Series leader Jasmeet Chana aka Iceman will be looking to maintain his Kenya National Rally Championship lead when action heads to Eldoret this weekend.
Chana will be navigated by his elder brother Ravi Chana in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X marque. Eldoret will be the fifth stop after Machakos, Naivasha and Nakuru and Voi.
Chana currently tops the log with 114 points against McRae Kimathi’s 60.
“We have run a pre-event test and it’s been a mad rush to keep the Evolution in good nick for Eldoret. As we start the second half of the season, we’re definitely not letting the championship slip from our grasp as was the case last year,” said Chana.
“There is always the feeling of attacking and putting everything in.”
Eldoret rally, organised by Western Kenya Motor Club, runs on technical and energy-sapping gravel roads given the high altitude nature of the region which is synonymous with the old-type Safari.
The event was previously known as the Raymond Rally.
After finishing second in last year’s championship, behind Karan Patel, Chana got his mitts on his maiden KNRC winner’s trophy in Nakuru before taking second spot in the WRC Safari KNRC category.
Kenya’s JWRC/WRC3 contender Hamza Anwar returns to the local championship after claiming a career-best podium in Junior WRC in Estonia.
Hamza has entered a Mitsubishi Lancer and will be navigated by Adnan Din from Mombasa. Also in the Eldoret mix is reigning champion Patel, who returns to the bucket seat of his old Mitsubishi Lancer.
Karan has been running a Ford Fiesta Rally 3 in international and local events and it will be interesting to see how he cruises in his EvoX.
Fourth off the ramp is Issa Amwar in an Evolution 10 followed by home driver Ghalib Haji in a similar car.
McRae Kimathi and Jeremiah Wahome will both pilot their state-of-the-art M-Sport Poland-prepared Ford Fiestas, which feature in Rally 3 category in the FIA Rally pyramid.
Old boy Ian Duncan, outright winner of the 1994 WRC Safari Rally, has enlisted a Nissan 280Z classic and will have his pace-notes called by Jaspal Matharu.
Also listed in the Classic category is Sam Karangatha in a Datsun 180B.
The Specially Prepared Vehicle (SPV) category has attracted two entrants in Jose Sardinha (Pajero Mitsubishi) and Navdeep Sadhu in a Subaru Leone.
Youngster Sameer Nanji has entered the event’s only Two Wheel Drive, a VW Golf Mk2 — in the company of navigator Vinay Shah.
The event will be flagged off outside Rupa Mall in Uasin Gishu county on Saturday before tackling repeat stages in Kaptagat, Bugar and Salabin.
The repeat run of the 17.4 Km Bugar stage (SS6) will serve as the Power Stage where the top three fastest drivers will be awarded bonus championship points.
The event’s Service Park will be centered in Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet county — better known as the “County of Champions”.
Knrc Standings after WRC KNRC Safari
1 Jasmeet Chana 114
2 McRae Kimathi 60
3 Nikhil Sacania 44
4 Carl Tundo 39
5 Kush Patel 34
5= Karan Patel 34
7 Amman Shah 33
8 Jeremiah Wahome 30
9 Hamza Anwar 26
10 Izhar Mirza 23