Girl power: Top driver Maxine 4th in ARC rankings
Betika’s all- female sponsored team in the World Rally Championship (WRC) Safari Rally from left; Linet Ayuko, Maxine Wahome and Chantal Young.
What you need to know:
- The 2022 WRC calendar will begin with the Monte Carlo Rally on January 21-24 followed by Sweden Rally on February 24-27, Croatia Rally will be held on April 21-24, Portugal Rally on May 19-22 , Italy Rally is scheduled for June 2-5, Safari Rally will be sixth round on the WRC calendar on June 23-26 and Estonia Rally will be held on July 14-17.
- Finland Rally is planned for August 18-21, Greece Rally September 8-11, New Zealand Rally will be making a comeback to the WRC calendar after a decade on September 29- October 2, Spain Rally is scheduled for October 20-23 and Japan Rally will be the season ender on November 10-13.
The all-female crew of Maxine Wahome and Linet Ayuko finished fourth overall in the African Rally Championship (ARC) Series table standings after taking position six in the Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally at the weekend. The duo also emerged winners of the ARC2 Class category.
Full results;1. Carl Tundo/Tim Jessop (VW Polo) 89mins:42.8ses 2. Karan Patel/Tauseef Khan (Ford Fiesta) 89:57.2 3. McRae Kimathi/Mwangi Kioni (Ford Fiesta) 100:17.2 4. Gakwaya Jean Claude/Magambo Jean Claude (Subaru Impreza) 110:40.1 5. Din Imtiaz/Alain Rukundo (Subaru Impreza) 111:24.0, 6. Maxime Wohame/Linet Ayuko (Subaru Impreza) 112:25.6 7. Nassir Yasi/Ali Katumba (Subaru Impreza) 114:05.2 8. Elefterios Mitraros/Paganin Paolo (Subaru Impreza) 115:14.7 9. Giancarlo Devite/Sylvia Vindevogel (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10) 116:24.1 10. Jean Jean Giesen/Kevin Mujiji (Toyota Celica) 120:06.8 11. Kanangire Christian/Karingirq Regis (Peugeot 205) 133:37.2.
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The closing round of the 2021 African Rally Championship calendar will be held in South Africa on November 6-7.
The season, which is on the homestretch, was made up of six events that were held across the continent.
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The Rift Valley Motors and Sports Club will host round eight of the KCB sponsored Kenya National Autocross meeting on Saturday at a brand new track in Gilgil.
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Phineas Kimathi, the chief executive officer of the World Rally Championship (WRC) Safari Rally was optimistic when asked about the iconic race’s inclusion in the 2022 WRC calendar.
“The countdown has begun. It is an exciting moment, and the team is raring to go with about 240 days left before Kenya features again in the WRC Series,’’ Kimathi told Nation Sport.
“We have big WRC teams like Hyundai, Toyota and Ford that will return to the Safari Rally in addition to a vast number of local drivers. Kenya will host the competition from June 23-26 after successfully staging this year’s race in Naivasha,” he added.
It will be the second year running that Kenya will appear in the WRC series since it made a comeback to the FIA-sanctioned rally this year after a 19-year absence. It marked the 88th edition of the competition.
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The 2022 WRC calendar will begin with the Monte Carlo Rally on January 21-24 followed by Sweden Rally on February 24-27, Croatia Rally will be held on April 21-24, Portugal Rally on May 19-22 , Italy Rally is scheduled for June 2-5, Safari Rally will be sixth round on the WRC calendar on June 23-26 and Estonia Rally will be held on July 14-17.
Finland Rally is planned for August 18-21, Greece Rally September 8-11, New Zealand Rally will be making a comeback to the WRC calendar after a decade on September 29- October 2, Spain Rally is scheduled for October 20-23 and Japan Rally will be the season ender on November 10-13.
