Businessman and rally ace Rajiv Ruparelia has attributed his latest and first rally win to better preparations.
Rajiv emerged champion of this year’s Kabalega Rally Edition, the fifth round of the National Rally Championship (NRC5), which took place on Saturday 23, in the districts of hoima and Kikube.
In their VW Polo, Rajiv and his co-driver Enoch Olinga of the Ruparelia Rally Team crossed finish line in 1: 45 minutes and 41seconds.
Speaking at a victory party held on Sunday at Kabira Country Club, Rajiv said he invested a lot in preparation and training.
“I did a lot of drills, I trained over weekends, made sure my monster (car) is in a better mechanical condition, of course the mental mind.” He said
Rajiv added, “The mindset we had going to the rally was also better, we got the car retuned, put a lot of time, technical team was very much on point, that decided a lot to this rally, and more so the pregame preparations.”
For better preparations, the Rally ace urged the regulator Uganda Motor Sport Union to produce next seasons calendar, adding that it’s hindering them from getting sponsorships.
“We don’t know when the calendar is coming out, in Uganda the calendar is not yet released, so its not about us, its about the regulator, we need sponsorship and this is not possible without calendars,” he said.
He promised his fans more wins and victories in the coming rallies and seasons, “More victories are coming, we shall give you more victories for us we shall go for it, every rally we go into we just get better and better.”
“We are waiting for our sponsorships to get through we shall buy a new car an R5 for next season, but all this is tied on the calendar,” Rajiv said.
He said that after four rallies in his first NRC season, he managed to get the victory, saying that the performance is an indicator that he has the ability to win next years championship.
Still on Kabalega rally, Duncan “Kikankane” Mubiru came second after he crossed finish line in one hour, 45 minutes, 46 seconds.
Ronald Ssebuguzi and Omar Mayanja finished third and fourth, respectively.
With second place being taken by Mubiru ‘Kikankane’ in a Subaru Impreza GVB, it means that the fight for the championship goes to the final round decider in Jinja next month (November 26-28).
A maximum of 100 points remain available for the championship hopefuls with 90 points between championship leader Kikankane and fourth placed Mayanja.
NRC provisional standings:
Duncan Mubiru 350
Hassan Alwi 280
Fred Busuulwa 270
Omar Mayanja 260