Guru Nanak rally attracts 53 machines

By Mutwiri Mutuota

With an abundant 53 entries, Sunday’s penultimate KCB Kenya National Rally Championship (KNRC) Guru Nanak shakedown in and around Kajiado has a feel of the famous Safari Rally around it.

Fifth-placed speed merchant, Alistair Cavenagh, with Salim Haji reading notes in a Mitsubishi EVO 9 will roar off the ramp first with a menacing pack of drivers chasing the national crown in hot pursuit.

"My aim is to win Guru Nanak and with luck, hope that other challengers falter to give me a chance to be in the title picture in the last event in Mombasa," KNRC title holder, Baldev Chager, who will zoom of third alongside Raju Sehmi in Subaru Impreza N12, disclosed during Guru Nanak’s launch yesterday.

Alistair Cavenagh during the Nanyuki Rally. He will be first off the ramp during the Guru Nanak Rally in Kajiado. [PHOTO: FILE]

Summing a campaign that has seen him play catch up from the onset after his previous sponsors, Triton, went under making him miss the opening round before his long-standing navigator, Farakh Yusuf, passed on, Chager who, is sixth in the championship running said:

Top three

"My main aim is to press for a top three finish to impress my sponsors Oil Libya and hopefully with their support, I will start next season fresh and determined to be the winner.

"Everything is now balanced with my new navigator and the car and I still can make much of the remaining season since I’m not out of it yet."

Nothing would appease Chager, a Sikh, more than winning the event organised by his community, a feat he accomplished last year.

"The Guru Nanak is fantastic and that is why it attracts many entrants. The Sikh community puts a lot of effort in this event and winning it would be magical," he observed.

In total, the 30th Guru Nanak rally has attracted 40 competitors in main KNRC competition with another 13 competing in the two-wheel drive category.

Echoing the legendary Safari even further, 224km of cumulative competitive distance awaits the drivers making it one of the longest in KNRC calendar. "The longer stages are to prove that our drivers have the strength for endurance rallying," event director, Dali Kalsi, said.

The rally will revolve around three stages that will make up five with stage two (Il-Bissel/Kamakuru, 39km) and stage three (Kamakuru-Mailitisa, 29km) repeated with the event set to finish at Nairobi’s Simba Union Club.

Starting fourth

Championship contenders Lee Rose/Piers Daykin (Mitsubishi EVO 9) will trail Cavenagh out of the start with Asad Anwar/Kashif Sheik (Mitsubishi EVO 9) starting fourth behind Chager.

In two-wheel drive, championship leader, Jasmeet Chana/Sudhir Thatti (Toyota Levin) will take off third behind the VW Golf GTIs of Charles Hinga/Evans Mwenda and James Kirimi/Kimeli Korir.

 

 

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