Muna Singh Sr is a two-time African rally champion.
The Zambian won his back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005.
He is now a member of the Confederation of African Countries in Motorsports (CACMS).
Kawowo Sports linked up with former African Champion, Singh during the fifth round of ARC in Rwanda, and he spoke about the current state and future of African Rally Championship (ARC).
Kawowo Sports: You won your last title a decade ago, how could you compare the ARC in your days to what you see now?
Muna: During our time, it was similar. We had a lot of competition, a lot of cars, the rallies were equally tough. Maybe they are not as quick because the machines have become stronger, the cars are even better.Though in our days, we had longer stages and the rallies themselves were longer.
Kawowo Sports: Is ARC really competitive now?
Muna: Yes, it is. The pace of the drivers is extremely high than before.
Kawowo Sports: If you say competitive, I assume we should be having more crews competing for ARC like before.
Muna: Don’t forget it is not just that. Sometimes it has got to do with finances.One thing we must understand is that Africa is a big continent not like in Europe.
For example from Zambia to Rwanda the cost is so big, it involves a long distance. Imagine from Ivory coast, you go down to Madagascar, thats a huge distance to be covered, in Europe they never face that because its tiny.
Kawowo Sports: So finances are the major reason why we have few contenders?
Muna: I think yes, and that is one of the things we need to address in the CACMs meeting this year.I have a proposal of what I think should be done for ARC to change.
Kawowo Sports: What can you tell us about that proposal?
Muna: We should look at Africa has a big continent and divide it into sections and run regional events in those sections. Eventually finals can be run for winners from each region.
Coutesy of kawowo.com