The African Rally Championship (ARC) second last round took place in Rwanda from 24-25 September. The rally dubbed the Mountain Gorilla Rally was won by Kenya’s Karan Patel and co-driver Tauseef Khan in their Ford Fiesta R5 with a total time of 1:19:40.3.
Patel put on a show right from the start, winning an impressive seven stages out of the twelve. Patel has also now won three of the six rally events on the calendar; Kenya, Tanzania, and now Rwanda.
Current ARC leader, Zambia’s Leroy Gomes and his co-driver wife Urshlla Gomes placed second in their Ford Fiesta R5 with a time of 1:19:53.5. There was a time difference of 13.2seconds between Gomes and Patel; Gomes won two of the stages in the rally and said they had a slight issue with their car but still managed to give a good performance, leading day one.
In third place was the very impressive young man from Kenya, Hamza Anwar, and co-driver Adnan Din in their Ford Fiesta R3. They did a time of 1:21:21.8 and thrilled the fans throughout the event. Anwar kept within the top four throughout and represented team Kenya with a thrilling performance. Anwar was the ARC3 and ARC Junior champion of the event.
The entry list had 26 drivers but only 14 finished the rally, twenty cars were flagged off and six retired. The rally proved to be tough on some of the cars as only eighteen completed SS1! Saturday stages were Gako1, Gasenyi, Nemba, and Ruhuha which were run twice and Sunday had Kamabuye and GakoB that were run twice as well.
Representing Uganda as he knows best, was Jas Mangat and co-driver Joseph Kamya, who finished fourth overall with a time of 1:22:07.4 in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X. Mangat also won two stages (SS3 & SS10) and was the ARC2 champion of the day. Duncan Mubiru also put on a good performance for team Uganda, he finished seventh overall.
The drivers will be heading to Zambia for the final ARC event this year on 21-23 October and the champion will be crowned.
Current ARC Standings;
- Leroy Gomes-Zambia-126 points
- Karan Patel-Kenya-105 points
- Hamza Anwar-Kenya-55 points
- Jeremiah Wahome-Kenya-55 points
- Jas Mangat-Uganda-49 points
- McRae Kimathi-Kenya-43 points
- Giancarlo Davite-Rwanda-38 points
- Yasin Nasser-Uganda-34 points
- Maxine Wahome-Kenya-28 points
- Jasmeet Chana-Kenya-21 points
- Gurpal Sandhu-Tanzania-17 points
- Kaka Mahender Singh Jr.-Uganda-13 points
- Rio Smith-Kenya-9 points
- Paras Pandya-Kenya-7 points
Final Results and Finishers of the rally;
- Karan Patel/Tauseef Khan-Kenya-1:19:40.3-Ford Fiesta R5
- Leroy Gomes/Urshlla Gomes-Zambia-1:19:53.5-Ford Fiesta R5
- Hamza Anwar/Adnan Din-Kenya-1:21:21.8-Ford Fiesta R3
- Jas Mangat/Joseph Kamya-Uganda-1:22:07.4-Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X
- Jeremiah Wahome/Victor Okundi-Kenya-1:22:30.0-Ford Fiesta R3
- McRae Kimathi/Mwangi Kioni-Kenya-1:23:22.3-Ford Fiesta R3
- Duncan Mubiru/Musa Nsubuga-Uganda-1:23:32.3-Ford Fiesta Proto
- Jonas Kansiime/Ivan Tushabe-Uganda-1:29:39.0-Mitsubishi Lancer Evo8
- Maxine Wahome/Waigwa Murage-Kenya-1:31:59.5-Ford Fiesta R3
- Fred Busulwa Kitaka/Joseph Bongole-Uganda-1:34:11.1-Subaru Impreza
- Awan Din Imitiaz/Alain Rukundo-Burundi-1:37:13.5-Subaru Impreza
- Gakwaya Jean Claude/Mugabo Jean Claude-Rwanda-1:37:58.8-Subaru Impreza
- Kanangire Christian/Kevin Mujiji-Rwanda-2:02:03.6-Subaru Impreza
- Gilbert Balondemu/Gilbert Waluggyo-Uganda-2:13:10.8-Toyota Run X
