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The Mbarara rally will lift the curtains on the 2023 National Rally Championship season from February 10 to 12 with the rally centered around Mbarara City.
Reigning Uganda National Rally Champion Byron Rugomoka insists there is no extra pressure as he prepares to open his national title defence at this weekend’s Mbarara rally.
Rugomoka, had a season which was short of a fairy tale for him, clinching the title in deeply dramatic and controversial circumstances after he beat Ponsiano Lwakataka and Jonas Kansiime to the title.
He is expected to be in the fight out for the title again, although he appreciates that he is not among the front runners for the title with the return of more formidable opponents.
“I don’t feel any extra pressure this season,” Rugomoka intimated to Pulse Sport, adding; “I will just do what I do all the time because I don’t think there is any reason to be different."
“I don’t need to make any impressions, because that can easily mislead me. The objective of the course is to try and defend my title, but I also have to continue learning as a person.”
As champion, Rugomoka will be the first on the road, leading a pack of 38 crews on his first ever drive in Mbarara, but he is not fazed by the challenge.
“I am excited to see how much competition is going to be now that the pack is full of all the big names,” Rugomoka stated.
“At the back end of last year, some of them were not involved in the fight. But now, Jas Mangat is back together with Hassan Alwi.”
“Yasin Nasser has upgraded to a better car, and we expect Ronald Ssebuguzi and Mubiru Duncan to be more regular than they were last season.”
“Add that to the competition that we had with drivers like Jonas Kansiime, and that is a recipe for an exciting rally overall.”
“I expect the challenge to be tougher because they are faster, more experienced, and have better cars, but I want to gauge my speed against them this time around,” he noted.
The Mbarara rally will lift the curtains on the 2023 National Rally Championship season from February 10 to 12 with the rally centred around Mbarara City.
Up to 38 crews have entered the rally as the search for early bragging rights in the fight for the title revs off.
The overall challenge is spelt out over a 134-kilometre competitive distance spelt over six competitive sections over two days of action with a further 78.9 kilometres between the stages.
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