Kenya’s Karan Patel and Taussef Khan saw their chances of claiming a third Africa Rally Championship shuttered during the weekend Mountain Gorilla Rally in Rwanda.
The reigning champions entered the third round with only 35 points, which they collected from the Pearl of Africa Uganda Rally in May.
An addition to their points would increase their chances in their bid for the third ARC title. However, things didn’t go as desired.
The Kenyan had half a roll in stage three of the Gorilla Rally, which put a big damage to the Skoda Fabia’s gearbox.
A technical check on the car confirmed that the crew will not be able to restart on the final day, halting all chances for any points from Rwanda.
Championship leader Yasin Nasser of Uganda also registered a bad day in office after his Ford Fiesta lost power forcing him into an early retirement on day one.
However, the crew restarts for the final leg under the super rally rule.
Kenya’s Samman Vohra dominated day one of the event to take a commanding lead into the final day.
Six stages will be covered on Sunday before a final winner is announced.