Jas Mangat Dominates Leg One of The Dramatic but Entertaining Pearl of Africa Rally 2022 After Its Long-Awaited Return

The much-anticipated Pearl of Africa rally Uganda 2022 first day of competition May 07 2022, saw Uganda’s Pili Pili rally team’s Jas Mangat navigated by Joseph Kamya come out in the lead in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X completing the three sections that were covered in the day with a total time of 51:23.0.

The wait was no more as the pearl of Africa rally finally begun in the areas of Lugazi-Mukono. What they did not anticipate however, was the heavy downpour of rain that started very early in the morning that even led to the cancellation of the first section of the day, Shekhar Mehta, that was to be driven inside the Sugar Corporation of Uganda Limited (SCOUL). The roads were flooded with water which made them impassable. Drivers headed to the next section, Kivuvu, which was 20.45km. This is where Jas Mangat started his dominance from; he was third in the start order, but the team beat all their competition out with the best time of the section with 18:45.9. Though they lost a little bit of time. The team kept the pace and navigated through the very slippery roads and came out first by the end of the day. Mangat said it was hard to know how the day would end because of the very slippery and wet roads so they couldn’t judge the roads. This was a good performance from Mangat who hadn’t competed since the Kassanda rally back in 2020. The team finished the remaining two sections with times of 24:57 (Kasaku Chai) and 07:40 (Nakiwunga).

Looking towards a podium finish and holding that number one spot on the National Rally Championship (NRC), Ponsiano Lwakataka navigated by Paul Musaazi in their Subaru Impreza finished in second place with 51:51.5 just 28.5 seconds behind Mangat. Lwakataka is currently number one on the NRC championship and he is looking to keep it that way with his experience and steady pace. His fans cheered him on in the different sections and are counting on him taking home this year’s championship. Mangat is competing on the ARC for the first time this season.

In the African Rally Championship (ARC), it was Kenya’s FIA/WRC Rally stars program’s Hamza Anwar navigated by Din Adnan that came out in the lead in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X completing with a total time of 54:22.7. The foreign crews had a hard time getting through the wet roads but this was a good performance from the young driver beating out his competitors in the fan favorite R5 and R3 cars. Rwanda’s Giancarlo Davite and co-driver Sylvia Vindevogel came shortly behind Anwar in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X with a time of 54:59.0 just 37.7seconds behind them. The crew kept a steady pace through the event and were glad to complete. Zambia’s Leroy Gomes and co-driver Urshlla Gomes had the third place in the ARC with a time of 57:02.6, they struggled with the muddy surfaces and wet roads in their Ford Fiesta R5 but managed to complete the event.

Team Kikankane’s Duncan Mubiru and co-driver Musa Nsubuga in their Ford Fiesta proto were third behind Lwakataka with a time of 52:42.3. Mubiru and Mike Mukula Jr. had times better than Anwar and the remaining foreign crews. Mike Mukula Jr and co-driver Kiyingi Edward in their Subaru Impreza were fourth a time of 54:17.5. Fans are always on the look out for the young driver because of his incredible speed in the tracks. Closing out the national category top five was Shell’s Arthur Blick Jr navigated by son Alestair Blick in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X with a time of 55:21.9. The Ugandan drivers really represented well for the country and had fans cheering and debating on who will come out on the podium.

Sadly, Kenya’s Karan Patel and co-driver Tauseef Khan suffered a major blow when their Ford Fiesta slid off which had to be pulled out and this cost the team so much time. They completed the day but finished last in the ARC. Competition resumes on Sunday 08 May, with the second and last day of competition, everyone is eager to see who will come out on top.

ARC Leg One Results