Toyota Celica GT4 the Only Classic Car to race in Arusha’s Guru Nanak Rally alongside Amapiano team

The Guru Nanak Motor Rally is rapidly building up steam ahead of its flagging off event in Arusha as more drivers gear towards the National Rally Championship race.

Guru Nanak Rally, the first motor racing event to be held in Arusha after nearly three years of Rally Hiatus, gets flagged off in the Makuyuni area of Monduli District on November 16 and 17 this year.

The latest entry into Guru Nanak Rally 2024 is the Amapiano team from Dar es Salaam and through its spokesman, David Matete, the team is well-drilled for the dusty road challenge against reputable drivers from in and outside Tanzania.

Matete said the Amapiano Team will field three drivers whom he named as Charles Bicco in Subaru N12, Ethan Taylor in Subaru GC 8 and Issack Taylor who will race in Toyota Celica GT4, which he called as the only classic car to compete in the year-ender rally in Arusha.

Toyota Celica is a legendary car as far as motor racing in East Africa is concerned having been topping the events in the 70s, 80s and 90s with top rally personalities such as the Swedish Bjorn Waldegaard and Finnish Juha Kankunnen.

“We are would be thrilled to compete against Africa’s top drivers and that will be our opportunity to showcase our driving skills,” added Matete  who also thanked the Amapiano team’s sponsors Molas Lubes and Luquimoly for facilitating their entries in all four events staged this year.

Guru Nanak Rally is the fourth and last round of this year’s National Rally Championship (NRC) after the first, second and third rounds staged in Tanga, Iringa and Morogoro respectively.

Prior to their confirmation this week, the entry list was opened by three moto rally legends from Kenya championed by Ian Duncan and Azhar Anwar.

A few days later Harri Singh from Moshi also confirmed to be sending four drivers to Arusha for the year-ender racing.

Guljit Dhani, Mandeep, Ajminder and Rajpr Dhani are the four members of the Harri Singh team. 

Organised by Arusha Motor Sports Club (AMSC), Guru Nanak Rally will be officially flagged off on November 16 with a Super Special Stage(SSS) in Mswakini and Naitolya areas and that will cover a distance of 67 kilometers.

The second day flag off will see the cars covering 150 kilometers  distance to make the two-day  event reign as a 217km racing showdown.

Besides  the entries from Arusha, Dar es Saaam, Kilimanjaro, Morogoro and  Tanga, there will be several foreign entries from Kenya, Uganda and Zambia, according to the entry list  revealed by AMSC Chairman, Goodluck Mariki.

Also a force to reckon with in the chase for the Guru Nanak’s top throne are Moil Team members; Yassin Anwar and Ally Katumba  from Uganda who will be parading their driving skills in ultra- modern Ford R5.

The Moil team recently won the Mkwawa Rally of Morogoro, which served as the third round of this year’s National Rally Championship series.

The AMSC Chairman said he expects to have more than 25 cars in the season’s closing event.