Mombasa Hosts KCB Mtaani Rally

By Feverpitch Reporter

Jas Mangat of Uganda drives off first ahead of 53 drivers as the KCB Mtaani Rally starts on Sunday morning in Mombasa.

Not only has Mombasa reaffirmed its claim as a major tourist hub, but it has suddenly burst into fame as a major rallying destination.

The Kenya National Rally Championship season closes there on Sunday.

Euphoria and excitement reached scintillating levels when veteran Safari Rally driver, Frank Tundo, tested his sleek EVO9 and announced he is coming out of a 25 year sabbatical.

This is the hype that gripped the cosmopolitan Indian Ocean City that reached a crescendo when 1994 Safari Rally winner Ian Duncan waltzed into town for reconnaissance which started on Friday and which ended on Saturday

Duncan is being navigated by Amaar Slatch, who guided him to victory in the 2007 edition of the East Africa Safari Classic.

The rally proper starts on Sunday and many of Mombasa’s fans will drive out of town to catch the first section action at Mnyenzeni Primary for the designated spectator stage. Mnyezeni is approximately 7 kilometers from the main road in Mariakani town.

Documentation stepped up a gear on Saturday at the Railway Station where scrutineering took place.

In the meantime, rally officials are working round the clock to ensure that the logistics supporting the event go without a hitch.

Mombasa Motor Club Secretary Essak Ghalia and Chairman Roy McKenzie will be present to oversee documentation as up country and local crews trickled in for their share of the pre-rally action.

The chief scrutineer is Musa Locho from Nairobi. He and his team will look at all the cars entered to ensure that they comply in every way with the technical, safety and sporting requirements.

Meanwhile, the clerk of the course,Roy McKenzie from MMC, has been working hard with the team to ensure that the rally route as well as the marshals to man the controls are clearly identified.

What with the chance to see the rally cars at the Railway station, the spectator activity will be largely centred on its car parks but there will be plenty to observe on Sunday after flagging off at Mariakani KCB branch.

The KCB Mtaani Rally comes in the wake of the KQ Safari Classic which traversed Kenya and Tanzania covering some 4,100 kilometres (2,500 miles) in eight days of competition before returning to finish at the Whitesands Hotel in Mombasa on Novemeber 28. Just ten days after that, Mombasa now hosts the final round of the 2011 Kenyan National Rally Championship, the KCB Mtaani Rally.

Most of the KNRC titles have been taken and focus will be on the 2WD class.
Vetran Azar Anwar and Jas Mangat will tussle for the third position in 2WD with absentee Carl Tundo assured of second.

Mangat and Azar are deadlocked at 195 points.

The main KNRC diadem has been taken by Ian Duncan, the Classic Car Cup by Aslam Khan, the Group S by Jasmeet Chana and Division 3 by Sandeep Jandu.