Home boys bite dust in Classic Rally: Chager surrenders lead on Day Six

East Africa Safari Rally Frank Tundo's Top Fry Triumph splash through a Muddle in Msembweni during day 6 of the EA Classic rally

Going gets tough for home boys: Kenya’s top drivers Ian Duncan and Onkar Rai are out of the race. 

Kenya’s Ian Duncan and Onkar Rai dream of finishing the Kenya Airways East Africa Classic Rally faded yesterday as cars returned to Kenya from Tanzania. 

The Kenyan duo finally kissed goodbye to the rally with engine problems. Duncan bowed out in the first stage as Onkar gave up in the last stage of Day Six.

At the same time, a last stage slip while crossing back into Kenya from Tanzania saw Kenya’s Baldev Chager surrender his lead to Richard Jackson of the Kenya Airways East African Classic Rally.

It was a bitter pill for Charger to swallow considering Jackson was driving flat-out all day to snatch the top position.

It was another bad day after the disappointing run by compatriot Carl Tundo, who also surrendered his lead with reliability problems.

Chager, who was first on the road on Day Six, cruised to safeguard the top position with two second fastest times on the day’s run in Tanzania only to goof at CS15 in Lunga Lunga.

Ramesh Vishram’s progress slowed yesterday after his Ford Escort Mark2 developed mechanical problems. “We started the first stage on a high note though rough and fast.

“After service and on way to start the second stage, we smelt trouble. At 20km into transport, the rear gearbox oil seal popped out draining all the oil . We had to miss both the remaining two stages to get the repairs done. The car is ready for today’s action,” said Vishram of the Cementers Racing Team.

At the end of the long 155km stage, Chager wasn’t that comfortable: “We had our share of problems on Day One and Two where we lost a lot of time and if it wasn’t for that, we would have been in a good position right from the opening day. The Classic Rally has really become a cat and mouse game where any slip up can place you in a very tricky situation,” said Chager.