Pearl of Africa Rally

The first edition of the Pearl of Africa Rally was held in 1997 as an African Rally Championship candidate event. This followed the successful organisation of Burundi's Great Lakes Rally in Uganda in 1996. The Great Lakes Rally was moved to Uganda due to political instability in Burundi. Inspired by the success of the Great Lakes Rally, Uganda decided to apply for its own African Rally Championship event in 1997.[1]

As Winston Churchill visited Uganda, he baptised the country as the ‘Pearl of Africa’, that's where this event receives its name from.[1]

Some remarkable drivers in the history of Uganda are Sospeter Munyegera, Shekhar Mehta, Satwant Singh, Charlie Lubega, Moses Lumala, Emmanuel Katto and Chipper Adams, among others.[1]

Source: Motor Sport Uganda [2] and African Rally Championship[1]

Year	Driver	Co-driver	Car	Notes
1996	Karim Hirji	Frank Nekusa	Toyota Celica ST 185	Run under FIA rules as the Great Lakes Rally, jointly with Club Automobile du Burundi
1997	Chipper Adams	Justin Beyendeza	Toyota Supra	Run as the Pearl of Africa Uganda Rally - ARC Candidate event
1998	Charles Muhangi	Steven Byaruhanga	Subaru Impreza
1999	Chipper Adams	Justin Beyendeza	Toyota Supra
2000	Charlie Lubega	Abed Musa	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4
2002	Johnny Gemmel	Robert Paisley	Subaru Impreza WRX
2003	Charlie Lubega	Abed Musa	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4
2004	Charlie Lubega	Abed Musa	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 4
2005	Riyaz Kurji	Sayed Kadri	Subaru Impreza N10
2006	Riyaz Kurji	Sayed Kadri	Subaru Impreza N8	Crew run under Kenyan Licence
2007	Conrad Rautenbach	Peter Marsh	Subaru Impreza N10
2008	Jamie Whyte	Phil Archenoul	Subaru Impreza N10
2009	Riyaz Kurji	Sayed Kadri	Subaru Impreza N8	Prize granted posthumously [3]
2010	Jamie Whyte	Phil Archenoul	Subaru Impreza N10
2011	Ponsiano Lwakataka	Musa Nsubuga	Subaru Impreza N8
2012	Mohammed Essa	Greg Stead	Subaru Impreza N12
2013	Jas Mangat	Gihan de Silva	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X
2014	Rajbir Rai	Tim Challen	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X
2015	Jaspreet Singh Chatthe	Craig Thorley	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X
2016	Hassan Alwi	Enock Olinga	Subaru Impreza STi N14
2017	Manvir Singh Baryan	Drew Sturrock	Škoda Fabia R5
2018	Manvir Singh Baryan	Drew Sturrock	Škoda Fabia R5
2019	Manvir Singh Baryan	Drew Sturrock	Škoda Fabia R5
2020	Cancelled due to COVID
2021	Cancelled due to COVID
2022	Jas Mangat	Joseph Kamya	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X

• African Rally Championship
• FIA - African Rally Championship
• Uganda Motorsport