Karan v Jasmeet battle highlights tough KNRC season

Anchored by the WRC Safari Rally, the Kenya National Rally Championship (KNRC) faced its most challenging year in recent history.

The effects and aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic manifested itself with a hitherto unprecedented dwindling number of participants competing in local rallies in a circuit regarded as the most progressive in Africa.

This was made worse with some drivers like multiple champions Baldev Chager and Carl Tundo opting out of the championships with only cameo appearances in classic events due to lack of sponsorship.

These financial constraints were evident in the WRC Safari Rally and ARC Equator Rally where locals failed to replicate their good showings of 2021 when they dominated the R2 category of the Safari and ruled in Africa.

Karan Patel and Tauseef Khan emerged the best of the season in a Ford Fiesta R2, a car they also drove in the Africa Championship scene, finishing second overall behind Zambian Leroy Gomes.

Patel waged a season-long battle with Jasmeet Chana to win the national title with a slim margin of only five points (233-228), thus filling the void left by the sudden departure of the Kabras five-car team of Chager, Tundo, Onkar Rai, injured Tej Rai and Eric Bengi who was part-sponsored.

In addition, many drivers were faced by the burden of upgrades with Subaru drivers fielding ageing, outdated machines utterly capable of keeping up with runaway Mitsubishis and odd R2 and R5 super machines.

A notable example was the VW Polo of Raji Bhaarij which proved to be exceptionally fast in select events.

All is not lost though. More drivers are expected to rejoin the sport through intervention measures by the Kenya Motorsports Federation (KMSF) task force to find reasons and recommend remedial solutions to shore up participation in rallying.

Drivers complained that they were faced with strict competition standards from FIA regulations which required homologation standards of many components including seats, safety belts or even crash helmets.

This really affected local drivers.

While some drivers reasoned that this is perfectly in order, homologation deadlines extensions should apply in some components so longer as competitors meet required safety standards for them to continue racing.

The task force, chaired by Tundo, has been receiving inputs from stakeholders ahead of its recommendation to the KMSF for a better 2023, and beyond.

Tundo was busy throughout 2022 with innovative ideas including starting the first x-cross challenge at the Machakos People's Park.

This proved to be a very accommodative branch of racing in a mixed track of tarmac and asphalt surface.

A team of four shared the same car through qualification rounds.

Part of x-cross racing is to make rallying affordable and more talent-oriented rather than resource-driven.

The KMSF also extended recognition to other forms of motorsport like drifting with the Red Bull Nairobi office flying in drifting’s Guinness Book of World Records driver Ahmad Daham to demonstrate his skills in Nairobi.

The whole noble idea is to bring all unregulated motorsport activities under the KMSF roof in 2023 to avoid pitfalls such as road accidents prevalent amongst a young population with disposable income and fast cars.

Leonardo Varese dominated the F2 category with victory at the end of the season as he also finished fourth overall in the Division One category in a Toyota Sprinter.

Elsewhere, the youth looked up to the FIA Rally Star Programme’s Team Kenya which dominated the continental scene.

Lead drivers McRae Kimathi and Mwangi Kioni flew the Kenyan flag in Sweden, Croatia, Portugal, Estonia and Greece at the WRC junior category aboard a Ford Fiesta R3.

Together with team mates Hamza Anwar, Jeremiah Wahome and Maxine Wahome, the Kenyans dominated the Africa Championship courtesy of Safaricom and Kenya Airways sponsorship.

The Rally Cross division also proved very popular with budget drivers of all ages in various parts of the country.

The year also saw the exponential growth of 4x4 Rally Raid led by veteran navigator George Njoroge, another attraction for spectators and ordinary drivers.

From a technical point of view, many young Kenyans joined motorsport to leverage the sport with new media dynamics.

Linus Kimathi, the head of IT at the WRC Safari Rally, oversaw the installation of internet connectivity which served the WRC Promoter TV productions at the Safari’s base at the Wildlife Research Training Institute in Naivasha and remote locations.

The junior media team of Ted Martin, Lawrence Kiende, Ali Hashim and Ashley Kanana also lifted rallying social media presence to the pedestal of world standards, and this is only the beginning.

Part of this success is attributed to World Athletics’ mid year's media training seminars for top Africa continent journalists on Social Media for Media conducted by the best lecturers from the world’s top universities.

The new social media syllabus has disrupted traditional media operations.

Friends of rallying also invited this team for a Commentators Master Class led by one of the world’s top live feed sports commentators, UK’s Rob Walker.

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