Motorsport: Uganda Crew off to Rwanda For Mountain Gorilla Rally
By: Kyeyune Ali
The Federation of Motorsports Uganda (FMU-UG) together with National Council of Sports (NCS) on flagged off a Ugandan crews for the Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally 2023 scheduled for 22rd-24th September, 2023.
The flag off event took place at Lugogo Sports Complex on Wednesday.
The Rwanda event is the fifth round of the Africa Rally Championship (ARC). Uganda will be represented by 13 drivers led by three main contenders, that is; Yasin Nasser and Ali Katumba of Moil Uganda, Jas Mangat/Escatefigue Jules
(FRA) and Innocent Bwamiki/Hamza Lwanga.
Yasin Nasser and Ali Katumba who have been firing out from all pistons of their Fiesta are the 2023 African Rally Championship leaders with 78 points.
Jas Mangat and Escatefigue Jules are second with 63 points.
“We are prepared for this event and we expect to win it but in case of anything, the least, we expect to finish in second place but we hope for the best,” Ali Katumba told the media at Lugogo
“I have a strong feeling that the ARC title will come to Uganda this year and it will be us or Jas Mangat and his co-driver to bring it home.” he added.
Innocent Bwamiki and Hamza Lwanga are another crew to look out for and the latter told media that their main aim is to secure good points in Rwanda in order to bridge the gap with the leaders.
“Our car (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9) is in good shape and we are ready to conquer the terrain. For us all we want is to secure good points because the ARC is about to climax,” Lwanga said adding that a podium finish would be a good performance
The other Ugandan crews set to feature at the Rwanda event are; Balondemu Gilberto and Walugyo Gilbert, Nyanzi Issa and Samir Nasser, Wotolya Mwami Muzamir and Kevin Lubambula, Rashid Makumbi and Mwambazi Lawrence, Isaac Sozzi and Birwinyo Monica, Bwete Muhamend and Shakirah Nabwami, Umar Dauda and Bunya Steven, Peter kalule and David Mwesigwa, Nasser Mutebi and Mbogo Bashir & Busulwa Fred Kitaka and Kibuuka Mildred.
FMU Vice President Reynolds Kibira said that” it’s a joy to send such a large field of Drivers for a continental circuit and we hope that the Ugandan crews will dominate proceedings.”
David Katende Semakula, the Assistant General Secretary technical at NCS thanked the drivers for being good ambassadors of the country for a long time now.
The Rwanda event will be hosted by the Rwanda Automobile Club, and it is a 348.18 km stretch with 6 stages.
The sixth leg of ARC, the Zambia International Rally, will be held in Zambia from the 20th to the 22nd of October before climaxing with the Rally of Tanzania from November 10-12.