Reigning Kenyan champion Karan Patel has promised to give his Kenyan fans plenty to cheer about when the World Rally Championship (WRC) Safari Rally gets underway in Naivasha later this month.
The KCB Racing Team’s lead driver is among the 13 entrants listed in the premier support WRC2 category; traditionally a preserve of the Rally 2 marques in the FIA Rally Pyramid.
Despite not finishing in the 2022 edition of Safari, Karan was among the three Kenyan drivers who scored the momentous WRC points in 2021, where he placed eighth overall position (second in WRC3) behind Onkar Rai (seventh) and Carl “Flash” Tundo (seventh)
This year’s Safari will feature 10 starters in the headline Rally1 category, as well as a strong field of 13 in WRC 2.
In an interview, Karan urged fans to keep their eyes on them. “We are hoping to have a strong finish, and hopefully, come out as top Kenyan crew overall,” he noted.
He added: “Safari is still a very tough rally even for the modern cars. It’s not the same as it used to be many years ago with respect to the distances that used to be covered in those days.”
When asked to explain just what it will take to match the world-beating priority1 WRC drivers, Karan explained, “We need the same cars as them. This needs government support to get one of us on the bucket seat of a Rally1 marque; to show what we can do against the top divers like the Ogiers and the Rovanperas of the rally scene.”
KCB is the official banking partner of the 2023 WRC Safari Rally with a three-car line-up in Karan, Evans Kavisi and Nikhil Sachania.
This year’s Safari will rev off with the June 21 Shakedown at KWS Naivasha, where priority1 cars will savour the chance to warm their engines well in time for action proper from June 22, culminating with the Wolf Power Stage spectacle at Hell’s Gate on June 25.
