By YVONNE SAKALA –
ZAMBIAN champion Muna Singh junior scooped the Pembe rally after fending off stiff competition from the Gomes brothers led by Leroy to go top of the national motor rally drivers’ standing.
The fourth leg of the national rally championship held at Fringila Lodge in Chisamba saw Muna go into the race in fifth place.
He, however, put up a spirited fight to win the challenging 155km event, clocking 57.31 minutes. The race that had 22 drivers only saw 11 finish, and Muna jr was overjoyed to finish ahead of the 10 who managed to get to the checked flag.
Muna started badly with youngster Zubair Essa taking an early lead before he crashed out after a technical fault on his Subaru Impreza in stage two, allowing the reigning champion to take advantage and jump into the lead.
“I am happy I have the race, it was tough especially that I was using a borrowed car (Jassy’s car) and it took me time to adjust but I am happy I won,” said an excited Muna.
He leads the standing with 89 points, dislodging his father, Muna senior who is on 68 points after he also crashed out due to an electrical fault at the sixth stage.
Miles Monge of Goliath Team finished second despite starting well and posted a time of 58.21 minutes.
He was closely followed by Ndola-based driver Leroy, who timed 59.40 minutes, with Vyon Pinto coming out fourth at one hour and 51 seconds.
Kyle Latife of Gomes Racing Team emerged fifth at one hour two minutes and 42 seconds, while Laston Hamoonga from Mo-Driving Racing Team was sixth in the competition with one hour, six minutes and 42 seconds.
Dirt Star Racing’s Jugern Sauter came out seventh, timing one hour 14 minutes and 15 seconds, leaving veteran driver Azim Ticklay settling for eighth position with one hour 14 minutes and 53 seconds.
Mayure Patel was number nine followed by Raese Gelu and Harrninder Singh, who shared the 10th place.
Team Goliath emerged the best overall team of the competition.