Tinashe Gatimu: Rising star of Kenyan motorsports aims for the skies

The Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology mechatronics engineering undergraduate student is looking to write history in Kenyan rallying.

Gatimu joined hundreds of young women drivers in a competition organised by the WRC Promoter and the FIA to identify the next talented women drivers capable of taking over from where the great Michele Mouton left in 1986 after sending shockwaves across the globe including here in Kenya where she finished third in the 1983 Safari in an Audi Quattro S1 Group B rally car.

Although she failed to earn the judges’ nod, Gatimu remains philosophical that she is still young and has a great future ahead as she also continues to master the art of rallying.

The competition was won by Belgian Lyssia Baudet (21 years) Claire Schonborn (25) of Germany and Finland’s Suvi Jyrkiainen (24) who all underwent a three-days training camp in Poland last week for the penultimate round of the 2024 WRC season at the Central European Rally set for October 17 to 20.

One of them will earn a fully funded Junior WRC (JWRC) campaign next season piloting a Ford Fiesta Rally3 car alongside the male drivers of the class of 2025.
Two Kenyans -- McRae Kimathi and Hamza Anwar represented Africa in the 2022 and 2023 seasons respectively.

The JWRC competition for men has been a success so far where the 2022 top contender Sami Pajari of Finland frog leaped from a junior player direct into the hot seat of Toyota Gazoo Racing Team Rally1 machine this year, and quickly adopted to the top tier competition by winning one stage in WRC Finland and finished fourth overall.

Gatimu has not joined rallying by accident. It is a sport she grew up in as a child where she was exposed to the high octane environment.

Her mother is Caroline Gatimu, a regular rally navigator and the manager of Pro Motors garage that she runs with her husband Mindo Gatimu. Gatimu junior’s CV is not only impressive but growing fast.

She has participated and finished in 18 Autocross events, two rallies, two clubman rallies and five rallycross events.

“My best results are finishing in second place in two autocross events: SUC Round One of 2023 and RSC round six of 2022, both in the 2WD NT Car class; seventh in WRC Safari Rally 2024 national category and first in MMC clubman rally round two of 2023 as a navigator and second position in RX round 1 2023 in 2WD class,” she said.

“My parents have been in the motorsports scene since 2005 participating in various disciplines from Rhino Charge to 4x4 events to rally raids and then to rallying. They used to take my sister and I to the events with them, from when I could barely walk, but my interest was really sparked in 2022 when I competed in my first event in autocross in a buggy.

"That is when the rally bug really bit me and never let go,” she explained amidst the din of revving machines and panel beatings in the family’s Industrial Area garage.

It may have appeared easy for the younger Gatimu who took in stride the attention and outpouring of emotions amongst young admirers as a wake up call, realising that her success was a collective team work.

“I drove in last year’s as well as this year’s WRC Safari Rally with mum as my navigator. But I was also surrounded by an amazing support system from my parents to my fellow competitors and especially Africa Eco Motorsport who serviced the car and took care of us,” she recalled.

“It was an amazing experience, finishing my first rally, and one of the toughest on the calendar . It was unforgettable,” she said.

“This year’s goal was the same as last year’s, to bring the car home and with the same support system of last year including the Shell V-Power’s sponsorship which enabled us to finish the rally in seventh position of the Kenya National Rally Championship category, an improvement from last year’s 10th place.”

It was a very busy time for Gatimu trying to balance her young life. She first had to get a driving licence before securing a competition licence to allow her race in the 2023 Safari.

Additionally, she was also busy with her high school studies at Shree Cutch Satsang Swaminarayan Academy in Nairobi.

“I had to keep it simple,” she disclosed between breaks as she worked on her rally car, a Subaru Impreza GC8.

“School time was school time and rally time was rally time. The rally and autocross events which I participated in usually fell on the weekends, so there was little interference with my studies and I was able to balance the two,” she said.

“Before I graduated in A Levels,” she recalled, “my weekdays were spent in school and most of my weekends were spent on the track, either in autocross events or practicing with the 7-70 Motorsports team, which I am a part of and has guided with me since I dove into the world of motorsports.”

Her work in the team goes beyond driving. She also takes care of her car and if need be, carries out preparations and service. “ I have a strong mechanical foundation. During some of my school holidays and weekends, I will spend my days in the workshop with my dad and the mechanics working on various cars, including my rally car.

“I even spent three weeks at the workshop building the Subaru Impreza GC8 that I will be using in future events. In 2021 I was part of the service crew for a Datsun 180B driven by Eric Bengi and navigated by my dad G in the East Africa Safari Mini Classic. Before the event, we completely stripped and put it back together. During the event, I was part of the roadside service crew.”

Unassuming, far different from the upwardly mobile Gen Z peer group, Gatimu has refused to be influenced by stardom.

Rallying and all the publicity associated with the sport has not gotten into her head.

“After starting with the buggy in 2022, I graduated to the Toyota Levin (2WD NT Car) which my mum actually used to rally with when she started in 2011.
In 2023, I moved to the Subaru Impreza GC8. For the 2023 WRC Safari Rally I drove a Mitsubishi Evolution IX and in the WRC Safari Rally 2024 I drove a Subaru Impreza N10.”

This is quite an impressive line-up and certainly would give male drivers a run for their money in most Time Trial fun races now popular with young people but she doesn’t consider herself cast for such events.

She desires real competition. She confesses of having an amazing relationship with her parents.

“Over the years my dad and mum have nurtured and guided me in the sport and as they have seen and continue to see what I can do their confidence in me has grown and they have allowed me to become more independent in the sport,” she said.

“We also have to improvise and cut costs, especially on running costs like gas. Avgas has a higher octane number than Shell V-Power. But I have found out that the Shell V-Power is just as good but over 50 per cent cheaper from the perspective of my motorsports journey.

Additionally, as a beginner, Avgas which can only be sold as one drum of 200 litres has a higher octane number so offers more power than is needed for a beginner.”

Her mother said they are a team inside the car and the rallying ecosystem but each assumes respective roles outside of sports. She would like to see more young girls taking up the sport and growing with it because they too have similar talents like boys.

Gatimu is one of a handful of girls who started rallying at the right age. Others are Tash Tundo, Safina Khan and latterly Maxine Wahome who caused a sensation when she won the 2022 WRC Safari Rally Rally3 title, a first major global title in a WRC rally by a woman since Isolde Holderied of Germany beat Jorge Recalde and Jesus Puras for the Group N Cup in the 1994 San Remo Rally.

Gatimu will be back next year to try her luck in the Beyond Rally competition.
Who knows how far she will go as history beckons.