The race for the 2025 African Rally Championship (ARC) title is set to go down to the wire at the Tanzania Rally on September 19-21, with Uganda’s Yasin Nasser and Kenya’s Samman Vohra locked in a fierce battle for continental glory.
Nasser, behind the wheel of his Ford Fiesta R5, tops the ARC standings on 118 points after four legs. Hot on his heels is reigning Kenya National Rally Championships (KNRC) champion Vohra, who trails by just 12 points on 108. Paraplegic ace Nikhil Sachania completes the podium places with 77 points.
The battle tightened after the most recent round in Burundi (August 15-17), where Vohra and co-driver Drew Sturrock stormed to a commanding victory in their Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo.
The pair posted a cumulative time of 1:44:21, not only sealing the Burundi Rally title but also propelling Vohra into second on the leaderboard. Nasser and co-driver Ali Katumba could only manage second in 1:54:59, a huge 10 minutes, 27 seconds adrift. Mohamed Abbas Roshanali brought his Subaru Impreza home third in 2:02:57.9. With just one round left, Vohra knows the championship could hinge on the slimmest of margins.
"It's a tight race, one more round and it will be a nail-biting round, us against Yassin, and I think it's one point that will decide our fate," Vohra said. He, however, noted that he will give his best to ensure he comes out on top. "Let's see how it goes. We are going to fight it out in Tanzania, and may the best man win," he added.
Victory in Tanzania and maximum bonus points from the Power Stage would hand Vohra 35 points, but he will be hoping his Ugandan rival fails to secure a podium finish. In ARC scoring, rally winners collect 30 points, with second and third taking 24 and 21, respectively.
Fourth place claims 19 points with fifth 17 points, sixth 15 points, seventh 13 points, eighth 11 points, ninth 10 points and 10th seven points. An ARC leg power stage holds five points for winners, four for second place, three for third place, two for fourth and one for fifth place.
Reflecting on his hard-earned win in Burundi, Vohra admitted the challenge tested crews to the limit. "It's been a tough rally, and it demanded a lot from us drivers. Not only the drivers but the technical teams as well," he added. "It's been a tough journey, but a fruitful one to come out with the win. We look forward to the next one."
The ARC season revved with the 2025 WRC Kenya Safari Rally on 20-23 March, Naivasha, where Kenyan youngster Jeremiah Wahome emerged the victor. The second stop on the 2025 ARC schedule was the iconic Pearl of Africa Uganda Rally on 9-11 May, where Karan Patel emerged the winner. Samman won the 2025 Mountain Gorilla Rally in Busegera province near the Burundi border on 4–6 July.
