by Dean Mac 24.10.24
Round 4 of the African Rally Championship came to an end in Kigali, Rwanda, with the same name, Karan Patel, as the victor. With a win in all the other three rounds, Karan is the undeclared winner of the 2024 championship without a doubt and having carried all the stages.
He won here last year, and in the same fashion and style, as history will have it, Karan completed the act by winning all 11 stages of the rally, sometimes by minutes. With 20 other competitors entering the event, nobody came close to the viciousness of his attack and unrelenting pace.
The RWANDA 2024 campaign started with a fabulous tarmac show at the test and qualifying stage in up-class Kigali as Karan burned rubber on the tight culvert turns, clipping the hand break with precision as
The crowd went wild with every turn and was 16 seconds clear of the second-quickest car of Uganda’s Yasin Nasser, a Subaru GVB, over the 1.15 km stage. What an amazing job!
Tanzanian Prince Nyerere in an Evolution X was third behind Yasin and in turn beat Nikhil Sachania driving an R3 Ford Fiesta by the smallest of the margins, 0.1 sec. Rwandese Davite Gianicarlo in another
Evolution10 came in nearly seven seconds later.
Going to the main stages on day 2, Karan was unrelenting, winning the opening stage of Gasenyi with 24 km at stake. The start was delayed for more than an hour as the safety of the stage was being managed. Once the stage got underway, Karan won it by miles, nearly 90 seconds faster than the driver who dared to compete with him by pace, a pace 4 seconds faster per kilometre than Davite Gianicarlo, who was second.
44 seconds away was Tanzanian Prince Nyerere in another Mitsubishi Evo10, coming in third on the stage before he went under in the following stage with mechanical issues. In the next stage of Gako, 8.3 km, Karan increased his leadership over Davite with 22 secs in just 8.3 km; put it in other words, 2.5 sec faster on every kilometre.
10 seconds away was Uganda’s Yasin Nasser in a Subaru GVB. Karan was averaging 124.3 kph on this sprint stage in just 4 minutes flat. The final stage in a loop of three before cars went for the first service, 14.5km of Nemba1, Karan Patel averaged113.1kph finishing in stage 7min 41sec with 48sec ahead of a determined foe in the names of Gianicarlo Davite who in turn escaped the onslaught of
Ugandan Mike Mukula is driving a Subaru N14 by just three seconds.
A service had followed and the rally was back in the same stages; SS4 was a repeat of SS1, 24 km, in 11.41.9 sec, Karan lessening the pressure on the accelerator to average 125.7 kph, a drop of nearly 9 sec to his earlier pace. Davite once again took a full 1 minute, 20 seconds off the pace, but his score remains unchanged. Mike Mukula maintained his coveted third place with 23 seconds off Davite. The cars returned to the shortest of the stages, Gako 2, 8.3 km, Karan, at 3 min 55 sec; an average of 127.1 kph was indeed blistering, with a cut of 5 sec off his pace earlier.
One stage remained before the second break; Karan was not pushing as hard, dropping 9 seconds to his earlier pace, but it was the opposite for Gianicarlo, who chiselled a full 11 seconds on his own time and cutting the loss to just 16 seconds when he had lost by 22 seconds the last time. Nasser Mutebi, driving an Evolution 9, moved to third for the first time, three seconds off Davite, who was enjoying the most versatile car in the race after the Skoda Fabia R5.
In the sixth stage of the rally, as they say, the more things changed, the more they remained the same. Karan was setting the Karan burns rubber at qualifying, and Nikhil banks his R3 at qualifying 3 records straight as the leadership remained unchanged, 7 m 50.6s, but letting off the steam as he was 9 seconds slower on his pace earlier.
Davite was more searching, gaining 8 seconds on his score the first time. Mukula Mike was just 6 seconds behind, then cars returned to service. The last time through the same stages was underway as 7, 8, and 9. Karan had secured a big lead from the previous six stages, and strategically, it was time to back off. 12m 04s and an average of 121.7kph was a marked drop from 127kph, more than 30s down from the run earlier.
Gianicarlo Davite, who had been in second place all day, suffered a fuel pump failure, and Nasser Yasin suddenly rose to second, 1 m 8 sec off as another Nasser in an Evolution 9 claimed third, with an additional 13 sec added. The final two stages were cancelled.
Day two came to an end with Karan driving a Skoda Fabia R5 having accumulated 8m17s ahead of the second car, Uganda’s Mike Mukula in a Subaru N14, and third to Kanangire Christian from Rwanda driving an N12 Subaru who was 2m 30s away from Mike. Having run the day problem-free, Kenyan Nikhil Zachania in a custom-made Ford Fiesta R3 was a close 4th, just 13 seconds off Kanangire.
Ugandan Nasser Mutebi in Evo 9 completed the top five just over 1m 02s.The final day of this international rally was here, and Karan has been saying of late, “You have got just to manage the rally,” as the enemy is you. He had just to keep being in front without being too aggressive, and this is what he did.
“You have got to just manage the rally, as the enemy is you”
Four stages stood between him and victory. With a time of 7 minutes 48 seconds and an average speed of 111.5 kilometers per hour at Ruhuha, which served as SS10, Karan won the first race of the day. Mike Mukula finished in second place, 28,7 seconds later, and Yasin Nasser, driving a different Subaru Impreza, took third place.
8m 19.4s., and from the onset, the two drivers behind Karan had planned to keep
being where they were at start of the day to custom-made steering wheels for Nikhil
Sachania’s Ford Fiesta R3 Davite drifts sideways in SS11, Kamabuye 1, at the end of the rally.
Kamabuye 1, with a distance of 24.2 km, was delayed for over an hour as two stages intercrossed and had to wait for all cars to finish the first stage. Once it got started, Karan took it in 11m18s and took the rally to a new top average speed of 128.5 kph, which was to remain the top speed of the whole event, tearing apart the next car by a full 1m 25, Mike Jr. driving a Subaru.
The third car and yet another marque, a Mitsubishi Evol 9, 37 seconds away was Nasser Mutebi. With two stages to go, the opening stage was being repeated as SS12. Rain had come down hard on the stage, and the surface had obviously changed. The Skoda Fabia, driven by Karan Patel, again took the challenge, dropping three seconds on his previous pace to clock 7:51s, yet the gap between him and Mukula was unchanged at 28 seconds and Nasser Mutebi 3.6 seconds off for third.
The rally was now running the final stage, 24.2 km, Kamabuye 2, at 12 m 04s, Karan’s drop of 46s from the earlier passage, explained by the rain having come down heavy in the final minutes of rally and the
rally was held back for nearly an hour. Earlier in the day, one driver confided in me that I should watch out for him.
His name is Muwanguzi Joshua in a purple Subaru N12; from nowhere since the start of the rally, he grabbed second, although he was a massive 1m 44s behind, a pace more than four seconds per
kilometre slower but none the less making his mark as promised. Mike Mukula who has been consistently second all day, was hit below the belt and settled for third nearly 9 seconds later.
Position four went to the Evo 9 of Nasser Mutebi, who was 20 seconds slower, and at number five on the stage was Kanangire Christian, six seconds slower. Mt. Gorilla Rally was coming to an end,Karan had pummeled the field into submission all the way as he had done in the previous events; even when he decided to slow down, the pace was still devastating to others and a win was an inevitability as
The rally came to an end after three days of spirited battles in dust and rain.
12 minutes, 33 seconds was the difference between car one and the second car of Mike Mukula that was definitely more than a match.
1. Karan Patel 1h 37m 47.7s
2. Mike Mukula Jr. 1h 50m 21.1s
3. Nikhil Sachania 1h 55m 36.3s
4. Mike Mukula Jr. 2h 03m 15.7s
Of the 21 starters, 16 cars had managed to survive the storm and reach the finish line. Until next time, the rally ends here.
WHAT WOULD THE WORLD BE WITHOUT RALLYING?
