Leader Jasmeet Chana is putting many hours of meticulous preparation into his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X ahead of the much-anticipated title fight with Karan Patel in Saturday’s Machakos Rally.
Jasmeet has run several performance tests in Maili Tisa just to ensure all is well in the run-up to the Rallye Sports Club round of the Kenya National Rally Championship.
“The car has undergone vigorous tests in the past week. We hope all goes well during the event. There are no new parts fitted to the car after the last rally in Bamba but all we have done is making sure everything is working the way it should be,” Chana said.
“But if it rains on the race day, then it will be very tricky as Lisa Farm is all black cotton soil. All in all, it will be exciting to see how the title fight with Karan pans out at Lisa,” he said.
Better known as Iceman in rallying circles, Jasmeet heads into the penultimate round in Machakos County with a 20-point advantage over Karan who has five wins under his belt so far.
Chana is yet to win a round of the KNRC this season but has finished all the 2022 events in the runner-up position.
Karan, on the other hand, dropped to the second position on the log after failing to finish the Mombasa Motor Club Bamba Rally which counted towards the seventh edition of the 2022 series.
The KNRC title race is officially a two-horse race between Chana and Karan who are chasing their maiden career top-flight titles with zeal and vigour.
Third-placed Leonardo Varese is out of contention for the main KNRC title but will be going for an unprecedented double victory in 2WD and Division 3. Varese only needs a finish to seal both titles.
Machakos Rally has attracted KNRC regulars among them Karan’s brother Kush Patel, Rajveer Thethy, Shakeel Khan (Classic), Edward Maina and Daren Miranda (2WD) among others.
The rally will feature three repeated stages—Phill (30.27km), Mickey (28.22km) and Phinny (14.95km)—which make up a cumulative competitive total of 146.16km and a total liaison distance of 2.84km.
“The route is compact, which means transport will be less than 3km. The course is not the usual Lisa roads that drivers are used to. It’s a totally different technical experience,” Clerk of the course Helen Shiri explained.
The 2022 Kenya National Rally Championship has been to Nakuru, Il-Bisil, Nanyuki, Eldoret, twice in Naivasha for the WRC Safari Rally and ARC Equator Rally, and most recently Bamba in North Coast.
KNRC standing after Round 7
Drivers
1. Jasmeet Chana 'Iceman' 187
2. Karan K Patel 167
3. Leonardo Varese 75
4. Maxine Wahome 74
5. Kush Patel 73
6. Carl “Flash” Tundo 59
7. Steve Mwangi 49
8. Jeremiah Wahome 41
9. Ghalib Hajee 40
10. Raaji Bharij. 33
10=Zameer Verjee 33
Co-drivers
1.Ravi Chana 187
2. Tauseef Khan 167
3. Kigo Kareithi 75
4. Murage Wa Waigwa 74
5. Mudassar Chaudry 73
6. Riyaz Ismail 52
7. Dennis Mwenda 49
8. Deep Patel 45
9. Victor Okundi 41
10. Tim Jessop 39
