One point separates leader Karan Patel and Jasmeet Chana on the Kenya National Rally Championship (KNRC) log after the 2022 WRC Safari Rally Kenya.
Following an updated Championship table, Patel still holds the lead despite failing to finish the 1223.77km WRC Safari extravaganza which traversed historic routes around the lakeside region of Naivasha.
Patel is on 135 points while Chana, who is the only competitor with a 100 percent finish record at the present, trails the leader by a solitary point.
During this year's Safari, Kalle Rovanpera led his Toyota Gazoo Racing teammates Elfyn Evans (GB), Takamoto Katsuta (Japan) and Sebastien Ogier (France) to a scintillating 1-2-3-4 finish while Kenya’s Maxine Wahome became the first Kenyan woman to lay hands on the coveted WRC3 Class behind the wheel of a Ford Fiesta.
Wahome only took up rallying at last year’s Safari Rally, and the 2022 edition was indeed her first in the new M-Sport Poland Ford Fiesta Rally3.
But the former motocross rider defied all odds to rack up the historic win which was acknowledged by seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton on Instagram. Kenya’s Amaanraj Singh Rai was the top placed local driver and 12th overall.
He finished the WRC2 Class in a credible third place in his Rally2 Skoda behind winner Kajetan Kajetanowicz of Poland and Sean Johnston of the USA.
Kenyan champion Carl “Flash” Tundo finished 13th overall to clinch the National Category ahead of Chana who came in second while Maxine Wahome and Sachania took third and fourth respectively.
KNRC OVERALL STANDINGS AFTER WRC SAFARI RALLY
DRIVERS
1 Karan Patel 135
2 Jasmeet Chana 134
3 Kush Patel 54
4 Leo Varese 51
5 Maxine Wahome 46
6 Jeremiah Wahome 41
7 Ghalib Hajee 40
8 Carl Tundo 39
9 Steve Mwangi 36
10 Zameer Verjee 33
11 Mcrae Kimathi 29
12 Nikhil Sachania 23
CO-DRIVERS
1 Tauseef Khan 135
2 Ravi Chana 134
3 Mudassar Chaudry 54
4 Riyaz Ismail 52
5 Kigo Kariethi 51
6 Murage Waigwa 46
7 Deep Patel 45
8 Victor Okundi 41
9 Tim Jessop 39
10 Dennis Mwenda 36
