Jasmeet Chana aka Iceman has been seeded first for the KCB Ramisi Rally scheduled for Saturday at the Kwale International Sugar Company Limited farm.
This will be the first time that Chana will sweep the road in a Kenya National Rally Championship event despite starting first in quite a few events in the 2WD category some years back.
He will be navigated by his brother, Ravi Chana in a Mitsubishi Evolution X.
"It's never good to be the sweeper. However, if its dry or it rains, there's somewhat a little advantage," said Chana.
"Our aim this year is to retain Group N Championship, which we are currently leading. Our approach for Ramisi is to be quick and clean while trying to survive the demanding course," said Chana, the lead driver for KCB Bank team.
Chana will be followed by Eric Bengi, Carl Tundo, Karan Patel, defending champion Baldev Chager and FIA Rally Star Driver Jeremy Wahome.
Bengi will be looking to conquer the Mombasa Motor Club round which is incidentally one of the oldest KNRC events on the series.
He believes the gremlins of Machakos last month will be a thing of the past when top drivers tackle the season's second coast event after Voi.
"Our preparations are done. The car was low on power in Machakos and coupled with other minor issues we were quite slow. We have managed to identify the problems and even fixed them accordingly. The car is in Diani as we speak. We hope we will be able to catch up with the top boys this time round. We are optimistic for a good ride at the Coast," Bengi said.
Champion Chager is currently lying third, 30 points behind series leader Tundo, who has 111 points.
Voi winner Patel is second on 83 points while Chana is fourth on 77. WRC 3 Safari winner Onkar Rai closes the top five with 73 points.
The event will count towards the sixth round of the KNRC after Nakuru, ARC Equator, WRC Safari, Machakos and Voi rallies.
MMC Chairman Roy McKenzie said the event will feature a competitive mileage of approximately 151km and a further liaison distance of about 100km.
The MMC round will be followed by Nanyuki Rally, RSC Rally and the season-closing KCB Guru Nanak Rally.
Scrutineering, reconnaissance and documentation will take place at KISCOL Sugar on Friday with the race set for a day later.
