This archive report was first published on 6 November 2019.
Tundo, Jessop off the ramp first as Bengi gets new navigator for Meru Rally ¶
Kenya champion Carl “Flash” Tundo and his partner Tim Jessop will be the first ones off the ramp in Saturday’s KCB Meru Rally, which is the sixth round of the Kenya National Rally Championship (KNRC).
According to the provisional start list, Tundo and Jessop will be driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10, while their closest rivals, Baldev Chager and Ravi Soni, will be driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10 as well.
Chager and Soni are currently leading the KNRC standings with 123 points, while Tundo and Jessop are second with 96 points.
However, the real battle is expected to be between the R4 EVOs and the R5 Skodas and VW Polos, which have proven to be quite formidable on African terrain.
Manvir Baryan and Drew Sturrock are seeded third and fourth respectively on the provisional start list, and they will be driving a Skoda Fabia and a Volkswagen Polo respectively.
Eric Bengi, who is returning home this weekend, is seeded fifth ahead of Jasmeet Chana and Division 1 leader Karan Patel.
Bengi will be racing with a new navigator, Peter Mutuma, as his regular navigator Tuta Mionki has been unwell.
Tuta Mionki was supposed to make her 50th KNRC appearance on home turf, but she will now be missing out on the event.
“It’s sad that I will not be racing on my home rally after all,” Tuta Mionki said. “I have been there once when Meru was part of the 2015 Safari Rally. We did quite well and I am hoping for a great performance. The fans are amazing and I remember them getting excited to see one of their daughters in a rally car.”
The KNRC has been to Nakuru, Naivasha, Kajiado, Mombasa, Nanyuki and now Meru following the postponement of round 6 which was planned for Stony Athi.
START LIST
- Carl Tundo/Tim Jessop (Mitsubishi Evolution 10)
- Baldev Chager/Ravi Soni (Mitsubishi Evolution 10)
- Manvir Baryan/Drew Sturrock (Skoda Fabia)
- Onkar Rai/Gavin Lawrence (Volkswagen Polo)
- Eric Bengi/Peter Mutuma (Mitsubishi Evolution 10)
- Jasmeet Chana/Ravi Chana (Mitsubishi Evolution 10)
- Karan Patel/James Mwangi (Mitsubishi Evolution 10)
- Ammar Haq/Victor Okundi (Mitsubishi Evolution 10)
- Issa Amwari/Job Njiru (Mitsubishi Evolution 10)
- Paras Pandya/Falgun Bhojak (Mitsubishi Evolution 10)
- Minesh Rathod/Shameer Yusuf (Mitsubishi Evolution 10)
- Nikhil Sachania/Deep Patel (Mitsubishi Evolution 10)
- Steve Mwangi/Dennis Mwenda (Subaru Impreza)
- Aakif Virani/Azhar Bhatti (Subaru Impreza)
- John Ng’ang’a/TBA (Subaru Impreza)
- Edward Maina/Edward Njoroge (Subaru Impreza)
- McRae Kimathi/Evans Mwenda (Subaru Impreza)
- Evans Kavisi/Absolom Aswani (Subaru Impreza)
- Daren Miranda/Wayne Fernandes
KNRC STANDINGS AFTER KCB NANYUKI RALLY
- Baldev Singh Chager (Kabras Sugar Racing) - 123
- Carl Tundo (Top Fry) - 96
- Manvir Baryan (Multiple Rally Team) - 91
- Tejveer Singh Rai (Kabras Sugar Racing) - 63
- Ian Duncan (Ian Duncan Rallying) - 38
- Izhar Mirza (Coast Pekee Racing) - 33
- Ammar Haq (Yalfa Rally Team) - 27
- Onkar Singh Rai (Kabras Sugar Racing) - 25
- Sohanjeet Singh Puee (Team Nanak) - 25
- Karan Patel - 25
