Rally ace Jas Mangat and Co-driver Enoch Olinga won the National Rally Championship opener after clocking 1:10:23:84 in their Hyundai i20.
Behind them in the Mbarara City Rally was the crew of Jonas Kansiime and Ronald Bukenya driving Mitsubishi Evo 8. They reached the finish line 0:09:57:29 slower.
Seasoned rally driver Ponsiano Lwakataka and his Co-driver Paul Musaazi in Subaru Impreza N12 completed the podium over the weekend.
The crew posted a clean 1:20:48:45 but were 27 seconds, and 32 microseconds short of the second position as Kansiime was slapped with a penalty of a minute and 20 seconds.
Returning after a break last season, Mangat won 7 out of the 8 sections, with only Lwakataka beating him to send an early warning signal to his competitors for the 2024 NRC accolade.
Well, one can argue that a good number of drivers such as; current champion Yassin Nasser, Duncan ‘Kikakanene’ Mubiru, Peter Kalule, and Mike Mukula Jr missing out eased Mangat’s victory.
This was a result of the ongoing wrangles within the local governing body that saw a court injunction stop the General meeting early this month.
Following days of uncertainty, and back-door legal battles, the race got a late clearance from the authorities hence many drivers opting out.
The flying Mangat led a pack of 17 crews that completed the rally with 22 crew machines failing the test in the land of milk.
