By ELIAS CHIPEPO and SANDRA MWILA –
GEOFFREY Chulu and his younger brother navigator, Lastone, at the weekend won the Zambia Motor Sports Association (ZMSA) season opening national rally held at the Graham Rae Farm in Chisamba.
The Chulu brothers powered their Subaru Impreza GC8 to victory to take the laurels by 38 seconds ahead of African champion Jassy Singh, who clocked an hour, eight minutes and 48 seconds.
Jassy and his new debutant navigator Sajid Khan, driving in a Subaru N10, survived a scare after their hole drive shaft broke and nearly caught fire earlier in the rally to secure second position.
“It was a great event, full of fun and stiff competition. We suffered a few problems but managed to pull back,” said Jassy.
In third place was Jassy’s younger brother Muna Singh jr, also driving a Subaru N10, who timed an hour, nine minutes and seven seconds to grab the final podium slot in the rally that claimed national champion Ken Mukosa and 2012 African champion Mohammed Essa.
Mukosa dropped out in the second stage after his car developed a mechanical fault while Essa was disqualified for leaving the hold area before time to proceed in the fifth stage of the rally.
“My car has done enough mileage and it is high time I bought a new car for me to continue racing in other competitions which includes the Africa Rally Championship (ARC). The engine over heated and as a result we failed to continue,” he said.
Mukosa appealed to the corporate world to help him with US$60,000 to enable him buy a new car and compete at the ARC.
Other rally victims included Miles Monge, Dani Beaini, Chimanga Biyela, Kumaren Naidu.
Finishing fourth was Farook Ticklay who timed an hour, 11 minutes and 16 seconds ahead of his brother Yazdaan who clocked five minutes and 37 seconds behind, with Toofail Dala coming out sixth on one hour, 17 minutes and 22 seconds.
Shabbir Amin was seventh on an hour 19 minutes and 10 seconds with Azim Ticklay clocking an hour 21 minutes and four seconds. Noel Masadza finished ninth on one hour 26 minutes and 25 seconds.
