Defending champion Baldev Chager has taken an overnight lead in the third edition of the Top Fry Safari Classic Rally which revved off in Nanyuki on Wednesday. Navigated by Ravi Soni in a Porsche 911, Chager took the lead from Carl Tundo in the second stage and clung onto it through to the gruelling 134km stage.
He enjoys a 43-second cushion after Day 1 of dramatic action which revved off at the Mount Kenya Safari Club.
His Kabras Sugar Racing teammate Onkar Rai settled for second place in a Porsche 911 as Carl’s Triumph TR7 finished Day 1 in third place and 1.27mimutes behind the leader. Carl was an earlier pacesetter at the 76km Loldaiga stage, where he beat Chager by 36 seconds. But Chager bounced back at the 65km stretch which led all the way from Ole Naishu through to DolDol.
The Rai siblings Onkar and Tejveer dominated the long 134km Polei-Naibor stage. Omar was fastest through the long stage, where he beat his elder brother Tejveer by a 1.37 minutes margin. Onkar, who was fourth fastest in stage one and fifth fastest in the second section saw his last stage antics elevate him to second place.
Day One Provisional results:
1. Baldev Chager/Ravi Soin (Porsche 911) 03:36:57.5
2. Onkar Rai/Gareth Dawe (Porsche 911) 03:37:40
3. Carl Tundo/Tim Jessop (Triumph TR8) 03:39:07.5
4. Geoff Bell/Tim Challen (Datsun 240Z) 03:39:47.1
5. Tejveer Rai /Gavin Laurence (Porsche 91) 03:40:06.5
6. Joey Ghose/ Stephan Prevot (Escort MK1) 04:07:11.0
7. Steve Parkinson/Russel Parkinson (Ford Escort MK1) 04:10:27.4
8. Kailesh Chauhan/Tariq Malik (Escort MK2) 04:16:01.3
9. Jonathan Somen/Richard Hecle (Escort MK2) 04:16:24.3
10. Ramesh Vishram/Riyaz Ismail (Escort MK2) 04:28:50.3
11. Rob Hellier/Dougy Rundgren (Datsun 180B) 05:22:06.6
12. Jayant Shah/Arshad Khan (Porsche 911) 05:30:27.7
