The KCB Nakuru Rally,which culminated at the expansive Soysambu Conservancy and the previous weekend”s Autocross have offered leading drivers a chance to savour the WRC Safari Rally route course.
The local season opener at Soysambu Conservancy over the weekend was the first time Kenyan drivers took cars out in a competitive rally atmosphere.
The previous weekend, drivers had a feel of the WRC Safari super special stage at Kasarani during the second round of the Autocross series.
The KCB Kenya National Rally Championship (KNRC) season opener at Soysambu is one of the areas the WRC Safari Rally cars will traverse.
During the event, Champion Baldev Singh Chager led his Kabras Sugar Racing stablemates Tejveer and Onkar Rai to their unprecedented clean sweep.
Chager said: “It’s such a great feeling to secure a 1-2-3 team podium finish for the first time in 10 years. For Safari, we did the candidate event last year and we kind of have a feeling what to expect in these routes,” Chager said.
The Safari Rally will take place on June 24-27 in Nairobi and Nakuru counties.
Meanwhile, Chager has taken a 7 point lead after a stellar drive in Nakuru County.
His teammates Tejveer and Onkar are on 25 and 23 respectively with legendary Ian Duncan in 4th place.
Chager benefited from the power stage rule which saw him earn an extra three points on the Championship log.
Chager won stage 7 which was the official power stage for the rally..
Power stages are synonymous with WRC events and were introduced in Kenya last year in a bid to add a little zest on completion. The winner in the power stage bags 3 points, second fastest 2 and third fastest 1
Synergy Gas team driver Paras Pandya of Mombasa has took the lead in the KNRC Division One and Group categories. In finishing 6th overall the Mombasa driver now takes the lead on both categories of KNRC.
Paras Pandya leads Division One with 30points followed by physically challenged Nikhil Sachania on 24 and Edward Maina 2.
Aakif Virani and Hussein Malik didn’t finish the Rift Valley Motor and Sports Club round and as such never scores points.
Kenya Motor Sport Club organise the second round of the Championship in Machakos County next month.
KNRC Standings after KCB Nakuru Rally -Round 1
Drivers
1 Baldev Chager 33
2 Tejveer Rai 25
3 Onkar Rai 23
4 Ian Duncan 19
5 Eric Bengi 17
6 Paras Pandya 15
7 Nikhil Sachania 13
8 Jasmeet Chana 11
9 Ghalib Hajee 9
10 Evans Kavisi 7
11 Daren Miranda 5
12 Edward Maina 4
13 Rajiv Ruparelia 3
Navigators
1 Ravi Soni 33
2 Gareth Dawe 25
3 Drew Sturrock 23
4 Anthony Nielsen 19
5 Peter Mutuma 17
6 Falgun Bhojak 15
7 Deep Patel 13
8 Ravi Chana 11
9 Sinder Suddle 9
10 Absolom Aswani 7
11 Wayne Fernandes 5
12 John Ngugi 4
13 Enoch Olinga 3