A total of 20 drivers, including five who are competing for points in the 2025 FIA African Rally Championship (ARC), were Friday, July 4, flagged-off to start their quest for the 2025 Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally. The flag-off event saw drivers take on intersection of the Kigali Convention Centre and Kigali Heights roads across two rounds for the classification stage before the real battle for glory unfolds in the dusty roads of Bugesera District with the 239 kilometer drive course set to determine the winner. Five ARC drivers who attended Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally include three Kenyans Sachania Nikhil and Patel Deep (Ford Fiesta), Semman Vohra and Drew Sturrock (Skoda Fabia R5), as well as Karan Patel (Skoda Fabia R5) and Tauseef Khan. The other two are Ugandan Yassin Nasser and Ali Katumbai who currently lead ARC with their Ford Fiesta and Tanzanian Prince Charles Nyerere and Rwandan Fernand Rutabingwa (Mitsubishi Lancer, Evo X). Also read: Patel retains Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally The remaining 15 drivers are competing for points in the Rwandan Championship. Friday’s qualification stage was a 2.3 kilometer drive determined how drivers were ranked prior to Saturday’s second day event in Bugesera. The best performers of Saturday include Patel Karan who came in first after clocking three minutes and 25 seconds, Samman Vohra followed in second place with three minutes and 39 seconds, while Yassin Nasser emerged third with three minutes and 52 seconds. After the qualification stage, drivers take their engines to Bugesera District for a 145.62km challenge at the Gako-Gasenyi-Nemba roads. They will then wrap up the rally on Sunday, July 6, by exploring the dusty roads of Kamabuye-Gako-Ruhuha, which covers a distance of 94.2km. While Patel is not only eyeing his third consecutive victory in Rwanda, Yasin is out to outperform his rivals to maintain his lead on the ARC ranking.
