Patel Sets the Pace as Mountain Gorilla Rally Roars to Life
By Mwambazi Lawrence
The battle for top honours at the Mountain Gorilla Rally burst into life on Friday evening with Kenya’s Karan Patel and co-driver Tauseef Khan stamping their authority by winning the spectacular qualifying stage held around the Kigali Convention Centre.
Driving their Skoda Fabia R5, the Kenyan crew covered the short but very technical 1.2-kilometre test in an impressive time of 1:39.1, sending a clear warning to their African Rally Championship rivals ahead of the main event.
Tanzania’s Manveer Birdi and co-driver Manmeet Singh, also aboard a Skoda Fabia R5, settled for second place after clocking 1:40.4, just over a second behind Patel’s benchmark. Kenyan crew Arkif Virani and co-driver Shah Zahir completed a Škoda clean sweep of the podium with a time of 1:44.8.
India’s Naveen Pulligila, partnered by Sharif Musa in a Ford Fiesta R3, posted the fourth-fastest time, finishing nine seconds behind Patel’s winning run.
Uganda’s leading crew, Oscar Ntambi and co-driver Pius Luggya, delivered an impressive performance in their Mitsubishi Evo X to finish fifth overall with a time of 1:52.3. Tanzania’s Ahmed Huwel and co-driver Roheet Solanki guided their Toyota Yaris to sixth place, ending the stage 18.5 seconds adrift of the pace-setters.
Uganda’s Susan Muwonge and Musa Nsubuga opted for a cautious approach on the opening test, recording the 11th fastest time of 2:10.1. Burundi’s Roshanali Mohammed and Uganda’s Enoch Olinga placed 12t in their Subaru GVB, while Rwanda’s Queen Kalimpinya codriven by Olivier Ngabo rounded off the African Rally Championship field in 13th position.
With the qualifying stage complete, attention now shifts to the gravel roads of Bugesera District, where the rally proper gets underway on Saturday. Crews will tackle 12 competitive stages during Leg One, covering a total competitive distance of 162.30 kilometres in what promises to be a punishing day of endurance and speed.
By virtue of their qualifying performances, Naveen Pulligila and Sharif Musa will have the honour of opening the road. Tanzania’s Ahmed Huwel will follow second, with Arkif Virani starting third, Tanzania’s Manveer Birdi fourth and qualifying winner Karan Patel choosing to start fifth.
Among the Ugandan contenders, Susan Muwonge will leave the start line as car number 10, followed by Rwanda’s Queen Kalimpinya in 11th, while Oscar Ntambi will be the next Ugandan on the road as car number 12.
With bragging rights secured on the opening night, the real battle now begins. The fast and technical Bugesera stages are expected to separate outright pace from consistency as crews chase valuable African Rally Championship points in one of the region’s most demanding events.
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