When he revs off at the Junior World Rally Championship in Sweden, rally driver McRae Kimathi will be hoping his career takes the same trajectory as that of the man after who he was named — three-time World Rally Champion Colin McRae.
The youngster, driving an M-Sport Ford Fiesta, is on the cusp of history as the first Kenyan to compete at such a global event and will undoubtedly fight to ensure his place in history books does not end at that.
After Sweden, Kimathi — along with his navigator, Mwangi Kioni — will turn their attention to other legs in Greece, Estonia, Portugal, and Croatia.
The team is entered by M-Sport Poland who are providing the car and full technical support with sponsorship by Kenya Airways and Safaricom.
At 27, McRae became the youngest driver to win the WRC drivers' title in 1995 in a Subaru Impreza. Having already turned 27, Kimathi may have already missed out on the chance to outdo his idol's achievements in this regard.
However, if he puts his mind to it, there is no reason Kimathi cannot replicate — or even surpass — the Scot's three world titles, among other accomplishments.
It won't be a 'walk in the park' for Kimathi in the Nordic country considering the bone-chilling winter conditions, with temperatures as low as -20°C in the host city of Umea.
Kimathi will have to be alert and possess nerves of steel in order to navigate through the ice-covered road and the snowbanks.
The remote and frozen forests in the northern region will only add to the challenge — as well as the adrenaline levels arising from the close shave moments — that awaits Kimathi and Co.
Nonetheless, as is the case with the refinement of gold, such tough races will only serve to forge Kimathi into the finished product.
Additionally, the tutelage of former Kenya national champion Tapio Laukkanen guarantees that Kimathi will emerge from the series two-fold wiser than before. Laukkanen will be with the team this whole season.
