Kimathi shine in Sweden Junior Rally
Sports
By
Mike Kihaki
| Feb 28, 2022
After a very challenging week, McRae Kimathi became the first Kenyan to finish the Junior World Rally Championship Rally Sweden edition.
The Junior WRC Rally Sweden became a battleground between Lauri Joona of Finland, and Jon Armstrong of Great Britain.
Jon Armstrong and his navigator Brian Hoy soared to the top of the FIA Junior WRC Championship after winning Rally Sweden while scoring five Wolf Stage Win Points along the way.
Kimathi, son of Kenyan rally legend Phineas Kimathi- the WRC Safari Rally chief executive officer, is looking forward to his next assignment in the WRC Croatia Rally in April.
From Croatia, the Kenyan will head to Portugal, Estonia and Greece.
The Briton won with just 2.7 seconds.
The duo dominated the race from the start. In the end, Armstrong won the juniors’ title with 25 points.
Armstrong exceeded everybody’s expectations on Rally Sweden with the 2021 runner-up hitting the ground running on Friday, claiming two Wolf Stage Win Points.
Lauri Joona of Finland held the overnight lead in Junior WRC on Friday night, 7.7 seconds ahead of Armstrong after claiming a pair of Wolf Stage Win Points along the way.
Joona came second with 18 points, Irishmen William Craighton and Liam Regan were third with a maiden Junior WRC score of 15 points.
The pair also claimed a Wolf Stage Win Point while Kimathi came fourth with 12 points.
William Creighton put himself forward as a well-rounded driver on Rally Sweden after proving himself handy on Tarmac in 2021.
Creighton held his position throughout the rally, though he slipped away from the leading pack he did occasionally challenge for stage wins.
Reigning champion Sami Pajari claimed his first Wolf Stage Win Point on the second stage of the rally, seizing the rally lead which was to be short-lived, with Pajari retiring for the day after having a fuel pump issue.
He returned on Saturday as a man on a mission to maximise every opportunity to score Wolf Stage Win Points.
Pajari did just that, taking five stage wins in a row but was denied a clean sweep of stages by Armstrong on the final stage of the day.
Sunday saw Pajari make a sluggish start, struggling to match the pace of Armstrong and Joona until the final stage of the rally which he won by one-tenth of a second. ?