Birdi outshines his Ugandan hosts in the Pearl of Africa Rally

MBARARA: TANZANIAN wheeler Randeep ‘Sanny’ Birdi beat a contingent of Ugandan rivals to win the National Rally Championship (NRC) title in the Shell V-P Pearl of Rally staged over the weekend in Mbarara, Uganda.

Navigated by Manmeet Singh in a Ford Proto, Birdi was unstoppable right from the start and maintained his steady hand until the end of the thrilling three-day showdown.

Besides winning the NRC diadem, Birdi also claimed bronze medal in the African Rally Champion(ARC) after clocking the third best time behind the second-placed Samman Vohra and the ARC Winner, Karan Patel, both from kenya.

But things didn’t go well for Manveer Birdi, who was forced to drop out of the podium on the very last stage of the day

Also retired in the last stages was Ahmed Huwel who did well in the event’s early stages.

In the ARC category, Kenya’s Karan Patel (co-driven by Tauseef Khan) won the 2026 Pearl of Africa Uganda Rally in Mbarara, finishing with a total time of 2:03:00 to clinch his third consecutive victory. Despite leading on Day One, Samman Vohra finished second after a broken prop shaft on SS10, with Tanzanian registered in Uganda, Yasin Nasser taking third place.2026 Pearl of Africa Rally