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Nassers car did not burn out completely during opening stage of loop two on Saturday afternoon, but the fire did not grow too large and was contained by him and co-driver Ali Katumba.
Africa Rally Championship leader Yasin Nasser suffered disaster on the opening day of the Mountain Gorilla Rally in Rwanda, after fire gutted his Ford Fiesta R5.
Nassers car did not burn out completely during opening stage of loop two on Saturday afternoon, but the fire did not grow too large and was contained by him and co-driver Ali Katumba.
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Both crew members were able to escape to safety, before stopping the fire from spreading through the car, and were helped by officials and other crews behind.
It is unclear at this stage if the damage will be repaired to allow the pair to rejoin the rally tomorrow, but the Ford Fiesta did not appear to have suffered significant damage.
If Nasser to finish the rally, it ends a remarkable run of results for the Ugandan national champion elect, who has built up a 13-point lead over his two rivals in the championship.
Up until this point, Nasser had finished every rally this season, in all three championships he has competed in [ARC, Uganda and Tanzania], recording six victories in the process.
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His worst finish since he acquired the Rally2 car was fourth on its debut during the Machakos Rally in Kenya. The last time Nasser failed to finish an event was back in December last year.
Nasser had been running third in the rally, a minute behind leader Karan Patel and compatriot Jas Mangat after the first three stages of the day.
Patel ended the opening day on top, 54 seconds ahead of Mangat who is competing in his first rally behind his newly acquired Hyundai i20 R5.
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The Kenyan who also won the rally last year, has won seven of the eight stages on Saturday, with only Mangat stopping his clean sweep of the day’s stages.
Kenya’s Hamza Anwar completes the day in third, with Umar Dauda fourth. Rio Smith completes the top five, while Giancarlo Davite is the best local driver in sixth.
The crews are set to complete four stages on Sunday, punctuated by a mid-point service after Stage 10.
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