Chager outpaces Baryan to clinch Kajiado race
The Chana brothers Jasmeet and Ravi, in a Mitsubishi Evo10, approach a zebra crossing the road at Lisa Stage in Konza during the Kajiado Rally on March 3, 2019. The striped ungulate crossed unharmed as the man-made machine sped past. PHOTO | ANWAR SIDI |
What you need to know:
- Raaji Bharij also failed to finish the event due to transmission failure in his Ford Escort. Geoff Mayes was time barred in the sole Land Rover that had entered the event.
- Eric Bengi, who was failed off first, failed to finish his second consecutive event of the season in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10. Eldoret will organise the third round of 2019 KNRC series on April 6 and 7 under the Western Kenya Motor Club banner.
Baldev Chager on Sunday won the Kajiado Rally to record his first KCB Kenya National Rally Championship leg victory.
Chager, the former Kenya National Rally Champion, driving his familiar Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 10 car, outpaced Manvir Baryan in a Skoda by 1 min 38 secs to score maximum points in the second round of the series.
Chager had finished third in the first round of the national series in Nakuru last month. Ravi Soni, the regular navigator for Chager, sounded happy and excited with the latest victory.
“Baldy (Chager) drove very well and the car went very well too. We were fastest in all but one of the five stages. We last won the Mombasa Rally last year then followed that with victory later in the Nakuru Classic Event. We are very happy with our performance,” said Soni.
Happy with victory
Baryan, fresh from winning the first round of the 2019 African Rally Championship in Cote dÍvoire last weekend, was placed second.
It was a very unusual performance from Carl Tundo, the reigning National Champion, who trailed both Chager and Baryan for most of the competition to finish in the third overall after finishing second in Nakuru last month.
The victory has taken Chager to the top of the overall championship ranking of the 2019 KNRC with 43 points.
Tundo retains the second spot on 39 points.
Among the leading retirements were Aakif Virani, Nikhil Sachania, Rajay Sehmi, Edward Maina, Leonardo Varese, John Nganga, Kailesh Chouhan and Mahesh Halai. All retired due to respective mechanical failures with their cars.
Raaji Bharij also failed to finish the event due to transmission failure in his Ford Escort. Geoff Mayes was time barred in the sole Land Rover that had entered the event.
Eric Bengi, who was failed off first, failed to finish his second consecutive event of the season in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10. Eldoret will organise the third round of 2019 KNRC series on April 6 and 7 under the Western Kenya Motor Club banner.
KAJIADO RALLY RESULTS
1. Baldev Chager Ravi Soni (Mitsubishi Evolution X) 90mins 44secs; 2. Manvir Baryan/Drew Sturrock (Skoda Fabia) 91.16; 3. Carl Tundo/Tim Jessop (Mitsubishi Evolution X) 91.44; 4. Izhar Mirza/Kavit Dave (Mitsubishi Evolution X) 99.51; 5. Tejveer Rai/Gavin Laurence (Mitsubishi Evolution X) 100.21; 6. Karan Patel/James Mwangi (Mitsubishi Evolution X)102.34; 7. Jasmeet Chana/Ravi Chana (Mitsubishi Evolution X) 103.46; 8. Sohanjeet Puee/Adnan Din (Subaru Impreza) 108.27; 9. Ammar Haq/Victor Okundi (Mitsubishi Evolution X) 110.43; 10. Jonathan Somen/Richard Hechle (Ford Escort MK2) 113.03; 11. Minesh Rathod/Shameer Yusuf (Mitsubishi Evolution X) 119.57; 12. Ramesh Vishram/Riyaz Ismail (Ford Escort MK2) 122.40; 13. Aslam Khan/Arshad Khan (Ford Escort MK1) 128.20; Daren Miranda/Wayne Fernandes (Toyota Sprinter) 148.14.
