Bukera is winner of 2016 Rwanda Mount Gorilla Rally

Final standing: 1. Valery Bukera (Burundi) 01:49:012. Muna Singh Jr. (Zambia) 01:49:073. Hassan Alwi (Uganda) 01:54:434. Jean Claude Gakwaya (Rwanda) 02:01:275. Don Smith (Kenya) 02:05:106. Ismail Shermohammed (Burundi) 02:11:337. Kepher Walubi: (Uganda) 02:16:348. Ssempembwa: (Uganda) 02:30:529. Wilbert Pole Pole (Uganda) 01:13:0010 Musa Kabega (Uganda) 00:56:0211. Jonas Kansiime (Uganda) 00:03:11 Burundian driver Valery Bukera won his first Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally title with Zambian rally champion Muna Singh Jr. finishing second on Sunday at Golden Tulip Hotel in Nyamata, Bugesera District. Rwanda’s Jean Claude Gakwaya finished fourth with a time of 02:01:27 and was the only Rwandan to finish in top ten while Uganda had the highest number of riders in top ten (five). Bukera, navigated by Nital Khetia in their Subaru Impreza N4, clocked one hour, forty-nine minutes and one second to emerge victorious in the three-day FIA Africa Rally Championship event that started with a Super Special Sprint at Kigali’s Amahoro National Stadium on Friday. Singh J. clocked one hour, forty-nine minutes and seven seconds while Uganda’s Hassan Alwi settled for third spot after clocking 01:54:42 at the end of the competitive sections. With the victory, Bukera bounces back into the quest for the elusive African Rally Championship (ARC) title if he can go ahead to win the remaining two rounds. Gakwaya finished ahead of Burundian Mohamed Abbas Roshanali and Kenyan Don Smith, the ARC title chase leader, who finished in sixth. Four-time Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally winner Rudy Cantenhede, who was bidding to win the race for a record fifth times, failed to finish the competition, after sliding off the road and crashing his Mitsubishi Evo IV on the third day. Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally is the fifth round of the African Rally Championship calendar, and there are two more rounds left, namely Uganda and Madagascar. Out of 24 cars that started the three-day event, only 12 finished the race, with most competitors bowing out on a grueling second day in Nyamata. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Bukera is winner of 2016 Rwanda Mount Gorilla Rally