How EMC, Nasser manoeuvred financial hurdle to deliver Jinja Rally

Yasin Nasser and his co-driver Ali Katumba continued with their dominance inside their Ford Fiesta R5 as they cruised to win the Eastern Motorsport Club Jinja Rally last weekend to tighten their grip on the 2023 National Rally Championship.

The rally that had initially attracted 32 drivers proved to be tough both on and off the road, as only ten managed to complete the seven sections.

The distance was reduced but the thrill was not as fans enjoyed the sections, especially the super special stage on the bank of the River Nile at Bujagali. There was definitely a lot to remember from the event and equally a number of lessons to be learnt.

Uncertainty

Initially, the event was scheduled for March 11-12, but that never happened as the main organisers, Eastern Motorsport Club, failed to conclude the itinerary in time.

According to the club president, EMC had opted to take the race to Bukedea in the Teso region to expand their reach and spread the sport wide, but their plans bounced.

“Our initial plan was to take the rally to Bukedea, and we had talked to a few people from the region and also reached out to the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament Anita Among but factors beyond us happened,” Kees Kagolo, the president of the club, told Score.

“We were done with almost everything and invested in it, but the heavy rains affected the routes as one of the bridges to be used also broke down two weeks to the event,” he explains.

EMC approached the Federation of Motorsport Uganda’s sporting commission to change the date to the end of March but that was not possible.

Instead, the commission gave them the weekend of May 19-21, but most drivers threatened not to turn up because the dates were just a fortnight after the hectic Pearl of Africa Rally in Jinja.

“It was tricky to host it during those dates because the drivers spend a lot in the Pearl and could not agree. So,” Kagolo reveals, “We had to discuss with CMC (Central Motorsport Club) to allow us to stage it this week (July 7-9)”.

Financial constraints

EMC, in conjunction with FMU, decided on the dates but also had an important decision to make as regards the routes bearing in mind the tough economic times. Already, Ponsiano Lwakataka had announced his withdrawal a day before the scrutineering, citing financial constraints.

To ease the work, the sections were reduced from 12 that were used during the Pearl a month before to seven, including the super special stage.

Most importantly, at least for most drivers, the total distance was cut by almost half from the 494.21kms to 250.14.

The drivers covered 249.16km with 143.86km for the competitive section and an additional 105.30 for transport.

“Reducing the distance was the right decision because we don’t have enough sponsors to cover a wide rally. It’s a bit costly when it’s wide not only to the drivers but organisers because a lot increases with that,” Nasser lauded the decision.

Averagely, a proper rally circuit requires about 120km of competitive distance plus an additional 70 for liaison and about 2-4kms for the super special stage.

Challenging routes

The competitive routes started from Lwanda Village along the Jinja Kamuli road up to Nsozi Biiri near Kakira Sugar plantations covering a total distance of 18.85kms.

This section was named the Joshua Muwanguzi and was used for stages one, four and six. Joshua Muwanguzi is one of the rally enthusiasts who was also taking part in the race and had offered to award the combined winner of the three respective stages.

Nasser scooped the prize of sh2m for winning all three stages and a plaque of honour. Ironically, Muwanguzi could not live up to the true meaning of his name as he, alongside co-driver Rita Nakigozi, crashed their Subaru Impreza N12B in the fourth stage, the second named after him.

The other three sections were sponsored by the Mbarara City Rally Club and covered 27.03kms from Nsozi Biiri to Magamaga. The two were done once on day one and repeated twice on day two.

Technically, the routes, including the special stage, were more direct, without a lot of bumps and challenges forcing the drivers to go full throttle and crash their cars. That could explain the huge number of drivers who failed to complete the event.

Early birds

Nasser was unmatched from the early stages on day one, cruising through the 45.88kms in the first two sections with the best time as Innocent Rwamiki, 2022 champion Byron Rugomoka and Ronald Sebuguzi tailed closely.

The Moil driver was a bit reserved in the super special stage, falling off the top three times in the first round but stepping up his gear in round two to shed 24.39 seconds.

Perhaps, he was fired after his closest challenger in the NRC title, Duncan ‘Kikankane’ Mubiru broke down in the first round as he measured his track skills against Rugomoka.

Mubiru’s car had developed mechanical issues mid-morning in the bushes, got back on course but was eventually forced to retire on Sunday morning.

Umar Dauda and four other drivers failed to navigate past the Bujagali stage as Nasser, Rugomoka, and Sebuguzi led the leaderboard after day one.

Nasser vrooms

Whereas the going got tougher for most of the drivers on day two, Nasser never took his foot off the pedal.

Only ten out of the 28 drivers managed to go past stage five and complete the rally. Rugomoka lost his rear control brakes and stubbed into a rock in stage four while Bwamiki, who had leaped into the podium places after stage five retired in stage six.

Nasser kept ageing in the race like a fine wine by bettering whatever time he had set before on each lane.

He did 10 minutes and 46.37 in the Muwanguzi 1 on Saturday but cut the time by 2.64 and 6.56 seconds over the respective 18.85kms stretch in sections four and six.

The Moil driver had done the 27.03kms MCRC 1 section on Saturday in a time of 14 minutes and 25.69 seconds but shed off 20.61 and 32.67 seconds in the respective races on Sunday to emerge champion after spending a cumulative time of 1 hour, 21 minutes and 34.77 seconds behind his steering wheel.

Peter Kalule stunned the veterans when he drove his old Subaru Impreza XV to the podium.

Nasser leads the NRC table with 398 points, 165 and 208 ahead of Mubiru and Sebuguzi after four rounds.

Bobo debuts

Among the highlights of the Jinja rally was the debut of Yasser Ali ‘Bobo’ Omar and his brother Wazir Ali Omar made their long-awaited debut in four wheels. Bobo has been on the rise in the motocross world, earning himself a promotion to the Clubman Rally Championship in 2020.

He debuted at the Jinja event and beat some seasoned drivers like Joshua Muwanguzi and Godfrey Kiyimba, who are leading the leaderboard to a second-place finish in Jinja. The crew finished second behind another set of brothers Ali Mohammed and Ahmed Anees who clocked 1 hour, 4 minutes and 24.50 seconds.

“This was my second competition but my debut in the rally and I’m very excited about the performance. I pray that I keep on course in this new venture,” Yasser said after the rally.

Drivers' take

Defending champion Byron Rugomoka – The routes were short and very smooth, which made us a bit anxious. After day one, I was second on the table and decided to go for the win, which made me drive faster, but I lost the control arm brake and crashed a rock around a corner in stage 4.

Yasin Nasser – We’re winning events which is a good thing, but inside us, our main objective is to try and learn our car. We just wanted to make sure that the car was on the road.

Ronald Ssebuguzi – I have been used to a right-hand car, but I’m now learning the left-handed car because they’re a bit different. I believe that we shall pick up.

Peter Kalule – I stepped on the peddle while calculating the routes because we realised that we could make it after day 1. I’m excited to be on the podium for the second time [in my career]

2023 FMU National Rally Championship 

Standings

1. Yasin Nasser - 398

2. Duncan Mubiru - 233

3. Ronald Sebuguzi - 190

4. Ibrahim Lubega - 184

5. Byron Rugomoka – 160

2-Wheel Drive (2wd)

Standings

1. Ibrahimlubega - 82

2. Oscar Ntambi - 32

3. Mansoor Lubega - 31

Clubman Rally Championship (CRC)

Standings

1.Joshua Muwanguzi - 62

2. Godfrey Kiyimba - 53

3. Ali Mohammed - 35

Premier Class Standings

1. Yasin Nasser - 72

2. Duncan Mubiru - 44

3. Ronald Sebuguzi - 40