The Africa Rally Championship competition returns to Burundi this weekend after close to a three-decade absence.
Club Automobile du Burundi; the motorsport governing body last hosted an ARC event in 1995. The following year, due to the insecurities in Burundi at the time, the association jointly organized the event with the Automobile Association of Uganda (AAU) and the event was hosted in Uganda.
Burundi however lost their ARC slot in 1997.
In 2021, Burundi embarked on a journey to return to the African championship calendar. Last year, they hosted a successful candidate event which guaranteed the East African nation a spot on the ARC calendar
Burundi is known for its fast and smooth gravel stages that call for a flat-out mood from drivers.
Over 20 crews will be taking part this weekend. Five crews will be contesting for ARC points. However, only three crews will be the focus of the championship.
Kenya’s Karan Patel, Uganda’s Yasin Nasser and Jas Mangat will yet again be in a threefold battle for the ARC title.
Yasin Nasser who drives a Ford Fiesta Rally2 currently leads the championship with 54 points; 12 points more than his counterpart Mangat while Patel is in third.
Victory for any of the crews will be very significant in their championship bid ahead of the next event in Rwanda.
The event revs off on Friday with a qualifying run that will determine the starting order for Saturday.
Fifteen (15) stages will be covered in the two days covering a total competitive distance of 181.79kilometres.