A historic achievement. FMMSAM club driver Rivo Aina Randrianarivony, behind the wheel of the former Audi TT belonging to reigning Madagascar champion Nouroudine Mamodaly, caused a surprise during the fourth and penultimate round of the Madagascar 402m drag racing championship, dubbed ‘Record Breakers’. In his very first participation in the national drag racing round, the multiple Madagascar rally champion immediately secured his first victory and simultaneously updated the national record twice on Sunday at the Arivonimamo 213 naval air base track. He is the first driver in the country to achieve a time under nine seconds.
Rivo Randrianarivony has thus become the first Malagasy driver to break the 9-second barrier. He set a new national record of 8.71 seconds during his fourth run, the ‘joker’ pass, where reaction time is not counted. He then confirmed this performance by clocking 8.73 seconds during his fifth run in the elimination phase. He surpassed the previous record of 9.14 seconds held by Nouroudine Mamodaly.
The FMMSAM club driver, nicknamed R111, outperformed Nouroudine, who drove a Peugeot 205 T16 in the super final. Rivo impressed the public and other competitors from his first run by setting a scratch time of 9.095. He eliminated the national vice-champion, Mano Ramaheriniarivo of the MSA, in the semi-finals.
Rivo Randrianarivony is a seasoned car racer. He began his competitive career in the national slalom championship driving a Polaris SSV in 2012. He took the wheel of Jean-Yves Ranarivelo’s (alias Joda) former Subaru N12 in 2014. In 2018, Rivo drove Olivier Ramiandrisoa’s Subaru and finished as the vice-champion of Madagascar.
Rivo clinched his first Madagascar rally champion title in 2019 behind the wheel of a Subaru R4. Among other achievements, he secured three victories at the International Rally of Madagascar in 2018, 2019, and 2020. His transition and first attempt at drag racing this Sunday were a great success. The only disappointment for the public was the absence of the championship leader, Tahiana ‘Jaytaxx’ Rasolojaona.
Captured & Published at: 2026-11-03 06:23:45 (Madagascar Local Time EAT)
Original Source: https://www.lexpress.mg/2026/11/run-4e-manche-rivo-randrianarivony.html