Thatthi to play big role in the Safari Rally
International Motorsports Federation (FIA) vice president Surinder Thatthi speaks with Christian Gakwaya of Rwanda Automobile Club during the opening day of the Sports Regional Congress hosted by the Kenya Motor Sports Federation at Trademark Hotel on June 22, 2021.
What you need to know:
- The bank will also sponsor two rally drivers, Nikhil Sachania and Evan Kavisi, for the Safari Rally.
- However Kavisi may not compete for personal reasons.
Surinder Thatthi, the former member of the FIA Rallies Commission, has been appointed to manage the national championship category of the World Rally Championship Safari Rally to enable local drivers compete in the Kenyan round of the global series from June 23 to 26 in Nairobi and Naivasha.
KCB Bank is the official sponsor of the 2022 WRC Safari Rally, having pumped in Sh100 million in sponsorship.
The bank will also sponsor two rally drivers, Nikhil Sachania and Evan Kavisi, for the Safari Rally.
However, Kavisi may not compete for personal reasons.
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The WRC Safari Rally rules differ from the ones guiding the Kenya National Rally Championship. In a KNRC event, no outside help is accorded to the crews once they leave the Service Park.
The Safari Rally will allow drivers from the KNRC Class to visit fuel stations to fill up their tanks.
“Any type of tyres can be used in the Safari Rally. Avgas is restricted to FT3 tanks and special couplings for fueling in the FIA refuel zones but KNRC cars have the option of fueling at a normal fuel stations with pump fuel.
The regulations on fueling in WRC allow that,” Thatthi has clarified.
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Works Teams are busy preparing for the WRC Safari Rally. Sebastien Ogier will chase his second win in a row in the Kenyan event after winning it last year.
He will join Elfyn Evans, Takamoto Katsuta and Kalle Rovanpera in Toyota cars. The Hyundai Team will have Oliver Solberg, Ott Tanak and Thierry Neuville.
Jourdan Serderidis will drive the fifth car of M-Sport Ford. Sebastien Loeb will make his third outing with the Ford Puma Rally1 this season and will join Craig Breen, Adrien Fourmaux, Jourdan Serderidis and Gus Greensmith in M-Sport Ford.
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A total of 10 participants from the WRC2 Class will take part in the Safari Rally. Kajetan Kajetanowicz will lead the WRC2 squad in a Skoda Fabia evo Rally2, while Martin Prokop will be behind the wheel of a Ford Fiesta MKII Rally2.
Sean Johnston will drive a Citroen C3 Rally2.
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Here are the overall Standings of the 2022 National Motocross Championship after the Mombasa Event.
2WD Drive Non Turbo Buggy: Gurtaj Singh 83 pkts, Manveer Ghalia 57 and Rahul Patel 49. 2WD Non Turbo Car: Sameer Nanji 86, Bhupinder Sagoo 49 and Carol Gatimu 31.
2WD Turbo Buggy: Qahir Rahim 72, Brandon Nganga 51 and Nisha Pandya 49.
4WD Non Turbo: Eric Bengi 44, George Njoroge 30 and Hussein Malik 22.
Open Class: Raver Thatthi 76, Charan Thetthy 37 and Abdul Kadir Tarmai 22.
Quad Bike: Carlton Kahinda 20.
Bambino Class: Karamveer Singh 86, Shad Shamil 32 and Kiana Rajput 17.
Junior Non Turbo: Neel Gohil 80, Amaan Ganatra 57 and Yuvraj Rajput 34.
Peewee Class: Eann Bengi 40.
