By Juma Ali
Yasin Nasser strengthened his bid for a second National Rally title with a victory in the EMC Moil Jinja Rally over the weekend.
Nasser and co-driver Ali Katumba, in the Ford Fiesta R5, landed a convincing victory as they led from the start of the event to the final finish; picking six stage wins out of the seven stages.
The Moil Rally Team claimed the victory by 8 minutes and 6 seconds ahead of Ronald Sebuguzi.
“We came into this event with all focus on the victory. We knew it would not come easy because even our rivals were looking at the same.
“Fortunately, we got a cleaner race unlike our competitors and the win was just in our sight. We are now placed well for future events,” said Yasin.
Yasin Nasser is now 165 points clear of Duncan Mubiru who dropped out on day one.
Ronald Sebuguzi recovered from Saturday’s troubles. He picked up two punctures in stage two. The Ford Proto driver however pulled himself to a strong performance thereafter.
Sebuguzi and Anthony Mugambwa were the highlight of leg one’s ending Super Special. Their drive amazed the spectators. They also managed to pluck 20 seconds from the leader Yasin.
He however managed to settle for second position overall.
Peter Kalule drove well enough to land a podium finish in third followed by Ibrahim Lubega in fourth. Mohammed Bwete would seal the top five positions.
Ibrahim Lubega clinched victory in the 2WD category. Julius Semambo was second followed by Samuel Watendwa.
The young rookies dominated the Clubman Rally Championship with the Mohammed brothers and Omar brothers claiming the first and second positions.
Ali and Anees Mohammed were yet again impressive, posting convincing stage times en route to their Clubman Rally category win.
Yasser Ali Omar and his brother Wazir Ali Omar landed a podium finish in the same class on their full rally debut.
Godfrey Kiyimba finished third in the category.
The event registered several casualties including NRC title contenders Duncan Mubiru and Byron Rugomoka who were knocked out by mechanical issues.
Joshua Muwanguzi, the CRC championship leader, retired as well. He however remains on top of the CRC leadership with a narrow nine-point advantage over Godfrey Kiyimba.
The fifth round of the National Rally Championship heads to Masaka on the weekend of August 11-13.
Top 5 Standings
- Yasin Nasser – 398 Points
- Duncan Mubiru – 233
- Ronald Sebuguzi – 190
- Ibrahim Lubega – 184
- Byron Rugomoka – 160
