Nasser takes ARC Lead
Yasin Nasser and Ali Katumba in a Ford Fiesta. PHOTOS/JOHN BATANUDDE
What you need to know:
The two-time national champion (2019 and 2023) who was driving a Ford Fiesta finished fourth overall in the final standings.
Uganda’s Yasin Nasser and co-driver Ali Katumba took the lead in the 2025 Africa Rally Championship (ARC) after finishing second in the ARC category at the Pearl of Africa Rally in Mbarara over the weekend.
The two-time national champion (2019 and 2023) who was driving a Ford Fiesta finished fourth overall in the final standings.
During the WRC Safari Rally in Kenya, Nasser collected 35 points to which he has added 28 from the Pearl Rally thereby jumping to the top of the 2025 ARC Standings.
Yasin has been chasing the Africa title since 2021 when he made his first attempt to the title following participation in five ARC events. The Ugandan driver was crowned ARC 2 champion then.
“Rally has its own things, we lost our gearbox in the second last section of the event and we had to drive normally which cost us a lot of time,” Yasin said.
"But we fixed the gear box and did the power stage. I want to thank my service team for the work well done," he added. Nasser thanked the organizers of the event as well.
Karan Patel won the rally in a Skoda Fabia R5.
“We should come back to Mbarara next year for the Pearl. The routes were good and very safe. We should have more events in Mbarara."
Ninety percent of the rally was run on closed routes.
Meanwhile, the reigning Africa champion Karan Patel won the 2025 Pearl of Africa Rally and scored his first ARC points. This has given him hope to defend his title after false start in the opening event in Kenya.
Patel, driving a Škoda Fabia R5, had to fight hard against country man Samman Vohra who was also driving the same car. But Vohra’s hopes of winning his first rally outside Kenya were cut short when he hit mechanical trouble on SS6 on Sunday and was forced to retire from the event.
Samman hit a jump and damaged a suspension in his Škoda Rally 2 and later set his car into limp mode, which forced his exit from this year's Pearl.
Uganda’s best driver was Duncan Mubiru, driving with Joseph Kamya in a Ford Fiesta Proto. They finished second overall. Now the ARC heads to Rwanda for the Mountain Gorilla Rally set for July 4-6.
2025 ARC Standings
Yasin Nasser- 63 Points
Samman Vohra - 50
Carol Tundo- 50
Nikhil Sachania -50
Samman Vohra -36
Karan Patel- 35
Jeremiah Wahome -29
