Mangat wins 2013 Pearl of Africa Rally in Uganda

Kampala – Uganda’s Jas Mangat won the 2013 Pearl of Africa Rally Champion which ended in the Ugandan capital Kampala.

Driving his Mitsubishi Lancer N10 together with his navigator Gihan de Silva, Mangat dominated most of the sections in the Shell VPower sponsored event which ended Saturday, reports Xinhua.

Mangat, who leads both the Africa Rally Championship and the National Rally Championship in Uganda, started the rally in good style winning the Super Special stage Friday ahead of the local and foreign drivers.

In the competitive rally Saturday, it was a neck to neck battle with the 2012 Pearl of Africa rally champion Essa Mohammad who eventually crushed out.

After the Zambian Mohammad rolled his car, Mangat was under no pressure to win the rally as most of the rivals were further behind.

Zambia’s Jassy Singh came second, while Frank Tundo from Kenya finished in third place. The organizers of the event cancelled section 9 of the rally because of heavy rains in the route.

The event, one of the biggest on the African rally calendar, attracted a record 25 drivers. The other foreign drivers included Giancarlo Davite and Christakis Fitidis from Rwanda, and Kenya’s Ian Duncan and Peter Horsey.