Tundo leads Kenyan charge as WRC Safari enters homestretch

Carl 'Flash' Tundo is the leading Kenyan driver as WRC Safari Rally Kenya heads into Sunday’s closing leg.

Navigated by Tim Jessop in a Ford Fiesta R5, Tundo returned 15th in the main category and seventh in WRC2 on a day the majority of the drivers ran into trouble in stages adjacent to Lake Naivasha.

Saturday’s three-stage repeated loop witnessed high attrition rates in an event which revolved around Elementeita, the iconic Sleeping Warrior and Soysambu.

Second-placed Kenyan in 20th place was  Karan Patel and his partner Tauseef Khan.

WRC2 frontrunners Gus Greensmith and Oliver Solberg are placed sixth and seventh respectively in the main category.

WRC2’s Kajetan Kajetanowicz is lying eighth ahead of MSport Ford’s Rally1 driver Jourdan Serderidis and Hyundai’s WRC star Ott Tänak, who restarted following his Friday retirement.

Tänak faced further problems which included a loose bonnet pin, malfunctioning intercom and excessive dust inside his Hyundai, but remained within touching distance of the two drivers ahead of him.

Kenya’s Rally3 youngster Hamza Anwar is placed 24th after restarting on Super Rally Saturday morning.

Betika-sponsored Tundo was left to rue the initial run of Saturday’s stages adding: “It was a bad morning for me without brakes, but we soldier on.”

Hamza Anwar said: “The car was overheating in some parts but once that was fixed, we were good to go.”