This archive report was first published on 6 July 2019.
On the first day of the WRC Candidate Event Safari Rally, Baldev Chager and Ravi Soni in a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X took the lead in Stage One, averaging 75.3kph to open a 7.5 seconds gap over Africa Champion Manvir Baryan and Drew Strurrock in a Skoda Favia R5.
Chager and Soni's impressive performance saw them take the top spot, with Onka Rai and Gareth Dawe in another Skoda posting a similar time. The Zambian duo of Leroy and Urshula Gomes in a Ford Fiesta R5 trailed behind, 31.3 seconds off the pace.
Former Safari Rally champion Ian Duncan, navigated by Anthony Nielsen in a Mitsubishi EVO X, finished fourth, 20 seconds adrift. Meanwhile, Super Special Stage winner Carl 'Flash' Tundo and Tim Jessop in another Mitsubishi took 10th place.
As the rally shifted to the Rift Valley, thousands of fans flocked to the Soysambu and Elementaita spectator stages, eager to catch a glimpse of the action. One enthusiastic fan, Kakuru Osman from Uganda, expressed his disappointment at not being able to afford tickets with his family, saying, 'I wanted to come with my family but I couldn’t afford.'
Osman, however, remained optimistic, stating, 'We to group and hire this car. Next year we are coming again.'
