Kenya’s Karan Patel led from start to finish in Arusha to win the Tanzanian version of Guru Nanak Rally.
Navigated by Tausef Khan in a Ford Fiesta R5, Karan, one of the fastest rising Kenyan youngsters, beat Ian Duncan (Nissan Patrol) by 1.33minutes to win the event — which counts towards the third round of the Tanzanian National Rally Championship.
Karan won all the five competitive stages after 215.58km of which 116.2km was competitive and 99.18km transport distance.
Karan said: “I am very happy to have won the rally for the second time though this time it was in a different car and with a different navigator. The Ford Fiesta went very well leading from start to finish. Well done to my navigator, Tauseef Khan. I first won the rally in 2018 in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10 with James Mwangi. We are in the right moods to celebrate an excellent victory.”
Five Kenya drivers Karan, Duncan, Evans Kavisi, Hamza Anwar and Hussein Malik took part. Malik didn’t start in the morning due to differential problems.
Anwar, son of Asad Anwar, finished fourth, ahead of Kavisi.
Meanwhile, Kenyan navigator Riyaz Ismail, who is taking part in the 2020 TNRC series suffered a major blow when their car caught fire in the second stage.
Riyaz, who navigates Tanzanian Gurjit Dhani of Hari Singh Rally Team in a Skoda Proto, said: “It was really scary. I spotted the flames at Gurjit’s feet when the car was at max speed. He managed to swerve the car before it came to a stop. We both rushed out but by then the fire had spread all over."
"We used all the fire extinguisher equipment but it was not easy to put the fire out. Spectators rushed and splashed the car with whatever drinks they had, which helped put the fire out. We were very lucky. At the time, we lying second behind Karan in SS2.”
