Karan Patel Smashes Qualifier as Mt Gorilla Rally Roars into Kigali
By Mwambazi Lawrence – Kigali, Rwanda
If rallying had a middle name, it would be “chaos”and Karan Patel came into today’s qualifier wearing that name like a badge of honor. During the Rwanda Mt Gorilla Rally 2025 free practice at the Kigali Convention Center, Karan decided he wasn’t just here to race he was here to redecorate the roadside.
One slight miscalculation, one enthusiastic flick of the steering wheel, and boom Patel’s Skoda Fabia R5 gave a passionate kiss to a roadside bank. The rear right suspension cried. Mechanics panicked. Spectators gasped.
But did that stop the man? Of course not. Like a true rally gladiator, Karan and co-driver Tauseef Khan duct-taped destiny back together, rolled back into the service park, and returned for the qualifier like nothing happened. And just to prove a point, they posted a lightning-fast 3:25.7. . First blood drawn, and a message sent: “Yes, we crashed. No, we’re not going home.”
Coming in hot but playing it smooth was Samman Vohra, the Kenyan rising star with the calmest co-driver in rallying, Drew “I’ve seen worse” Sturrock. While Karan was out testing Rwanda’s landscaping limits, Samman opted for a clean run no detours, no roadside adventures, just pure rally flow. He clocked 3:39.2, a solid second place and only 13.5 seconds behind Patel. That’s basically one good donut and a slightly shorter handbrake turn. But hey, he kept the car clean and in rallying, that’s halfway to sainthood.
Meanwhile in third, Uganda’s finest Yasin Nasser and Ali Katumba rolled through the stage like men on a chessboard precise, cautious, but maybe just a little sleepy. Their time of 3:52.8 was enough for third place, and though it’s 27.1 seconds off the pace, let’s be honest they’ve got bigger fish to fry. Like winning the ARC title and making sure their car doesn’t need a respray every weekend.
Fourth place? Enter the legend. Nikhil Sachania, driving a Ford Fiesta R3 with Deep Patel, proved once again that nothing can slow them down. They crossed the line in 4:15.2, leaving fans cheering and a few other drivers quietly re-evaluating their life choices.
Fifth spot was claimed by Tanzanian Prince himself no, not the artist formerly known as this is rally royalty: Prince Nyerere and Fernand Rutabingwa. They had a smooth run, didn’t scare any fans, and brought the car home in one piece. That alone deserves a trophy in rallying.
Meanwhile, the National crews were out doing what they do bestte sting engines, adjusting turbos, and pretending they’re not scared of tomorrow’s monster of a route. Call it a shakedown, or just mechanical therapy before the storm.
Now that the city has been properly terrorized by sideways Subarus and backfiring Skodas, attention shifts to Bugesera, where tomorrow promises 9 stages yesNine stages. Three routes. Each repeated thrice. That’s rally math, baby. If you mess it up the first time, don’t worry you’ll get two more chances to mess it up differently. A full day of speed, sweat, and screaming tires. The drivers will be flying through Bugesera, where one wrong note could land you in the nearby bushes faster than you can say “LEFT 3 INTO JUMP DON’T CUT!”
Fans are warned: hydrate, scream responsibly, and don’t stand in weird places unless you want to go viral on rally fails.
This is the Mountain Gorilla Rally. And it’s about to go bananas.
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