Yasin Nasser beat off stiff opposition from Kenyan rally driver Rio Smith and Uganda's Jas Mangat to win the Africa Rally Championship category of the Pearl of Africa rally that ended Sunday in Jinja.

Yassin went into day two of the rally trailing Rio Smith with over a minute but managed to pull off it in the stages of Magamaga, Kalule Stage, and Bujagali stage to win the ARC category in a tightly contested race.

Uganda's second representative Jas Mangat finished third overall to keep the race for the ARC title live. 

The MOIL-fueled Yasin navigated by Ali Katumba in Ford Fiesta R5 posted 2 hours, 34 minutes, 32.90 seconds, Smith posted 2 hours, 41 minutes,27.90 seconds, while Mangat posted 2 hours 42 minutes, 6.30 seconds.

The victory has opened his chances to favourably compete in the Africa Rally Championship category. 

The Ugandan driver now leads the ARC category table standings with 54 points, while Jas Mangat follows in the second position with 42 points and Karan Patel of Kenya in third place with 30 points.

"I'm excited to win this rally because it increased our chances on the ARC and we are going to work on the car and prepare for the next event," Nasser said. 

"This win has also motivated us ahead of the Iringa rally in Tanzania where they will compete for the Tanzania National Championship on Saturday and Sunday."

Jas Mangat navigated by Joseph Kamya in a Mitsubishi Evo 10 finished third overall. 

"There was a time we did not know our time until the end of Day one because we had damaged our car and did not do the last stages. But after service and returning We saw the opportunity to make a comeback and indeed it was," Mangat said. 

Mangat will now compete for both the ARC and ARC 2 titles and confirmed that he will be competing in all the ARC events. 

Twenty-six drivers out of 32 finished the event which was the third round of the Africa Rally championship and the second round of the national rally championship. 

 The grueling event saw both Yasin and Mangat retire during the fourth and fifth stages but was allowed to go service and restart the rally on Day as per the regulations.

Meanwhile, Duncan Mubiru won the National Rally Championship category to brighten his chances of competing for the national title.

Rio Smith and his navigator Riyazi Ismail. Photo by Johnson Were

Pearl of Africa rally Provisional results

ARC category

Yassin Nasser 234.32.90

Rio Smith 2:41:27.90

Jas Mangat 2:42:06.30

NRC Category

Duncan Mubiru 2:24:57.53

Byron Rugomoka 2:26:23.11

Yasin Nasser 2:34.32.90