Rally: Veteran driver Duncan leads table with 87 points

Carl Tundo's Top Fry Evo10 in action around the Delamare estate. [Standard Sports]

There's no stopping ahead of last leg: Veteran driver Duncan leads table with 87 points

Any of the top six drivers stands equal chance of claiming title on Saturday.

The last round of the 2017 Kenya National Rally Championship will take place on Saturday under the banner of the Rift Valley Motor Sports Club.

Nakuru-based Menengai Oil, which supported several drivers in the just concluded Classic Rally, will sponsor the final round of the series as Top Fry Nakuru Rally 2017.

The Nakuru event will help organisers announce the overall series winners after the cancellation of two previous rounds; Nanyuki and Kenya Motor Sports Club events.

As per the 2017 National Competition Rules (NCRs), 75 per cent of the eight KNRC rounds must be held before a champion is declared, otherwise the title remains null and void.

Ian Duncan leads the table, although any of the top six drivers stands a chance of winning the title. Drivers will be chasing the maximum 25 points on offer in Nakuru.

Duncan leads with 87 points, followed by Carl Tundo with 85. Baldev Chager has 79, Karan Patel 69, Manvir Baryan 68 and Tapio Laukkanen 63. 

The Top Fry Nakuru Rally 2017 will decide who wins this year’s overall KNRC championships crown with the top five leading drivers chasing the prestigious title in the motorsports calendar.

Tundo and Chager will revert to their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution cars after performing poorly during the Classic Event in their Triumph TR7 and Porsche 911 respectively. Both drivers are supported by the Kabras Team.

Onkar Rai, leader of the Kabras Team, who failed to finish in the 2017 Classic Rally, will also return to action in his customary KNRC Ford Fiesta.

The Top Fry Rally will have its headquarters at the Nakuru ASK Grounds. The final round will be 377 kilometers long. The competitive stage, which will be 156km, will be divided into eight sections.

The first four stages will be repeated with the longest being 30.59Km, while the shortest stage will be 1.76Km. The event will run 83% on Private Land and the rest on open roads.

Nakuru, Menengai and Mogotio will be the centre of action for the rally.

Reconnaissance will take place on Friday between 6-5pm, while scrutineering will also be on the same day at the ASK Grounds from 9am-5pm.

Meanwhile, Kenya will host the second round of the 2018 African Rally Championship in March next year, according the latest meeting of the Members of the Confederation of African Motorsports Council (CAMS).

Kenya finished sixth out of the seven countries that participated in the 2017 FIA ARC series. The FIA Steward for the 2017 Safari Rally was South Africa’s Richard Leecke, who was also the Clerk of the Course during the 2017 Classic Rally.

Meanwhile, Formula One comeback hopeful Robert Kubica and young Russian Sergey Sirotkin will both be at the Williams factory this week as the former champions continue to assess their driver options for 2018.

[Additional reporting by AFP]