Rally: Chager triumphs in Laikipia for befitting birthday present

After winning the Nyahururu Rally over the weekend, Baldev Chager has taken the overall leadership of the Kenya National Rally Championships with a total of 56 points.

Chager took the lead after failing in his attempt to win the Guru Nanak Rally, the opening round of the championships, finishing second behind Carl ‘Flash’ Tundo.

Chager clocked 1hour 28 minutes and 10 seconds to triumph in the exciting contest that took drivers through fast and technical terrain of Laikipia County.

Tejveer Rai in his Volkswagen Polo 5 finished runner-up in a time of 1:30.25.8.

Chager snatched the KNRC lead from Tundo, who was third in the Nyahururu rally.

“We had a good race and our pace notes worked well for us. It was a befitting birthday present, which we share with my daughter,” said Chager.

As it was in the Guru Nanak Rally, where both drivers kept exchanging the lead with Tundo having the last laugh, this was Chager’s moment to shine.

He won the first three stages, but Tundo bounced back to take the next two including the power stage, which earned him three bonus points. [Ben Ahenda]

“It was a tough one for us. We suffered a puncture 7km in the opening stage and another one in the third stage but that’s rallying. All these minimised our chances of emerging victorious,” said Tundo.

Out of the 13 cars that started the race, only 10 survived the tricky terrain.

Despite also picking two punctures, Karan Patel finished fourth after clocking 1 hour 35 minutes and 48.8 seconds. He was co-driven by James Mwangi in a Ford Fiesta R5.

The roads in Rumuruti were well marked, graded and had a mix of everything from flat out sections to twisty, to jumps and rocks.

The first 7kms of the power stage which was the day’s last run were exactly the same as SS1 Ol Maisor stage but at the 7km mark diverted to the left.

Two stages, Ol Maisor and Sosian, were repeated twice after which rally traffic embarked on the power stage attack.

The event featured a competitive distance of 147.96km and 158.32km transport road section.