The fight for victory at the Mountain Gorilla Rally officially came alive on Friday evening, with Kenya’s Karan Patel and co-driver Tauseef Khan laying down an early marker by claiming victory in the spectacular qualifying stage held around the iconic Kigali Convention Centre.
Piloting their Skoda Fabia R5, Patel and Khan were simply untouchable on the short but demanding 1.2-kilometre blast, stopping the clocks at an impressive 1:39.1. It was the perfect statement of intent from the Kenyan crew, who arrived in Rwanda determined to tighten their grip on the African Rally Championship title race.
If qualifying stages awarded trophies, Patel would already be polishing one. Unfortunately for him and fortunately for everyone else the real rally begins on gravel, where stopwatches, dust and unpredictable moments often have a different opinion.
Tanzania’s Manveer Birdi and co-driver Manmeet Singh ensured it was a Skoda one-two after posting 1:40.4, just 1.3 seconds slower than Patel, while Kenya’s Arkif Virani and Shah Zahir completed a Škoda Fabia clean sweep of the top three with a time of 1:44.8. The Czech machines looked every bit the cars to beat, leaving rival manufacturers with plenty to think about overnight.
India’s Naveen Pulligila and Ugandan co-driver Sharif Musa delivered another solid performance in their Ford Fiesta R3 to finish fourth fastest. Although nine seconds off Patel’s pace, the crew earned the privilege of opening the road on Saturday a reward that sometimes feels more like winning a front-row seat at a dust storm than a tactical advantage.
Uganda’s best performance came courtesy of Oscar Ntambi and co-driver Pius Luggya, who thrilled supporters with a spirited drive in their Mitsubishi Evo X. Their time of 1:52.3 secured fifth overall, proving they have both the pace and confidence to challenge for strong championship points once the rally heads into the forests and villages of Bugesera.
Tanzania’s Ahmed Huwel and Roheet Solanki guided their Toyota Yaris to sixth place, while the remaining crews focused more on settling into the rhythm than chasing outright speed.
Former African champion Susan Muwonge and co-driver Musa Nsubuga opted for a measured start, bringing their Subaru home in 11th place with a time of 2:10.1. Burundi’s Roshanali Mohammed, alongside Uganda’s Enoch Olinga, finished 12th in their Subaru GVB, while Rwanda’s Queen Kalimpinya and Olivier Ngabo completed the African Rally Championship field in 13th.
As always, qualifying offered just enough excitement to raise expectations without answering the biggest question: who can survive two days of Rwanda’s unforgiving gravel roads? In rallying, Friday night’s fastest driver can easily become Saturday morning’s most enthusiastic spectator if luck decides to change lanes.
With qualifying completed, attention now turns to the demanding Bugesera District stages, where crews will tackle 12 competitive tests covering 162.30 competitive kilometres during Leg One. Fast straights, deceptive corners and rough sections are expected to punish even the smallest mistake.
Thanks to the qualifying results, Pulligila and Musa will sweep the roads first, followed by Ahmed Huwel, Arkif Virani, Manveer Birdi and then qualifying winner Karan Patel, who elected to start fifth a strategic position that could prove advantageous as the road cleans for the cars behind.
Among the Ugandan challengers, Susan Muwonge will start as car number 10, Rwanda’s Queen Kalimpinya follows at number 11, while Oscar Ntambi will line up as car number 12.
The qualifying stage may have settled the bragging rights for Friday evening, but the stopwatch resets when the first gravel stage begins. From now on, it’s no longer about who looked quickest under the bright lights of Kigali it is about who can keep the throttle pinned, avoid the rocks, stay out of the ditches and make it back to service with all four wheels pointing in the same direction. In rallying, that’s often the hardest stage of all.
