Onkar Rai has dedicated his maiden WRC3 win on Safari Rally to his injured elder brother Tejveer Rai who crashed out on Friday.
Onkar was the best-placed Kenyan at seventh overall, beating former Junior WRC challenger Karan Patel to eighth and Carl Tundo (ninth) in a maiden WRC3 podium.
The Kabras Sugar Racing driver also led the three Kenyans to their maiden World Rally Championship points.
Onkar was incidentally the first driver off the Hell’s Gate time control, where the second run of the 10.56km stage counted towards the day’s Wolf Power Stage.
“This is for him (Tejveer). It was really a hard drive knowing that my brother had been airlifted to Nairobi with back injuries. It’s heartbreaking that he is not here to witness this success,” he noted.
Onkar’s British navigator Drew Sturrock said: “Onkar kept his head after the terrible news about Tejveer’s crash on Friday. He kept focus and we are really happy with the result.”
Tundo said: “Another tough day with lots of problems. We would have been ahead if it were not for the many problems we encountered. But again, it’s another rally under the belt. Yesterday (Saturday), we were focused on KNRC points. But looking back at the result, ninth overall in the WRC is awesome.”
Tundo is among the few drivers along with reigning Kenyan champion Baldev Chager who participated in the last WRC for Kenya in 2002. Chager finished fourth among Kenyans and 14th overall.
Onkar extended his WRC3 lead on Saturday after a stellar drive in Soysambu conservancy. The local star had already built a healthy lead after Friday’s grueling leg, but kept the pace up to claim two stage wins over a slightly less punishing penultimate day.
A 10-second penalty for a late time control check-in was the Kenyan’s only stumbling block, but he was so far ahead of his rivals that it didn’t even matter.
