The controversially titled MOSAC “Sexy Speed” rally held in Jinja on 27 November 2021 saw Omar Mayanja and co-driver Hussein Mukuye take the win in their Mitsubishi Evo X in a time of 1:33:12 running through a competitive distance of 150.33km.
Omar Mayanja and Hussein Mukuye stood firm as they claimed their first win of a rally in four seasons with this win in the Jinja rally; it was no walk-in-the-park as the muddy grounds proved extremely challenging for them and many of the competitors. They fought to the finish and came out victorious even with technical difficulties and stoppages in the sections. With a time difference of only 4.2 seconds, the Shell V Power sponsored Ronald Ssebuguzi and co-driver Anthony Mugambwa came in very close second place with a time of 1:33:16.2 in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X. It was an extremely close call as they took turns winning different sections but ultimately Mayanja beat Ssebuguzi with a better time.
In third place, was Fred Busulwa and co-driver Joseph Bongole in their Subaru Impreza STi N10 with a time of 1:36:11.8. They also struggled in the “Muko Brown” section sliding through the mud but came out with a podium finish to their credit. The first section “Dolly Mubarak” was named after that rally driver from Jinja who used to compete back in the day.
The rally proved tough and challenging for many of the participants, including the winner of the 2021 National Rally Championship, his very first since he got into the competition, Duncan “Kikankane” Mubiru, he came in fourth place in the rally with his co-driver Musa Nsubuga in their Subaru Impreza WRX STi 4D with a time of 1:39:07. This was the first time Mubiru completed a Jinja rally event, as in previous events he retired from the races. He only had to complete the rally for him to take the championship victory and coming out in fourth place overall was a really impressive performance on their behalf. Thanking the fans who had his back as the “Kikankane rally team fans”, Mubiru gleefully said to the press that he had to finish this rally and secure this championship for the people that have believed in him from the start. Mubiru started competing back in 2001!
Out of the thirty three cars on the final entry list, only eleven competitors finished the entire race, proving how the wet and muddy terrain in Jinja was extremely tough, challenging and needed competitors to think and be calculative rather than fast. Peter Businge co-driven by Hakim Mawanda in their Subaru Impreza came in fifth place at 2:03:07, showing the competitiveness from the first three podium finishers. Nsereko Godfrey co-driven by Raymond Munyagwa in their Subaru Impreza GC8 were in sixth place; Issa Nyanzi co-driven by Mathias Kiyega in their Subaru Impreza GC8 came in seventh; in eighth place were Muzamiru Mwami co-driven by Abdul Kakiza in a Toyota Run-X. Edward Kirumira co-driven by Robert Katabalwa in their Toyota Curren came in ninth place and Gilberto Balondemu co-driven by Gilbert Waligyo in a Toyota FX placed tenth. Rounding out the finishers were Sadat Negomba co-driven by Anwal also in a Toyota FX.
The Clubman Rally Championship (CRC) category was won by Oscar Ntambi and co-driver Asuman Mohammed in their Toyota Altezza and the 2WD category was won by Dr. Nsereko Godfrey and co-driver Raymond Munyigwa in their Subaru Impreza.
Among the many that retired were: Abdul Kateete co-driven by George Ssemakula in their Subaru Impreza retired in SS3, Rajiv Ruparelia co-driven by Enoch Olinga in their Volkswagen Polo Proto retired in SS3, Samuel Watendwa co-driven by Steven Bunya in their Toyota FX also retired in SS3. Ibrahim Lubega/Geoffrey Serwoga, Najib Ssempijja/Robert Katabalwa, and Nasser Ratib/Sadat Lukwago retired after just one section.
This was the final round in the competitive calendar and it did not end without some complications like some of the rally drivers withdrawing from the event and some not even competing at all because of the name and publicity of the event. Drivers like Hassan Alwi released a statement in part saying “the event disrespects women” because of the theme “sexy speed” with scantily clad young women posing on cars to promote the event. The competition will resume in January 2022.
