Mangat records hat-trick of wins, takes charge of NRC standings

Mangat flying in his Ekisodde en route to winning the Mountain of the Moon rally in Fort Portal. photo by Jb Ssenkubuge.

Fort portal.

It was ping-pong match between Ronald Ssebuguzi and Jas Mangat, with both not keen on opening the route on day two of the Mountain of the Moon Rally yesterday.

At stake is the 2016 NRC title battle between the Mitsubishi Evo X drivers. In the end, that ping pong game mattered less as the crew of Mangat and Joseph Kamya came out top.

It was their third win in a row and it took them to the top of the NRC standings with 300 points, 75 more than Ssebuguzi who rolled at the flying finish of the last section. Mangat had won the last two events in Kabale and Masaka respectively.

Last season Arthur Blick Jr also recorded a hat-track of wins on his way to the NRC title .

The drama started before the first competitive section (Kabagambe - 17.46km) as Ssebuguzi, the championship leader declined to open the route.

Likewise Mangat, who was second, also refused. Both drivers incurred a penalty and it was left to Blick Jr to go first. However, it left bad blood between the two ‘Ebisodde’ drivers and the rivalry made the event more exciting for fans but it didn’t impress Mangat at all.
“This is a sport we all come to enjoy but people want to create unnecessary drama,” he remarked. On his victory, Mangat was happy with his performance over two days. “It was a very technical event especially CS3/4 as the terrain kept on changing from tight to rough.”

Provisional top 10 riders
Jas Mangat (Evo X) 1:33:56
Desh Kananura (EVo X) 1:38:54
Adam. Rauf. (EVo X) 1:41:32
Susan Muwonge (Subaru N12B) 1:41:49
Ambrose Byoona (Evo IX) 1:46:13
Alwi Hassan (Subaru N14). 1:46:58
CHristakis FItidis (EVo X) 1:48:58
Wycliffe Bukenya (EVo IX) 1:52:37
CHristopher Kasozi ( Subaru) 2:01:24
Arthur Blick Jr (Subaru N10) 2:03:04