adminTWENTY-YEAR-OLD Zambian motor rally driver Jassy Singh on Sunday bagged the African Rally Championship title — 12th for Zambia — breaking the record of becoming the youngest champion in the history of the ARC. Jassy follows in the footsteps of his father, Muna, who won the ARC twice and his uncle, Satwant, who holds a record eight titles. The only Zambian champion outside the Singhs is Muhammed Essa, the 2012 champion.
Jassy has also joined a host of other top motor rally drivers from the Southern African region who have won the ARC title and they include Zimbabwe’s Abe Smit, Jamie Whyte and Conrad Rautenbach.
Smit was the first Zimbabwean to win the ARC title in 1995 before young Rautenbach first won the ARC title in 2007 before regaining it in 2011.
Whyte, on the other hand, won back-to-back ARC titles in 2009 and 2010 before losing the crown to his fellow countryman Rautenbach in 2011.
Unfortunately, most Zimbabwean motor rally drivers, including Whyte and Rautenbach, pulled out of the ARC series in 2012 and this year due to the prohibitive costs of taking part in this demanding continental event.
The Zimbabwe Motorsport Federation also failed to host any motor rallying event this year, leaving the once vibrant sport in Zimbabwe poorer.
Meanwhile, Jassy, classic throughout the circuit, only needed to finish the Madagascar rally to emerge the 2013 ARC champion at the expense of Ugandan Jas Mangat, who crashed out in the seventh stage on Saturday.
The Zambian upstaged Mangat who was leading the ARC standings before the Madagascar rally, which was the final of the eight-legged ARC competition.
With veteran navigator Dave Sihoka, who won his fourth title on Sunday, the duo finished the 461-kilometre Madagascar rally in sixth place with time of 3:08:21 hours to be crowned African champions.
Despite finishing sixth overall, Jassy got 25 points to end the circuit with 106 points.
With Sunday’s victory, Zambia have now won the ARC titles — drivers and navigators — a combined 17 times.
An excited Jassy thanked sponsors and supporters who made it possible for him to travel to Madagascar and triumph on foreign soil.
“Yes, yes, yes, finally crowned youngest ever ARC champion. A very big thank you to my God. He guided me from the beginning to the end through thick and thin. My sponsors NetOne, Automotive Equipment and Sandvic who were there right from the beginning — a big thank you to them for believing and investing in me. This is your victory!
“My team, my mechanics, my crew ohh laalaaa guys you are world class. Thanks for the preparations and good teamwork and spirit. That’s what African rally is about. I cannot forget to mention all the millions of supporters. You guys rock and keep the team moving. I have seen all your comments and postings, calls and texts and all of you really boosted out morale. Zambiaaaa naleloooo ya winaaa iyeee!!! Thanks guys, thanks a million,” said Jassy after being crowned champion on his first attempt. His co-driver Sihoka added: “We have done the job, we are African champions . . . we can confirm to you that Jassy is the new youngest African champion with the oldest navigator. We thank you for all the support given to us. We are champions and we have done it in grand style”.
Zambia Motor Sport Association vice-president Sam Ching’ambu, who travelled to Madagascar, congratulated Jassy and Sihoka on winning Zambia the 12th title.
“We thank Government through the National Sports Council of Zambia, who funded Jassy and Dave’s first trip to South Africa which has resulted in the team defending the ARC in Madagascar thus putting Zambia yet again on the map.
I am personally delighted with this result because it was not easy to come here for all of us,” he said. — Daily Mail-Sports Reporter.
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