Uganda’s Jas Mangat and Joseph Kamya went through some bittersweet moments during the weekend Equator Rally in Naivasha, Kenya.
In the end, it was all joy for the Ugandan crew who finished third overall in the Africa Rally Championship round.
The three-time Uganda rally champion had a good start to the competition on Saturday but a broken alternator belt caused him to retire in the last stage of leg one.
However, the crew would have the Mitsubishi EvoX fixed and managed to re-enter the event on the rally two rule but with a ten-minute penalty.
Mangat recharged his pace on leg two, holding on to the top five position and later clinching a podium finish in third position overall.
“It was a tough event for several crews and we also faced similar challenges.
“Our focus was more on finishing the event and we got lucky with a podium,” said Mangat.
The podium put Mangat at the top of ARC2 category with 30 points.
He also earned 21 points for the ARC category.
That has tickled his desire to fully take on the championship.
“We now have good points for ARC and ARC2. This gives us a good boost to think about the ARC again.
“We are going to sit with the team and discuss all the options for the next events,” he added.
In 2013, Jas Mangat had an attempt at the Africa Rally Championship title, only to lose the battle to Jassy Singh in the season finale in Madagascar.
Meanwhile, Kenya’s Carl Tundo/Tim Jessop in a VW Polo comfortably won the Equator rally with his compatriot Tajveer Rai/Gareth Dawe settling for second position.
Its a memorable rally for me because it was not easy for me to watch this rally since I had no arc pass
He is the best Rally driver Uganda has produced
Keep it up Jas👍👍
Without a doubt, he is the best and humble with il