Tapio leads from start to finish in Kajiado rally

Safari Rally Tapio Laukkanen navigated Pasi Torma driving Subaru Impreza during the Machakos Rally, yesterday.

Finland star Tapio Laukkanen navigated by compatriot Pasi Torma led from start to finish to win the opening round of the Kenya National Rally Championship in Kajiado County yesterday.

The former British and Finland rally champion achieved the feat after clinching three out of four stages around Kajiado, Il-Bissel and Parane.

The ‘Flying Finn’ restricted Ian Duncan to second place with a 1.38 minutes margin while reigning Kenya and Africa champion Jaspreet Chatthe completed the podium dash in a time of 1h19m59seconds.

Duncan who is a six times Kenya champion beat Chatthe by 39 seconds to secure his position in the Kenya Motor Sports Club leg.

Fourth overall was former Uganda champion Jas Mangat who incidentally won the 10km Marble-Parane section.

Tapio’s blistering pace in Kajiado stunned the motoring fraternity more so on the long 60km Il-Bissel-Enchoro stage beat Duncan by 1 minute and 30 seconds!

“It was a good day with no major dramas. The car performed really well on all the stages. We attacked the second stage but didn’t expect beating Duncan by such a big margin,” said Tapio.