Ronald Ssebuguzi's rich form could see him flung in at the deep end in the Mbarara Rally next week.

Coming off four back-to-back sprint victories Ssebuguzi, in a Mitsubishi Evo9, could bear the handicap of hitting the road first in the 2013 National Rally Championship (NRC) opener.

The Jomayi Property Consultants sponsored driver won the Premier Sprint at Lubiri on Sunday to score 10 points in the NRC, sparking off an argument that he should lead the way ahead of reigning national champion Jas Mangat.

According to regulations, the national champion leads the way in the first event while the subsequent races will be led by the championship leader. Others argue that the sprint is not considered the first event.

Federation of Motorsport Clubs of Uganda (FMU) secretary Reynolds Kibira said that the event stewards will take the final decision.

"If the regulation is unclear then it could have been an oversight. Somebody can rightly argue Ssebuguzi should start but a sprint shouldn't be regarded as the first event of the championship. Mangat still has higher seeding points than Ssebuguzi. Even then, any of the two can be flagged off first without raising safety concerns,"

Competitors score national championship points in sprints which could be another ground for Ssebuguzi to start first.

Should Ssebuguzi start, then Shafiq Ssemuju, Wycliff Bukenya, John Consta and Ponsiano Lwakataka would chase him in that order with Mangat coming sixth.