Eric Bengi navigated by Tuta Mionki in a Toyota RunX chalked up his second straight 2WD class win of the season as KCB Kisumu Rally came to a dramatic end in Chemelil region over the weekend.
Bengi achieved the feat after finishing 10th overall position incidentally on his very first outing with Tuta, who was called upon to fill the void left by his regular navigator Tony Gikuhi. Defending champion Leonado Varese took advantage of Sammy Nyorri’s retirement to move up from third to second on the 2WD log. Nyorri retired on the repeat run of Kobonyo-Mberere stage with engine failure. Alex Lairang’i came home second in 20th overall position to make up for his retirement in Kajiado last February.
“Our Kisumu finish is very special and we are so elated. Top 10 overall finish is amazing. It’s a big celebration as it is our first time to finish in Kisumu. In the last two seasons, Kisumu was very unforgiving and we retired in most unfortunate situations. We are very happy,” said Bengi.
Varese said: “We are very happy to finish third in 2WD class. This leaves us second in the championship. In the first loop, we took it easy in very slippery conditions and went off twice. We drove the last 18kms on a broken rear shock mounting and it gave way on the very rough stage. Great job by organisers of Kisumu Rally for putting the rally together under such poor weather conditions.”
Osman Abdullahi Osman on his every first Rally and driving an ex Paras Pandya N10 finished in a credible 13th overall position ahead of Tapio who dipped to 14th with puncture problems.
Kisumu Rally was an interest turn of results with Ian Duncan leading the first loop and Chager emerging event’s overall winner. Duncan did not start the last section as he was taken ill and unable to continue. This opened door to Chager who drove to take podium place.
The next Rally is the flagship event of the KNRC which is the 64th KCB Safari Rally slated for June 10-12.
Selected results: 1. Baldev Singh Chager/Ravi Soni (Mitsubishi EvoX) 1:01.00; 2. Rajbir Rai/Greg Stead (Ford Fiesta R5) 1:01.14; 3. Manvir Baryan/Drew Sturrock (Ford Fiesta R5)1:01.32; 4. Carl Flash Tundo/Tim Jessop (Subaru Impreza GC8) 1:01.38; 5. Karan K Patel/Tauseef Khan (Mitsubishi Lancer EvoX) 1:06.50; 6. Frank Tundo/Raju Chagger (Mitsubishi) 1:07.30; 7. Onkar Singh Rai/Gareth Dawe (Mitsubishi Lancer EvoX) 1:07.35; 8. Izar Mirza/Kevit Dave (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9) 1:07.45; 9. Tejveer Singh Rai/Zahir Shah (Mitsubishi Lancer EvoX) 1:08.14; 10. Eric Bengi/Tuta Mionki (Toyota RunX) 1:10.41;
11. Jansher Sandhu/Faisal Khan (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9) 1:13.01; 12. Natasha Tundo/Chantal Young (Subaru N10) 1:13.14; 13. Osman Abdullahi; Osman/Evans Mwenda (Subaru N10) 1:14.01; 14. Tapio Laukkanen/Pasi Torma (Subaru) 1:15.36; 15. Mahesh Halai/Ketan Halai (Subaru N12) 1:17.29