Local drivers brace for tough contest at Safari Rally
Carl Tundo and Tim Jessop, in a VW Polo, splash their way to victory on Sunday in the African Rally Championship Equator Rally at the Kenya Wildlife Training Institute in Naivasha.
What you need to know:
- FIA releases entry list of 58 crews for the Kenyan leg of world series
- Former national champion Tundo and speedster Onkar Rai to lead Kenyan charge against strong field featuring world champion Ogier of Toyota team
Top Kenyan drivers are excited at the prospect of taking on other top drivers in the world from June 24-27 when the country hosts the 2021 World Rally Championship Safari Rally.
On Friday in Naivasha, the International Motorsport Federation released the entry list of 58 crews drawn from 17 countries who will compete in the Kenyan leg of the World Rally Championship Series.
The WRC Rally of Portugal held a week ago featured 56 cars but the Safari Rally will have 58, among them the world’s best drivers from the three manufacturers’ teams (Hyundai, Toyota, and Ford).
“We have a slight advantage of local knowledge, but they have a bigger advantage over us because they are professional drivers,” former Kenya National Rally Championship champion Carl Tundo said Saturday.
“Of course it will be a learning experience for us to measure ourselves against the best in the world,” Tundo added.
“I am excited just to see my name on the list,” said Tuta Mionki who will navigate Nzioka Waita.
“I feel privileged to compete in the WRC, an event we all followed when we were young. Equally gratifying is the fact that Kenya will be in the world map and we shall compete in the same field with the best,” she added.
The 2021 Safari Rally Deputy Clerk of Course Nazir Yakub said: “It is a fantastic entry we have. These are unknown drivers locally coming to an unknown territory. We have had a challenge with the weather recently and we will return to the route on Saturday for more inspection.”
Although most of the Kenyan drivers will be out to challenge the top drivers, they will contend with scoring in a domestic ‘National Championship’. Among them, Amaanraj Rai has a much stronger car, a Ford Fiesta. The other Kenyan drivers are Baldev Chager (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo), Eric Bengi (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo), Raajpal Bharij (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo) , Dilraj Chatthe (Lancer Evo X), Issa Amwari (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo), Jasmeet Chana (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X), and Izhar Mirza (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo).
Drivers from other African countries include Rwandan Giancarlo Davite (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X), Ugandans Ronald Ssebuguzi (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X), and Pietro Canobbio (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X).
Safari Rally Chief Executive Officer Phineas Kimathi said it will be an interesting competition, especially with regard to how the old and the young will perform. He said the event’s commercial sponsorships have turned out well and thanked Toyota Gazoo Racing for shipping in a replica WRC Yaris car to improve Safari Rally’s visibility.
He said the government, led by President Uhuru Kenyatta, has played a leading role in ensuring the success of the Safari Rally.
Toyota Gazoo Racing will field four cars, while Hyundai and M-Sport Ford will field three cars each, according to Dirtfish.com, a leading online motorsports publication.
Frenchman Adrien Fourmax, 26, was given the nod for the second Ford Fiesta WRC ahead of 27-year-old Fin Teemu Suninen.
World champion Sebastien Ogier (France) will anchor the Toyota team that also has Elfyn Evans (Great Britain), Kalle Rovanpera (Finland) who at 21 will be the youngest in the contest, and Japanese Takamoto Katsuta.
The return of the Safari Rally, on June 24-27, on the floor of the Great Rift Valley has thrown off a whole new spectacle in the World Rally Championship Series.
Sobieslav Zasada, a big attraction in the old Safari that started in 1953 and was one of the strong contestants in the WRC between 1974 and 2002, will also take part. Now 91, the amazing Polish driver will compete in a Ford Fiesta ST. Zasada’s Fiesta will be one of two cars by M-Sport Poland.
All the three factory teams of the WRC Priority 1 (P1), current leaders Hyundai, defending champions Toyota and Ford will do battle with 10 cars and the additional Hyundai of Frenchman Pierre-Louis Loubet brings the total of P1 cars to 11.
The second division of the race (WRC2) will be a foreign affair contested by two Skodas and two Ford Fiesta cars. The Kenyan entries in the third-tier (WRC3) seeking to upset WRC2 and P1 cars include Onkar Rai (Volkswagen Polo), Carl Tundo (Volkswagen Polo), Tejveer Rai (Volkswagen Polo), Karan Patel (Ford Fiesta) and Aakif Virani (Skoda Fabia).
Another entry from Poland, Daniel Chwist, in a Ford Fiesta will mix with the Kenyans.
