Had he still been alive today, Rajiv Ruparelia would probably be preparing to go and enjoy the Pearl of Africa Rally that is taking place this weekend in Mbarara.
Not as a competing driver, but as a fan of the sport. Ruparelia, 35, who passed on in the wee hours of Friday night, May 2 in a road accident, was laid to rest yesterday. The news of his passing did not only rock the motor rallying fraternity, but robbed the sport of a young man that was undoubtedly passionate about the sport, seeing how much he invested in competing in it, and also in its administration.
By his death, Ruparelia had been in a rallying sabbatical, with his last participation happening between late 2022 and early 2023. Yet, in as far as the Pearl of Africa rally is concerned, an African Rally Championship event where the finest and fastest cars and drivers line up, Ruparelia through the ranks.
He started by competing in Autocross at Ssisa, Kapeeka, Kalangala and Kayunga, where he was victorious. This pushed him on to graduate to the Clubman championships, a tier below the National Rally Championship.
At the time, Ruparelia was driving a Mitsubishi Evo9 formerly owned by Moses Lumala. Ronnie Walia was Ruparelia’s first co- driver, before he changed to Enock Oringa. During his career, Ruparelia was always obsessed with speed and mechanics, to ensure that the car condition was pristine before and during the races.
But at the same time, because of his love for speed, he did not finish many races. He hit one bump too many that always saw him drop out of races. Notably, on his road to rallying, Ruparelia had joined Rally Star Academy in South Africa to further hone his skills.
And when he unveiled his newly acquired rally car Volkswagen Polo Proto in 2019, plus his own rallying team, the Ruparelia Rally team, a true rally career was coming full circle. In fact, in October 2021 during Kabalega Hoima rally, he beat the rally big wigs like Duncan Mubiru and Ronald Ssebuguzi to win the event.
But all this did not take shape without controversy. Earlier on, some FMU officials had resisted his climb to competing in NRC events, because they did not feel he had fulfilled all procedures necessary. In addition, even after races, Ruparelia was accused of breaking rules to get undue advantage.
All this came to pass eventually. But what was for certain is that his life in rally was full of drama. In 2020, Ruparelia bought Central Motor Club, taking over from Rajab Kavuma who had been the club president for 12 years since inception.
The club during its first general assembly at Kabira country club (his family property) in September 2020, elected Ruparelia as the new chairperson, board of trustees. It was a promising club with the prospect of totally changing the face of motorsport.
During the assembly meeting, a total of Shs 102 million was raised by members to support the activities of the club, courtesy of Ruparelia. But it is alleged that the family remained opposed to Ruparelia’s involvement in the sport, because it was not profit-making.
Yet, for almost every race Ruparelia competed in, he took at least Shs 50 million from the family coffers. In light of that, his close friend, Sayeed Kakeeto said that for almost every rally event, Ruparelia helped support other drivers. Such was his spirit; controversial, but kind.
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