. Essa

By MOSES CHIMFWEMBE –
MOHAMMED Essa put up a dominant display at the weekend to win the Samfuel Copperbelt rally staged at Mindolo Dam in Kitwe.
Essa, driving his Subaru Imprezza N16R4, clocked one hour 11 minutes and 53 seconds to beat African champion Jassy Singh in the sixth round of the Zambia Motor Sport Association (ZMSA) national rally championship.
Jassy timed an hour 12 minutes and 32 seconds to finish second in the rally that saw Geoffrey Chulu, winner of the Automotive Equipment fifth round of the national rally on August 31, crashing out after his engine developed a technical fault.
The win lifted Essa to 76 points on the drivers’ chart to be 29 points behind Chulu with Jassy in third place on 94 points.
Jassy’s younger brother Muna Singh junior, who crashed out of the fifth round after hitting a tree, this time around managed to finish the race in third position after clocking one hour 17minutes and 33 seconds to increase his tally to 97 points.
Reigning national champion Kenny Mukosa finished in fourth place after timing one hour 22 minutes and 35 seconds and moved to 50 points on the chart.
Kleevan Gomes brought home one hour 27 minutes and 40 seconds to end in fifth position ahead of Vyon Pinto who clocked one hour 29 minutes and 59 seconds to finish sixth place.
Toofail Dalal finished the race in seventh position with an hour 33 minutes and 57 seconds on the clock.
Finishing in distant eighth position was Yazdaan Ticklay, who clocked one hour 34 minutes and 33 seconds and was followed by Leroy Gomes, who clocked one hour 35 minutes and 49 seconds.