Rwandan rally driver Queen Kalimpinya has heaped praise on her co-driver, Olivier Ngabo, saying they are enjoying their best rally moments as a crew. Kalimpinya and Ngabo started racing together in 2023 and have since formed one of the strongest crews in Rwandan motorsport in recent years. ALSO READ: World champion Ogier leads 46 crews for WRC Safari Rally 2026 showdown “He is the best co-driver and the best navigator in Rwanda. Even before we met, he was the best mechanical engineer. I am proud of what we have achieved together so far,” Kalimpinya said of Ngabo, who won Best Co-driver in 2019. It took Kalimpinya and her co-driver three years to win the first national rally championship, which earned them a chance to compete in the 2026 Africa Rally Championship (ARC). Their first test will be the 2026 ARC Safari Rally, scheduled to take place in Naivasha, Kenya, from March 12–15. This makes Kalimpinya the only non-Kenyan woman competing in this year’s ARC Safari Rally. ALSO READ: Kalimpinya commends ‘growing presence’ of women in Rwandan motorsport With Ngabo, she said, the sky is not the limit. “When you look around, you have to find a good mechanical engineer, and Ngabo was exactly the right choice for me. The more we raced together, the better we became as a crew. I hope more is yet to come,” she said. Kalimpinya, a former Miss Rwanda finalist, said she is proud of how far she has come and the level she has reached, and she hopes for an even brighter future as a rally driver. “Three years back, I made my national rally championship debut and now I am the champion. But we need to aim higher and represent our country at bigger rallies,” she said. “It’s our first time in the ARC, the biggest rally championship in Africa and one of the most prestigious competitions. So I am looking forward to it because I always want to compete in even bigger rallies.” However, she pointed out various challenges that still hinder her from fully unleashing her potential as she prepares for her first continental (ARC) test. “To compete in such races, you have to be ready financially, physically, mechanically and technically. It’s another level,” she said. “We need companies to support us because the car with the best wheels, best engine and best rims stands the highest chance of winning,” said the driver, who will be sponsored by RwandAir and KCB at the ARC Safari Rally in Kenya. The crew, alongside three other Rwandan crews, will fly to Kenya on March 7, five days before the Safari Rally kicks off on March 12.
