Byumba Rally results
1. Rudy Cantanhede   1:02:21
2. Valery Bukera          2:06:24
3. Saegerman Tony     2:20:03
4.J. Murengenzi           2:55:31
5. Giancarlo Davite     3:00:03

National rally champion Rudy Cantanhede registered a bright start to the 2008 campaign by winning the 14th edition of the Rally du Nord held in Byumba, Northern Province over the weekend.

Cantanhede navigated by Slyvia Vindelvolg clocked 1 hour 2 minutes and 21 seconds to confidently retain his title which he won last year.

This was Cantanhede’s first victory this year after missing the sprint memorial rally last month which was won by Greek born Christakis Fitidis.

Cantanhede missed the sprint rally due to a continental rally championship which was held in Tanzania where he finished ninth.

Valery Bukera managed a second finish beating off Tony Saegerman and Giancarlo Davite who finished third and fourth respectively.

Out of the ten drivers who took part in the two-day rally championship, only half finished with the other half failing to finish due to mechanical problems.

Those who bowed out of the championship include; this year’s Sprint Memorial rally champion Christakis Fitidis, Olivier Costa, Mitraros Elefter, Mark Verden and Claude Kwizera.

Rally du Nord which is the second event on this year’s national rally calendar is expected to be followed by 7th edition of the Rwanda Mountain Gorilla scheduled on May 30th –June 1.

Meanwhile, Rwanda Automobile Club (RAC) is expected to register its drivers to this year’s edition of the Pear of Africa Uganda Rally before the end of this month.
The event which is the second round of the Africa Rally Championship (ARC) is scheduled for April 25-27 in Uganda.

The local automobile club president Dismus Kayibanda said yesterday that with the climax of the Rally du Nord championship, drivers for the Pearl of Africa rally are yet to be known.
"We hope to register drivers for this championship before the end of this month. No one has confirmed but by mid this month, we expect some of the drivers to have posted in their notice,” Kayibanda said.

The entries for the Rally are open at the Federation of Motorsport Clubs of Uganda offices situated at Lugogo Indoor Stadium.

According to the Uganda local Motorsport club, entries will close on April 12.
This year’s Pearl of Africa rally event will have a total of 672km, of which 304 km is competitive spread over 18 sections.

Zimbabwe’s Conrad Rautenbach in a Subaru N12 won last year’s event on his way to the Africa title.

Ends