By Sulaiman Kauki
Kenya’s Karan Patel completed a dominant 2026 FIA African Rally Championship campaign by winning the season-ending Serengeti Rally of Tanzania to reclaim the continental title.
Patel and co-driver Tauseef Khan completed the rally in 2:02:37.8, beating Tanzania’s Manveer Birdi and Zubayr Piredina by 33.7 seconds.
Uganda’s Yasin Nasser and Ali Katumba, the 2025 champions, finished third in 2:10:28.6, 7:50.8 behind the winners.
The victory took Patel’s championship tally to 152 points and completed a perfect season in which he won all four rounds contested in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania.
He finished 67 points clear of compatriot Aakif Virani, who was second on 85 points. Jasmeet Chana was third on 67, followed by Samman Singh Vohra on 66, while Nikhil Sachania completed an all-Kenyan top five with 56 points.
Patel had built a commanding lead before the final round, collecting 49 points in Kenya, 34 in Uganda and 35 in Rwanda for a total of 118.
His 34-point haul in Tanzania then sealed the championship with a record of four wins from four starts.
The title marks Patel’s third African crown in four seasons after previous triumphs in 2023 and 2024.
He first won the championship in 2023 with 144 points, edging Uganda’s Jas Mangat by three points. He successfully defended the title in 2024 with 140 points after winning all four rounds he contested.
Patel’s title defence ended in 2025 when he competed in a limited programme, although he won the Uganda and Tanzania rounds. He finished fourth on 70 points as Nasser claimed the championship with 135 points, edging Vohra by one point.
Patel returned for a full campaign in 2026 and dominated from the opening round, leaving little room for another close title battle.
His championship record over the last four seasons now reads first, first, fourth and first.
Nasser ended his title defence with a podium finish in Tanzania, while fellow Ugandans Oscar Ntambi and Pius Luggya finished fifth overall and won the ARC2 category.
Godfrey Nsereko and Musisi Bosco were sixth overall and topped the ARC4 classification.