Rosenberger: I wouldn’t have won, had top Kenya drivers not faltered

Defending Champion Kris Rosenberger and Navigator Nicola Bleicher (left) have arrived to defend their title at the 10th Edition of the East African Safari Classic Rally kickoff at KWS Training Institute in Naivasha on February 9, 2022. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Defending champion Kris Rosenberger was first off the ramp as the 10th edition of the East African Safari Classic Rally begun yesterday, in Naivasha.

Owing to the star-studded field, the 52-year-old admitted it's not possible to win a consecutive double but will be out to finish the 5000km journey from Naivasha to Watamu.

"We are lucky to be the car number for now, our target is to finish the event. We are not expecting anything this year even though we will still use the tactics that gave us victory in 2019," he told Standard Sports.

"We were so lucky to win it last time. We enjoyed the country and sceneries. The people were fantastic, but we don't expect that victory will come easy this time round, so we just want to finish," Rosenberger said.

The father of two admitted that he wouldn't have won the last edition of the classic rally had top Kenyan drivers like Carl Tundo, Ian Duncan and Baldev Chager had stress-free moments.

"I believe the local drivers have a great chance of winning this year because of the preparations they have had. I bet they would be very fast in the start of the rally, but we have a fantastic team giving us support in the competition," he said.

Despite giving Kenyan speedsters the credit, the Austrian, ironically, still believes it is only the
high priest of drifts and YouTube rally guru Ken Block and former world youth rally champion Patrik Sandell who are a threat to his reigning title.

"Block is well known for his incredible antics, Sandell, I think, is the best driver in this competition," he said.

Rosenberger has given the 20 new stages of the route thumps up, saying they make the ground level for all drivers.

"The more the route is new, the better for everyone. International drivers don't have experience of the Kenyan roads, so this is really good for us foreigners."

Rosenberger advised his fellow competitors to be cautious on the road during the event.

"It's a balance of speed that we have to try and find during the journey," he said.

Rosenberger is competing in Kenya for the third time now, having finished eighth in the 1998 Safari Rally.

"I love coming to Kenya to compete in the EASCR because this is the toughest race on earth. Kenya is beautiful, people are friendly and the panoramic sceneries are thrilling," he said.

Rosenberger hailed his navigator, Nicola Bleicher saying the German co-driver is very efficient in calling out pace-notes for him.

"We share not only the car, but the bed, we try not to fight. We have one big rule; what happens in the car stays in the car; so when we go for dinner after the rally day, we try not to fight about what happened in the car," said Rosenberger.