Crews caught between a rock and a hard place in two tough stages

Leading Kenya National Rally Championship contenders Baldev Chager and Onkar Rai are out of the Equator Rally after their cars hit rocks in the fifth section of Saturday’s competition.

The Kenyan round of the African Rally Championship lived up to its old reputation as drivers complained of slippery, wet and rocky stages as they tackled Saturday’s stages.

Ian Duncan’s chances of shinning in the event in a Nissan 240RS were short lived after his car failed to restart after taking Service at the main Service Park.

He was laying sixth overall after setting the fifth fastest time through the tough Sleeping Warrior Stage.

The FIA Super Rally Rules allow drivers like Duncan to restart the rally on the following day if they wish to do so. Crews are permitted to restart the following day if they are forced to retire.

For each stage not completed, however, a 10-minute penalty plus the winning stage time in the same priority group is added to the overall time.

Originally known as “Super Rally Rules” when first introduced, the rules allow for a better return on investment for competitors and more action for spectators.

Restarting is still at the discretion of the organisers who consider such issues as meeting safety standards after a heavy accident.

Patel fancies chances

Karan Patel may also take advantage of the rules to try and return to action on Saturday after his Ford Fiesta dropped out due to mechanical failure.

“The stages were wet and rough. Rough is ok, as that is rallying for us. But it was difficult controlling the new car in the wet stages as it is a lot lighter and faster than the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10,’’ said Tundo, the VW Polo R5 driver.

Chager and Onkar had suffered similar problems in the first loop before sadly bowing out of the major event.

Onkar’s VW Polo R5 had also suffered two punctures and a broken control arm before limping to the Service Park at the end of the first loop.

Deep water holes slowed down several drivers as the electrical and air filters of the rally cars were heavily affected by the sudden change of weather.

Guy Botterill of South Africa was slowed down after his Toyota Etios stopped in the section after the electrical and air filter got affected by the poor weather conditions.

Hussein Malik and Linet Ayuko were the first casualties of the rally after they rolled their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10 in the second competitive section of the rally.

“We suddenly found a slippery patch along the route which dragged the car into the ditch on the side of the route. Fortunately we are both fine and not injured. We had just three kilometres to do before the end of Soysambu Stage,’’ Malik told Nation Sport.

Issa Amwari and his navigator, Job Njiru flipped their Mitsubishi Evolution after hitting a rock at a hairpin right about a kilometer before the end of the Sleeping Warrior Stage.

According to Njiru, both the driver and navigator came out unscathed though the car was slightly damaged.

Tundo is the overnight leader of the Equator Rally, the opening round of the 2021 African Rally Championship.

Tundo, the five times winner of the Safari Rally, set fastest times on all the six competitive stages of the rally in his first-ever contest at the wheels of a VW Polo R5.

The final day of the Equator Rally kicks off Sunday morning at 8am from the KWS Training Institute in Naivasha before crews tackle the final five competitive stages of the competition.

On Sunday, the drivers will tackle Maleva (9.71kms) and Loldia (11.33kms), twice, while the Kedong section (32.68kms) will only be done once.

Sunday’s total competitive distance will be 74.76kms while the liaison distance will be 162.41kms.