Newcomer Andrew Muiruri is looking forward to this Saturday’s KCB Voi Rally with great expectations. The Team Betika driver made his debut during the recent WRC Safari Rally in Naivasha where his car ended up on the roof on the last leg of the FIA event. The tarmac racer will be making his second attempt on gravel behind the wheel of a Subaru Impreza and navigated by Edward Njoroge. “My navigator (Njoroge) has rallied in Voi before so he is well-versed with what to expect on the race day. He has informed me that the surface there is smooth and fast and a far cry from what was witnessed during Safari.” “All in all, Voi for me will be a steep learning curve. I’m not there to win the competition. I am in the sport to learn and probably become competitive in the next season. For now, I will just take it easy and enjoy it. WRC being the biggest event in the world when it comes to motor rallying, I believe was the best platform for me to start,” said Muiruri. Muiruri is an ardent and talented tarmac racer in the country with an insatiable appetite for success on gravel events.
“Tarmac racing is a completely different ball game from gravel. But for now, I want to keep learning day by day; by doing the remainder of the 2021 season in order to understand the dynamics of gravel racing, the surface and so much more. I will not stop racing on tarmac. The objective at this point in time is to see how far we can go in terms of pushing our car on gravel.” Muiruri says he will build on his knowledge of Safari’s treacherous stages as he tackles the rest of the KNRC season. The KCB KNRC will traverse Machakos, Nanyuki, Mombasa and Guru Nanak. Regrettably, his good drive was overshadowed by the roll he suffered towards the end of Safari Rally Kenya. “Safari has retained a reputation as the toughest rally in the world so coming into other local rallies, I’m sure the challenges will be minimal. We realised that the clutch slave cylinder wasn’t working properly on Safari, so we have had to replace it. The problem started when we were in Kedong on Day One. The next day we did Elementeita then it completely failed on the Soysambu stage.”
KCB Voi Rally will be organized by Sigh Union Club on the weekend of August 7th -8th. Voi Wildlife Lodge will house the Rally Headquarters with the rally traffic traversing some iconic routes around Voi region. Muiruri says the KNRC events will help in terms of learning the stages and improving the times in these difficult scenarios. “I wish to thank the Government of Kenya for being very supportive to the sport, KCB as the title sponsors of the sport, and now special thanks to Betika for giving me the opportunity to realize my potential in the rally-sport. I am looking to be top in the next few years; but not in the near future but I am blending all the experience I have gathered from my previous tarmac experience of course with the little knowledge I now have of gravel.”