•Equator Rally, traditionally held in April was initially moved to October and eventually rescheduled again to occupy Nanyuki Rally’s June 28-30 date.
•The prestigious Guru Nanak Rally, which is Sikh Union’s round of the 9-leg KNRC series, will bring the curtain down on the 9-leg KNRC 2024 Series.
Image: FILE
Preparations to host Kenya’s FIA African Rally Championship (ARC) round, the prestigious Equator Rally, are in top gear, the Kenya Motor Sport Federation (KMSF) have announced.
While making the announcement, KMSF general manager, Mwaura Njuguna, confirmed they have re-arranged the 2024 KMSF sporting calendar after the continental Equator event took Nanyuki Rally Group’s round.
Equator Rally, traditionally held in April was initially moved to October and eventually rescheduled again to occupy Nanyuki Rally’s June 28-30 date.
“Following the change of ARC date, the Nanyuki Rally that was initially slated for June has now been brought forward to the weekend of May 25-26 as KNRC Round Three. The event comes after the Eldoret Rally which was held in February and the World Rally Championships (WRC) Safari recently staged over the nostalgic Easter weekend,” Mwaura said.
Equator Rally will now count towards KNRC-4; organised by Sikh Union Club (SUC) and will be followed by KNRC-5 Nakuru Rally on the weekend of August 3-4, which also coincides with WRC Rally Finland.
Rally traffic will then grace Kenya’s sole sea level fixture, KNRC-6 Mombasa Rally, to be organised by Mombasa Motor Club, on September 07-08—the same weekend with the iconic WRC EKO Acropolis Rally of Greece.
Like Kenya’s fabled Safari, the Acropolis Rally of Greece is a competition that is run on very dusty, rough, rocky and fast mountain roads in mainland Greece, usually during the Greek hot summer period. “It’s an exciting calendar because most of the KNRC rounds coincide with WRC rounds,” Mwaura added.
Kenya Motor Sport Club (KNRC-7 Rally) will be organised by Kenya Motor Sports Club on October 12-13 and will be followed by the penultimate round Kenya Racing Team Rally on November 02-03.
The KRT leg will coincide with the WRC Central European Rally, an exciting brand-new multi-national fixture since 2023, traversing the scenic and technical routes of the Austrian countryside to the fast and flowing Czech tracks and demanding German stretches.
The prestigious Guru Nanak Rally, which is Sikh Union’s round of the 9-leg KNRC series, will bring the curtain down on the 9-leg KNRC 2024 Series.
Kalle Rovanpera of Finland and his navigator Jonne Haltunen mastered the high-attrition Naivasha conditions to win the third round of the World Rally Championship series by one minute and 37.8 seconds ahead of his Toyota Gazoo team-mate Takamoto Katsuta of Japan, and his Irish navigator Aaron Johnstone. Carl Tundo emerged as the winner in the KNRC category of Safari.