Karan Patel from Kenya won the Serengeti Rally, the final round of this year’s African Rally Championship (ARC), held in Morogoro. Navigated by Tauseef Khan in a Skoda Fabia, Patel maintained the lead throughout, finishing with a remarkable time of 2 hours, 2 minutes, and 38.8 seconds.
Tanzanian driver Manveer Birdi followed closely behind, also in a Skoda Fabia, completing the rally in 2 hours, 3 minutes, and 11.5 seconds. Yassin Nasser, the previous champion, along with navigator Ally Katumba, finished third, clocking 2 hours, 10 minutes, and 28 seconds.
This victory secured the African Championship title for Patel, ending Nasser’s reign. Ahmed Huwel took fourth place overall, completing the race in 2 hours, 10 minutes, and 33 seconds, while Oscar Ntambi and Godfrey Nsereko finished fifth and sixth, respectively, under the ARC classification.
Ntambi claimed the ARC 2 title, with a time of 2 hours, 32 minutes, and 28.7 seconds, while Nsereko won the ARC 4 category in 2 hours, 45 minutes, and 47.7 seconds.
The Serengeti Rally also counted towards Tanzania’s National Rally Championship (NRC) this year, with Birdi being the overall champion for Tanzania and Huwel as the runner-up. Local youth Kithir Marey and navigator Awadh Bafadhil finished third in their Mitsubishi Evo 10, ahead of Gurpal Sandhu and his Zambian co-driver, Dave Sihoka.
Harinnder Deere and Victor Jackson claimed fifth place, while Kartik Valambhia and Ethan Taylor took sixth, followed by Salum Balhabou and Riyaz Ismail. Charles Biko and David Matete finished seventh in a Subaru N12, while Bob Taylor and Monica Lyimo came in eighth. Mussa Mswaki, Hamid Mbata, and Waleed Nahdi also completed the rally, finishing in ninth, tenth, and eleventh places, respectively.
