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Mangat had initially planned to compete in the Pearl of Africa Rally with the more powerful Hyundai i20 R5, but due to delays in transporting the car to Uganda, he had to use his battle weakened Mitsubishi Evo X instead.
Jas Mangat has promised that his highly awaited switch to an R5 powered car could happen within the next three months.
Mangat had initially planned to compete in the Pearl of Africa Rally with the more powerful Hyundai i20 R5, but due to delays in transporting the car to Uganda, he had to use his battle weakened Mitsubishi Evo X instead.
When questioned about when he thinks the switch could be possible, the Pili Pili Rally team driver revealed the switch will happen very soon.
“The car will soon be here, we expected to have it before this rally, but there were delays that set our plans back,” he told Pulse Sports.
“But we expect it to be here within the next three months,” he confirmed when quizzed further.
Mangat was on the charge for a third Pearl rally victory, but suffered damage to his injector pump in the first stages. As he tried to chase down early rally leader Yasin Nasser’s Ford Fiesta R5, he suffered an oil leakage which effectively put his chances to waste.
Reflecting on the setbacks faced during the rally, Mangat said, "We could have done more but the car let us down and we had nothing much to do."
Despite the mechanical challenges he faced during the Pearl of Africa Rally, Mangat and his co-driver Joseph Kamya managed to secure a podium finish in the ARC category, coming in third and earning valuable points for the championship.
“Being on a podium is amazing, we got very good points for the championship. We are working on going all out for this championship and a podium is very important,” Mangat stated.
The third position placed Mangat second on the ARC leader board with 44 points, 12 points behind compatriot Yasin Nasser, and ahead of Kenya’s Karan Patel who is on 30 points.
In the national standings, he lost more ground in his attempt to win a fourth national title as he now lies seventh on the standings on 70 points, with Nasser leading the way on 193 after two events.
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