NAIROBI, Kenya, July 12, 2026 – Aakif Virani capped off an incredible three-event campaign in the ongoing FIA African Rally Championship (ARC) with a hattrick of Masters wins in Rwanda, securing the 2026 ARC Masters title at the penultimate round.
Navigated by Zahir Shah, Virani took third overall in Rwanda, maintaining his 100 percent finish record in his 2026 ARC campaign.
The win in Rwanda, following earlier Masters triumphs in Kenya and Uganda, sealed Virani’s status as the 2026 ARC Masters champion.
Virani praised his team for setting up the Skoda Fabia Rally2 well.
“Day one we had a balance issue, on the first loop, so basically, we lost some time. And on the second loop, we made some adjustments to the balance of the car and the car was really performing well. We were good but we lost some time on the first loop. And the guys were just too quick for us and we couldn’t make up that three minutes that we lost but we could maintain that gap,” Aakif said.
He added: “Leg one was fine, very tiring, very long, but we performed very well. Second day, which was today on the first, we were pretty ok. On the second loop we had a small issue on the suspension. I think it was running dry on oil, so we managed to kind of release it and we lost some time on the first two stages and after that we were okay.”
He further expressed satisfaction with his third-place finish.
“Ultimately, we had a very good rally, and we are very happy with our third place, I also secured the ARC Masters’ Championship for 2026, so that was a great result as well. Then I got first place in Masters for RMGR as well, so three first place Masters’ performances were great. The stages were just too fast, I mean, we had a 190 top-speed on the straights and it was really something of an experience to get used to,” he said.
RWANDA MOUNTAIN GORILLA RALLY 2026 – RESULTS
- PATEL Karan (KEN) / KHAN Tauseef (KEN) – RC2 – Skoda Fabia R5 – 02:13:18.6
- HUWEL Ahmed (TZA) / SOLANKI Roheet (TZA) – RC2 – Toyota Yaris GR – 02:20:48.5 (+07:29.9)
- VIRANI Aakif (KEN) / SHAH Zahir (KEN) – RC2 – Skoda Fabia R5 – 02:25:52.4 (+12:33.
ARC MASTERS STANDINGS
- Aakif Virani (KEN) – 2026 ARC Masters Champion
