Rally driver Yasin Nasser has called on the government to support his bid for the Africa Rally Championship (ARC) as they also exploit marketing opportunities that come with such international events.

Following his third place finish in the Tanzania Rally last month which put him in third place on 28 points in the ARC standings, Nasser wants to improve his place when he competes in the Zambia International Rally, September 24-26; but would like more support.

“We had never finished an event in Tanzania since 2016, so starting as Car No.1 was a blessing for us and we continued fighting the second and third day and we managed to finish third overall in the ARC championship,” Nasser said after picking his Fortebet Real Stars Award for July.

“We appreciate our sponsors for all the support but these events are really very expensive. It is not about travelling and driving, but you start spending the moment you start preparing the car, the crews especially in this COVID-19 situation,” Nasser said after picking his Fortebet Real Stars Award for the month of July at Route 256 Club on Monday.

Ali Katumba (left) and Yasin Nasser pose with their Fortebet Real Stars Awards. Photo by Michael Nsubuga

The crew that will next compete in the Zambia Rally in September appealed to potential sponsors and the government to come on board and exploit marketing opportunities for the country and for their companies.

“Uganda has many drivers and rally cars but we need more sponsors to come on board so that we have more cars out of the country like we had in the Safari Rally in Kenya, we would then be able to market our country in the different sectors like the Airlines, National Parks, Sugar companies, banks etc; like the Kenyans were able to do with the World Rally Championship (WRC) event,” Nasser noted.

Joshua Cheptegei for winning the 10000m Olympic silver medal, Arthur Kaluma for inspiring the Silverbacks in an Afro Basket qualifier against Morocco, and She Rugby Cranes’ Faith Namugga for her outstanding display against Zimbabwe in the two Rugby Africa Cup trial matches against Zimbabwe which they won 40-0 and 34-3 respectively, also received awards in their respective disciplines.

UAF Athletes’ representative Ali Ngaimoko and FUBA’s Albert Ahabwe picked Cheptegei and Kaluma’s awards from the Fortebet Ambassador Alex Muhangi at Route 256 Club, Lugogo.

Ngaimoko noted that there was some miscalculation from the Ugandans in missing the gold but was optimistic the two will make amends in the 5000m race on Tuesday.

“The three Ethiopians were smarter by blocking our two athletes towards the cage but we thank God for the two medals and we still have more chances in the games,” Ngaimoko said.

Kaluma was instrumental as the Silverbacks qualified for the Afro Basket tournament past Morocco in the 77-65 victory. Making his debut for the team, the 19-year old scored a game-high 20 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals to help the team complete the double over the North Africans in their backyard.

“Every time we get an award, it is a motivation for us as the federation. It has been a good year for us so far in terms of what we stepped out to do especially for the Silverbacks which were to qualify for the Afrobasket; so for us, it is very fulfilling and it is exciting to see that this award is going to the youngest member of the team,” FUBA’s Albert Ahabwe who picked Kaluma’s award stated.

Rugger Faith Namugga picked the rugby award for her display during the two Rugby Africa Cup trial matches against Zimbabwe which they won 40-0 and 34-3 respectively.

“I thank God for the performance that we achieved with our coaches because we endured staying in camp for two weeks in order to win. We had to prove a point that we are also capable of winning because the attention is always on the men’s game.