Yasin Nasser Leads, Ronald Ssebuguzi Dominates the Circuit on Day One of the NRC Moil EMC Rally in Jinja

The fourth round of the National Rally Championship (NRC) is underway in Jinja and organized by the Eastern Motor Club (EMC) dubbed the MOIL EMC Rally as Moil is the main sponsor; saw Moil’s very own Yasin Nasser and co-driver Ali Katumba lead day one in their Ford Fiesta Rally2 (R5) with a time of 0:32:12:13. Day one had a competitive distance of 53.08km that had two special stages and one super special stage-a double circuit at Bujagaali. Nasser won stages one and two and was second in the last super special stage. The team is still on a quest to achieve history this season as they are competing in the National Rally Championship (NRC), the African Rally Championship (ARC), and the Tanzania National Rally Championship; where they are currently seating in first place in all those championships.

In second place was Byron Rugomoka and co-driver Hakim Mawanda in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X with a time of 0:34:26:85. They had a time difference of 0:02:14:72 from Nasser. Rugomoka was second in stage two and third in the last two stages of the day. The 2022 NRC champion is hoping to keep a hold on a podium finish.

Shell’s Ronald Ssebuguzi and co-driver Anthony Mugambwa in their Ford Fiesta Proto finished third with a time of 0:35:33:29; Ssebuguzi performed best in the double circuit and had fans cheering, with the most entertaining performance of the day as most fans were heard saying “2016 Ssebuguzi was back.” He was the most competitive double-circuit driver and always came out on top. He won the two super special stages and was third in stage one.

Innocent Bwamiki and co-driver Hamza Lwanga finished in fourth place in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 and the very impressive young driver Ali Mohammed navigated by his brother Ahmed Anees Mohammed finished fifth in their Subaru Impreza. These youngsters are performing very well and should not be counted out. Oscar Ntambi finished in sixth place and was the 2WD best-placed driver. Making their debut in the NRC were youngsters Yasser Ali Omar commonly known as “Bobo” navigated by his brother Wazir Ali Omar.

There were twenty-nine cars on the start order but only eighteen completed all the stages. Fan-favorite Duncan Mubiru suffered technical difficulties and was forced to retire. Joshua Muwanguzi also retired with a broken suspension and puncture. Godfrey Kiyimba, Umar Dauda, and Rashid Makumbi also did not complete the rally.

Missing from this round were Ponsiano Lwakataka, Fred Busulwa Kitaka, Nasser Mutebi, Jas Mangat, and Edward Kirumira among others.

Day two will cover 91.76km.

Day One Finishers.