WRC3 and Junior WRC contender McRae Kimathi was the top placed Kenyan in an extremely muddy and slippery ARC Pearl of Africa Uganda Rally.

Piloting his state-of-the-art M-Sport prepared Ford Fiesta Rally3 and navigated by compatriot Mwangi Kioni, Kimathi clocked 2:12.17.00 to finish eighth overall.

McRae, who is defending the ARC Junior title that he won during the Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally 2022, was using the Pearl Rally' to prepare for the upcoming WRC Rally Portugal.

Ugandan Jas Mangat emerged the overall winner beating Leroy Gomes of Zambia to second while Rwandese warhorse Giancarlo Davite completed the podium dash.

Both Leroy and Davite were navigated by female navigators. Leroy had his pace-notes called by his wife Urshlla while Sylvia Vindevogel of Burundi navigated Davite.

Mangat, who competes under Pilipili Rally Team livery, posted 1 hour, 58mins and 6 seconds to achieve the feat.

Fourth behind the wheel of a Subaru Impreza was Ponsiano Lwakataka aka Mafu Mafu while his Ugandan compatriot Yasin Nasser settled for fifth.

The third round of the FIA African Rally Championship (ARC) was definitely not a walk in the park for Kenyan crew given the inclement weather conditions witnessed on the route course .

FIA Rally Star Hamza Anwar was well on course for a fairy tale finish but kissed the FMU (Federation of Motorsport Clubs of Uganda) organized round good-bye on Leg 2's stage five on Sunday with a broken rear hub.

Hamza, son of former Nanyuki Rally Champion Asad Anwar, was the top placed Kenyan in fifth after the gruelling Leg 1 on Saturday.

He was well on course for good things on Leg 2 until mechanical gremlins set in.

Kenya National Rally leader Karan Patel was among the Kenyans who suffered gremlins in the treacherous conditions. He then rejoined the rally as per the 'Super Rally' rule on Sunday morning to settle for 9th place.

Karan, who is fighting for a maiden career FIA ARC title this year, managed to salvage a few points despite his disappointing Day One experience after his Fiesta went off the road and landed into a ditch.

"It was a lesson for me. I need to drive a lot more on slippery surfaces," said Karan after a disappointing end to his Leg 1 campaign on Saturday that saw him re-enter the event as per the Super Rally on Leg 2. The Suoer Rally rule allows drivers to rejoin the rally with a penalty after retiring on the first day and being able to fix the damages well in time.

"We have set stage times in the past and we can do it when we want. But with this kind of conditions, i can honestly say that mud is not my friend at the moment. It's good that I got some seat time on muddy conditions, so I will take this as a learning experience to become a better driver on mud," said Karan, who piloted a Ford Fiesta Rally2 navigated by compatriot Tauseef Khan.

Karan set the fastest time on Leg 2's Shekhar Metha (25.5km) stage where he clocked 16.17 minutes to beat Hamza Anwar (17.04minutes) to second.

But Mangat maintained a steady run in the opening run of Sunday and ran third fastest on the Shekhar stage to maintain his lead.

Among the local drivers who retired from the high attrition rally were Kepher Walubi, Samuel Bweete, Muhammad Bweete, John Barrows Lumu and Duncan Mubiru aka Kikankane.

Mangat and his partner Joseph Kamya led after the first day which witnessed a heavy downpour.

This culminated into the first stage of the event being cancellation on Saturday morning. Mangat drew first blood taking an early lead of the event with the fastest time in the Kivuvu stage.

PROVISIONAL FINAL CLASSIFICATION END OF LEG 2 (TOP 9)

Jas Mangat/J Kamya (UG)1:58.06.12

Leroy Gomes/Urshla Gomes (ZAM) 1:58.11.27

Giancarlo Davite/Sylvia Vindevogel (RWA) 1:58.58.76

Ponsiano Lwakataka/M Paula ( UG) 2:00.38.62

Yasin Nasser (UG) 2:08.32.39

Copyright Capital FM. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com)., source News Service English