Nasser tightens grip with victory in Jinja

Yasin Nasser stepped up his fight for his maiden National Rally Championship after winning the EMC Moil Jinja Rally over the weekend in Jinja.

The Team Moil driver scooped the race after spending one hour, 21 minutes and 34.77 seconds on the road.

Ronald Ssebuguzi, who won the same event last year in Kaliro, finished second after a total time of 1 hour 29 minutes and 41.20 seconds.

“Our strategy this year is mainly to learn our car as we take each event at a go,” Yassin Nasser told Daily Monitor moments after being declared champion of the fourth leg.

The seven-race calendar is now four races-heavy. There is still three races to run.

Nasser came into the shortened rally leading the NRC table with 398 points and was formidable from the onset, going on to win five of the seven sections. 

His chances were hugely boosted by the absence of Duncan ‘Kikankane’ Mubiru, whose Ford Fiesta Proto developed mechanical problems during the super Special stage on Saturday at Bujjagali Falls.

Nasser now holds a whooping 165-point leader over former champion Mubiru.

“Our game plan for this event was to be cautious and make sure that the car remains on the road to complete the race, and that’s why we succeeded,” Mubiru said.

The crew of Peter Kalule and David Mwesigwa finished third with the best-performing Subaru after arriving 20 minutes and 30.48 seconds late.

Nasser noted that his crew is slowly but steadily learning how to race the Ford Fiesta that arrived in the country last November.

The crew of Ali Muhammed and Ahmed Anees won the Clubman Rally Championship. The rally will move to Masaka for the fifth circuit in August.

National Rally Championship results

1.      Yassin Nasser/Ali Katumba (Ford Fiesta) - 1:21:34:77

2.      Ronald Ssebuguzi/Anthony Mugambwa (Ford Fiesta) - 1:29:41:20

3.      Peter Kalule/David Mwesigwa (Impreza) - 1:42:05:25

4.      Ibrahim Lubega/Mustapha Kanakulya (Corolla) - 1:46:13:49

5.      Mohammed Bwete/Shakirah Nabwami (Evo IX) - 1:46:13:49

Clubman Rally Championship results

1.      Ali Muhammed/Ahmed Anees (Impreza) – 1:04:24:50

2.      Ali Omar/Wazir Ali Omar (Evo IV) – 1:13:32:20

3.      Godfrey Kiyimba/Uarban Mulindwa (Impreza) – 1:20:14;54

4.      Salim Gasemba/Emmanuel Mugulusi (Impreza) – 1:24:12:23

NRC 

Top five standings
Yasin Nasser          398
Duncan Mubiru      233
Ronald Sebuguzi    190
Ibrahim Lubega      184 
Byron Rugomoka    160