The Ugandan rally fraternity is determined to help African Rally Championship title favourite Jas Mangat claim the accolade on Rwandan soil after seven drivers confirmed their participation in the Mountain Gorilla Rally set for next weekend.

According to Rwanda Automobile Club, the drivers who have clearly shown interest in taking part in the 7th round of the African rally championship include; Ponsiano Lwakataka, Omar Mayanja, Ismail Ortega, Fred Wampamba, Christakis Fitidis, Susan Muwonge and Shafik Semujju.

Sources from Kampala say the idea to have many Ugandan entrants is to help their compatriot, Mangat in his bid to claim the African crown going into the final round, the Rally of Madagascar in October.

However, Mangat has proved that he is a genuine contender and even without pacesetters, he has managed to finish every round on this year’s ARC calendar.

If Mangat goes ahead to win the Mountain Gorilla rally on September 20 to 22, he will be the new African champion.

However, it remains tricky for the Ugandan driver, who needs to get a podium finish and hope that his closest rival Jassy Singh, who is 17 points off the pace, somehow falters along the way.

Rwanda’s Giancarlo Dative, who is already out of the contention of the

ARC title but will be trying hard to make sure he finishes the rally on his home soil after failing to finish in the last two rounds in Kenya and Uganda in his Mitsubishi Evo x.