RESULTS (ARC)
1. Yasin Nasser / Ali Katumba (Ford Fiesta R5) Rally2/ARC 2:40:41
2. Rio Smith / Riyaz Ismail (Subaru Impreza GVB) RC2/NR4/ARC 2:47:50
3. Jas Mangat / Joseph Kamya (Mitsubishi EvoX) RC2/R4/ARC 2:47:53
4. Innocent Bwamiki / Hamza Lwanga (Evo 9) RC2/ARC 3:41:26
ARC standing
1- Yasin Nasser 54 pts
2- Jas Mangat 42
3- Karen Patel 30
4- Rio Smith 24
Yasin Nasser/ Ali Katumba in Ford Fiesta R5 has taken over the lead of
the Africa Rally Championship (ARC) after winning the 24 th edition of
the Pearl of Africa Uganda Rally 2023 in a time of 2:40:41.
It was a sweet win for the Moil sponsored Rally crew after being given a
10 minutes penalty for missing the final competitive section Edwin
Kalule ( 24.61km) on Saturday (Day One) with a steering wheel problem.
“It was a challenging rally worth a smile at the end of the day, winning
the ARC and finishing as the third best local in the NRC,” Nasser said.
He added: We are now looking forward to Rally of Tanzania in July to
strengthen our top position in ARC.
Nasser finished second in the Equator Rally Kenya in March 2023.
Kenya driver Rio Smith driving with Riyaz Ismail in a Subaru Impreza
GVB was equally thrilled with his second place in a time of 2:47:50
which guaranteed him his first points in the ARC title race.
“It was an amazing experience moving from a 2wd to 4wd. We have
enjoyed ourselves to the position finish and picking our first ARC
points” Uganda has incredibly good technical roads that have
everything not forgetting the fans that attribute the win for their
motivation,” he said.
Jas Mangat/ Joseph Kamya in Mitsubishi Evo X like Nasser encountered
a torrid day one aftert penalized 20 minutes for missing two
competitive sections (Scoul 2- 18.45km and Edwin Kalule- 24.61km).
But Jas winner of last year’s event bounced back to finish third in a time
of 2:47:53, seven minutes behind the leader.
Mangat said: “It was crucial to battle to the last hour as his main focus
was to pick the vital points for Pearl and be ahead of Karen Patel before
round four Tanzania Rally in July.