Abdulkadir Tarmal displayed awesome skills to register his maiden Coast Rally Championship win at the Mombasa Cement Limited (MCL) course in Vipingo over the weekend.
Having already won the Open Class during the Mombasa Motor Club (MMC) round of the Kenya National Autocross Championship earlier in May, Tarmal was looking to replicate the feat in a rally set up in his Subaru Impreza N10.
"It was such an amazing experience to win this event; quite challenging considering this was my first night rally. I think my co-driver — Azgar Kassam — and I managed our pace well to bring it home. Mombasa Motor Club and all the sponsors/volunteers did a great job organising this event," said Tarmal.
"There were many DNFs before the night stages and we had a comfortable lead by then. Our aim was to bring the car home whilst gaining some good night rally experience."
The Steel-sponsored rookie driver only joined the sport this year but his driving lines are already serving up great moments ahead for rally lovers.
Seasoned Coast driver Arjun Pattni came second, alongside new navigator Savio Kimwele.
Regular navigator, Mitul Patel, was unavailable due to personal commitments, promoting Pattni to explore a plan 'B'.
"We had fun since I was being navigated by my old school friend and business partner Savio Kimwele, who accepted to take the hot seat for the first time. Considering that this was not a comfort zone for him, I must admit he did a great job. We pushed hard but night sessions were the game changer," said Pattni.
Amit Vaja navigated by Nikil Davda in a Subaru came third followed by Coast Pekee youngster Ali Mirza.
Ali, a former Kenya National Karting Championship contender, teamed up with Mubashar Khan.
"The rally went really well. We had a few issues with the fuel pump in the earlier heats but managed to get them sorted for the night rounds. The night setup was a lot of fun, not my first time but definitely a great experience. All in all, good to do a rally after a long break. We'll try to do more events,"said Ali.
The Lota Motorsport-sponsored event claimed quite a number of top drivers including former Coast champion Naushad Kara, Kilifi-based speedster Piero Cannobio, Round 3 winner Izhar Mirza of Coast Pekee and the two buggy contenders Yusuf Pasta and Inderjeet Puee.
Piero led the rally after the first two stages but retired in the third. He set the fastest time of 14.18minutes on CS1 and 14.38minutes on CS2.
Pasta, the defending buggy champion, said: "The event was tough. Rear brakes jammed in the first loop which I managed to sort and then the rear shaft broke in the second. We’ll rebuild and come back stronger. Great effort from the organisers and many thanks to the sponsors."
Results
1. Abdulkadir Tarmal/AK () 1h26m53s
2. Arjun Pattni/Subaru GC8)1h30m47s
3. Amit Vaja 1h34m17s
4. Ali Mirza/Mubashar Khan -4WD (Subaru Impreza) 2h12m32s
Retirements
Naushad Kara/Adnan Din - 4WD
Izhar Mirza/Gurveer Phandal - 4wd
(Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution)
Abhijeet Puee/Ahmed Musa - 4WD.
Inderjeet Puee - Buggy
Yusuf Pasta -Buggy
Piero Cannobio/Victor Okundi - 4WD
