KAMPALA. Arthur Blick Junior’s dream of winning the National Rally Championship (NRC), Enduro and Motocross (MX) titles in a single season is still on after claiming the Source of the Nile Rally on Easter Sunday in Jinja.
It was his maiden win in an NRC event since making his debut in the 2001 Moonlight Rally in which he finished third. He quit rallying in 2005 to concentrate on MX.
But since his second coming in 2013, the 10-time national MX champion has been giving top rally drivers nightmares.
He finished second overall in the Pearl of Africa Uganda Rally behind Omar Mayanja. Earlier, he had dropped out of the Independence Rally while in the lead and was third in the Mbarara Rally last month. Could this be the year to achieve his dream? “It is still too early to talk about the three titles but it is a start for me in my search for my dream,” Blick, who drives with Unisan Bakunda in a Shell Helix-sponsored Subaru Impreza N10, told the Daily Monitor yesterday. “I dedicate this win to Jesus, since it came on Easter Sunday, the day he resurrected. I want to thank my sponsors (Shell) and the service team for a good job done.”
The win puts Blick on top of the NRC standings with 160 points, 60 ahead of Duncan ‘Kikankane’ Mubiru, who rolled his Subaru N16 while in pursuit of the MX legend. Blick is currently third in MX championship and second in Enduro.
Blick finished the two-day event in a time of 01:48:39 nearly five minutes ahead of Wilbert Pole Pole (Subaru) with Musa Kabega (Evo6) a further three minutes behind.
In previous years, the Jinja event claimed big names and it was a similar story at the weekend. Ronald Ssebuguzi, the reigning national champion, blew his Subaru N11 turbo, Desh Kananura hit a rock in his Subaru N14, Ranjit Kuku ( Evo9) had a gear box problem while Fred Wampamba rolled. Rauf Adam (Evo 9) had an engine problem, Wycliff Bukenya (Evo 9), Omar Mayanja (Evo5) and John Consta ( Evo 9) all dropped out. Only 10 of the 38 cars that started made the flying finish.
NRC standings
Arthur Blick Jr 160 pts
Duncan Mubiru 100
Pole Pole 90
Fred Wampamba 75
SOURCE OF THE NILE RESULTS
Arthur Blick 01:48:39
Pole Pole 01:53:42
Musa Kabega 01:56: 35
Christalis Fitidis 02:07:30
Peter Kakaire 02:23:06
Christopher Kasoz 02:30:53
Albert Ofong 02:31:41
Ahmed Ssempebwa 02:33:09
Courtesy of monitor.co.ug