With the presence of the deputy General Secretary of National Council of Sports, 13 Ugandan crews were flagged o on Tuesday to take on the Mt. Gorilla Rally Rwanda challenge. The flag o was held at the FMU oces, Lugogo.
Mt. Gorilla Rally is the fifth round of the African Rally Championship slated for this weekend 22nd-24th September 2023.
This highly anticipated round stands to be a title decider as all the title contenders are eyeing for a victory to increase their grip on the title.
Among the conteders are Yasin Nasser, Jas Mangat both from Uganda and the Kenyan Karan Patel respective of their positions on the championship.
Yasin Nasser tops the table with over 78 points and ofcourse he needs this win to strengthen his championship bid as his fellow country man Jas Mangat is only 15 points shy of him and Karan 18 points adrift.
However, Karan Patel stands favourite to win the event as he went on to win the event last year, an event that the closest Ugandan crew was Jas Mangat who finished 4th down Kenya’s Hamza Anwar.
Jas Mangat returns with co-driver Escatefigue Jules in a Hyundai i20 R5 and Jas will be looking forward to showcase his speed and gain more seat time in the R5 car.
After the dissapointment from last year in Rwanda, Jas will have the incentive of pitting himself against Karan Patel who is also out in a Ford Fiesta R5 car.
However, the event has registered a number of party spoilers and among them are, Hamza Anwar who podiumed in the same event last year over Jas and will also cruise an R5 car for the event.
Rio Smith from Kenya, Giancalo Davite from Rwanda among others and all the above mentioned pose a threat to the contenders.
Among the other Ugandan crews are, Innocent Bwamiki, Nasser Mutebi, Muhammed Bwete, Issa Nyanzi, Isaac Ssozi, Gilberto Balondemu, Rashid Makumbi,
Innocent Bwamiki is currently fighting for the ARC2 title as his closest rival Jas Mangat switched to the R5, a car that is not eligible to score in the category. Apparently the battle for
the title is between him and Rio Smith.
Having triumphed in Pearl Africa Rally ARC2 category, Rio Smith alongside co-driver Riyaz Ismail are back in the cockpit of the Subaru GVB to take on mt.Gorilla Rally Rwanda.
Catch all the mt. Gorilla Rally live stage coverage on Hapasport Youtube and facebook Channel.
