Uganda’s Jas Mangat and co-driver Jules Escartefigue led day one of the African Rally Championship (ARC) round in Iringa-Tanzania in their Hyundai i20 R5 with a time of 31:01.6. The team won five out of the six stages that were run on Saturday (two routes were run six times-Paddock-7.72km and Pivot-10.15km). Mangat made a great show and kept his pace consistent throughout the day.
Kenya’s Karan Patel and co-driver Tauseef Khan came in second place in their Ford Fiesta R5 with a time of 32:12.4; there was a time difference of 1 minute 10 seconds between Patel and Mangat. Patel was third in SS1, and SS2, and second in SS3, SS4, SS5, and SS6 where he clocked at the same time as Mangat.
In third place was Tanzania’s Huwel Ahmed and co-driver Rahim Suleiman in their Ford Fiesta Proto with a time of 33:23.4; Huwel stayed consistent throughout his driving and finished in third place in all stages and won the last stage of the day-SS6. Huwel will be looking to keep his first-place position on the national level going into the final day.
Hamza Anwar and co-driver Adnan Din finished in fourth place with a time of 33:38.7 in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X.
Unfortunately, Yasin Nasser and co-driver Joseph Kamya finished in thirteenth place after the crew suffered a fire scare in their Ford Fiesta R5 (none were injured). Nasser was on pace in the first two stages coming in second behind Mangat but things took a turn in the third stage. The remaining six stages will be covered on Sunday and a winner for the 2023 ARC season will be crowned.
Overall Results:
- Jas Mangat/Jules Escartefigue-Hyundai i20 R5-31:01.6
- Karan Patel/Tauseef Khan-Ford Fiesta R5-32:12.4
- Ahmed Huwel/Rahim Suleiman-Ford Fiesta Proto-33:23.4
- Hamza Anwar/Adnan Din-Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X-33:38.7
- Singh Birdi Randeep/Piredina Zubayr-Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX-34:57.9
- Singh Sandhu Gurpal/Sihoka Dave-Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X R4-35:00.6
- Singh Birdi Manveer/Singh Birdi Manmeet-Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX-35:15.8
- Prince Nyerere/Yusuf Shameer-Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X R4-37:14.0
- Charles Bicco/David Matete-Subaru Impreza STi N12-39:25.6
- Patel Vishal/Nanji Rumit-Subaru Impreza GC8-40:15.4
- Taylor Robert/Lyimo Monica-Subaru Impreza GC8-43:43.7
- Taylor Kelvin/Karim Munisi-Subaru Impreza GC8-1:05:06.8
- Yasin Nasser/Joseph Kamya-Ford Fiesta R5-1:11:30.8
- Taylor Isaack/Said Hamisi-Toyota Celica-1:12:07.9
- Sultan Chana/Modhar Hussein-Subaru Impreza GC8-1:26:55.9
