Yasin Nasser and Ali Katumba raised cheers after overcoming the challenges of the three-day Safari Rally to earn a remarkable ninth position on Sunday.
The Moil Rally Team started the event in 23rd position in their Subaru GVB. They would finish in 14th after day one.
The crew got an early scare when their car stalled after hitting a water crossing in the opening stage of day two; they dropped more than five minutes.
They, however, managed to fix the car, gradually upping their pace to seal the event with a convincing top ten finish.
“It has been a tough event just like before. Every crew had a share of the challenges in the three days.
“We are grateful we managed to overcome all the difficulties and remained focussed on our target of finishing the event. We even got more from our earlier target. A ninth position was more than what we asked given the tight competition,” said Nasser.
Nasser and Katumba were among the best placed Ugandan crews that finished the event; Duncan Mubiru managed thirteenth position while Christakis Fitidis finished in twentieth after a series of mishaps.
Kepher Walubi, Ronald Sebuguzi, Abdul Kateeta and Godfrey Nsereko did not survive the Safari toughness.
The event was running as a WRC Candidate Event that could return Kenya to WRC calendar.
“This event was the first of the kind we have attended. The organization in every department left us to desire. It was indeed a WRC candidate event.
“We hope to pick all the experience from this event for our upcoming events in the national championship.”
Kenya’s Baldev Chager clinched the dramatic victory taking full advantage of Manvir Baryan’s delays in the ultimate stage of the event. Manvir lost his rally lead and would finish in third position.
Carl Tundo secured the second position while Ian Duncan and Zambia’s Leroy Gomes completed the top five position in fourth and fifth respectively.