Karan to use his old car in Eldoret Rally
The Ford Fiesta of race winner Karan Patel, navigated by Tauseef Khan, cruises through the Kedong stage during the final day action of the ARC Equator Rally on April 3, 2022.
What you need to know:
- Kalle Rovanperä bagged his third consecutive victory in the 2022 WRC series when he won the WRC Rally Portugal in a Toyota GR Yaris on Saturday.
- The 21-year-old Finn beat his Toyota teammate Elfyn Evans to second place.
Karan Patel, the leader of the 2022 Kenya National Rally Championship standings, will drive a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10 during the Eldoret Rally at the weekend.
Patel, who has been at the wheels of a Skoda R5 rally car for the last four rounds of the competition, said that he will use the older car although he had put it up for sale.
“First of all, I was very disappointed with my performance in the Uganda Rally where I got my worst result so far. I am sure our team was also disappointed with our performance,” Patel told Nation Sport.
Patel has won four rounds of the national series, which includes a major victory in the Equator Rally — a round of the 2022 African Rally Championship (ARC).
“I will definitely use the RS5 car in the Tanzanian round of the ARC while I am waiting to finalise with my would be sponsors,” he said.
Patel and his navigator, Tauseef Khan, are lying second in the overall standings of the ARC series. Leroy Gomes/Ushilaa Gomes of Zambia leads the table with 78 points while the Kenyan crew has 78 points.
***
The official reconnaissance for the rally route of the Eldoret Rally will be done on Friday.
The event to be organised by the East African Safari Rally Ltd, will be run on Saturday. The rally will start at 6.30am and end at 2.12pm.
Four competitive stages will be repeated twice. The longest stage will be 34.46 kilometres, while the shortest stage will be 14.86kms. The final stage, which will be considered as the Power Stage, will be 17kms.
The competitive distance will be 179.16 kms while the liaison distance will be 156kms and the total distance will be 335.16 kms.
Ekta Hotel in Eldoret will be rally headquarters while the Service Park will be based at the Rupa Mall Eldoret.
***
Raaji Bharij has secured a sponsorship deal with Minti Motorsports UK.
Minti Motorsports UK, which is the legal owner of the East African Safari Rally Limited, will provide Bharij with the Skoda R5 rally car starting with the World Rally Championship Safari Rally next month.
Bharij, who has done reasonable well in national events in his Ford Escort, will contest the remaining part of the 2022 season in addition to the entire 2023 season in a Skoda R5 rally car.
The car is expected to arrive from Europe in time for the WRC Safari Rally scheduled for June 23-26.
***
Kalle Rovanperä bagged his third consecutive victory in the 2022 WRC series when he won the WRC Rally Portugal in a Toyota GR Yaris on Saturday.
The 21-year-old Finn beat his Toyota teammate Elfyn Evans to second place.
