•The KNRC is an all-gravel championship but the organisers deviated from the norm to offer crews something different and unique.
• Sam Karangatha emerged the Classic Car Class winner in a career-best fifth overall finish, incidentally on his very first outing behind the wheel of a Minti Motorsport Datsun 180B.
Division Three and Two Wheel Drive contender Leonardo Varese is looking forward to the second half of the 2022 Kenya National Rally Championship season with great expectations.
Varese maintained his lead on both classes upon returning his Toyota Auris to a credible sixth overall finish during the Eldoret Rally 2022 over the weekend.
“The team did a really good job in Eldoret. It's surely more than what we were expecting," said Varese.
"I'm grateful to everyone in the team and our sponsors SportPesa for a great outing at The Home of Champions as well as organisers East African Safari Rally for great routes and scenery up the Cherangani Hills."
"We managed to bring back our Two Wheel Drive Toyota Auris 1600cc in a credible sixth overall position and most importantly, kept our 100 per cent finish record intact."
Varese feels he made the right decision with limited tyre choice on the tarmac speed test in Chebai.
The KNRC is an all-gravel championship but the organisers deviated from the norm to offer crews something different and unique.
"The tarmac stage was good but our brakes heated up a little. It's always great to experience something new for a change," he said.
"At the end of the day, everything ran like clockwork and we got a little rain up Cherangani but just enough to give us the much-needed traction. It was real fun on our descents and ascents."
He, however, observed that they will have to attain the 75 per cent entry threshold to be declared the champions.
Sam Karangatha emerged the Classic Car Class winner in a career-best fifth overall position, incidentally on his very first outing behind the wheel of a Minti Motorsport Datsun 180B.
Karangatha said: "It was a dream come true to be back inside a rally car. The rally went smooth, with awesome routes and great organisation. The goal was to get to the finish line as we continue to learn the car. I'm very happy with achieving our best KNRC result of fifth overall."
"A big thank you to Minti Motorsport for giving us the opportunity to drive and to the whole team for keeping the car working well. Steve Nyorr did a fantastic job navigating with me for the first time," he added.
Meanwhile, Group N leader Jasmeet Chana reckons that the tarmac stage in Eldoret was a great experience and a far cry from what most drivers are used to on gravel.
The longtime leader returned second overall after he lost the battle to eventual winner Karan Patel at the penultimate stage. Chana explained: “We struggled to climb up the hills in the afternoon. I think it's because of the temperatures and high altitude."
"We didn't have maximum boost as much as we tried to push. So it came to a point where the car was overheating and we let go of the top spot."