge set to take place in Rwanda alongside the KCB Mount Gorilla Rally from September18-20

According to Tanzania daily paper, the Citizen, Birdi said the lack of sponsorship, and an incomplete car gear played a major role in his painful withdrawal.

"I have painfully decided to abandon the chase for the Pirelli Star title after all efforts to secure sponsors failed to pay off. I have notified the organizers,” he said.

Birdi and Mathew Andrianjaffy from Madagascar qualified for the finals in the first round of the African Rally Championship held in Dar es Salaam in February.

With Birdi out of the challenge, Arusha’s Navraj Hans who qualified during the second round of the continental class rally in Nairobi, Kenya a month later will be the only Tanzanian at the Kigali finals.

Last year, five talented young drivers from around the world won a drive in a series of six of this year’s FIA World Rally Championship events.

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