By FEVEPITCH REPORTER
Being a privateer in any rally sport event is not an easy task, but a Nairobi- based Commercial Manager has learnt to take it all in his stride and is raring to go later in the year when the cream of Classic’s best converge in the Kenyan coast for high adrenaline action.
Rightly so, Kailesh Chouhan has been counting the days to his Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic debut with great expectations.
Preparations for Kailesh and his team have been ongoing for the last ten months and the essence, for him, is ensuring that he gets the right reinforcements for the Ford Escort MKII machine that he has entered for the “world’s toughest rally”.
His navigator will be Simon Phillips who is based in Mombasa and who will be gracing the cockpit for the very first time.
“With an escort you really need to be spot on and get all the matching driving terrain as they are so many variations,” He quipped.
BRUSH SHOULDERS
Asked how it really feels like to brush shoulders with the world’s legendary drivers like Stig Blomqvist and Bjorn Waldegard, he said: “It is very exciting to be part of the Safari Classic as it’s not easy to prepare for such an event. I’m lucky to be team mates with Onkar Rai and Baldev Chager who will be driving a Porsche 911 and it will be exciting to challenge top drivers like Ian Duncan and Waldegar.
Kailesh’s MK II is currently being built in the UK by Mike Watson of WRC Motorsports and should be in Kenya around the end of this month hopefully.
As a driver, the last rally he drove was the 2002 Inmarsat WRC Safari Rally and allso relishes the feat of being the youngest driver to ever win the Group N KNRC Champion in 2001.
As a navigator, he navigated Anish Chauhan as well as other friends like Naushad Kara and Sudesh “Hakuuz” Hirani.
Kailesh’s main sponsor is Comarco, a leading Mombasa-based Marine Logistics & Marine Contractors in East and Southern Africa.
