Features

Tapio eyes KNRC title in Kitengela Rally

Published

October 25, 2016

Drew Sturrock of Britain (left) and his driver Manvir Baryan celebrate their career best second rally in Eldoret.PHOTO/courtesy

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 25 – Flying Finn Tapio Laukannen is expected to seal the 2016 Kenya National Rally Championship (KNRC) in Kajiado Country should he finish second overall in the forthcoming KCB Kitengela Rally.

The former Britain and Finland rally champion also hopes to lead his Multiple Racing Team (MRT) teammate Manvir Baryan to a repeat of Eldoret Rally where they achieved a rare 1-2 team finish.

“We are looking forward to yet another great outing with my teammate Manvir. Kajiado will be a very important rally for me though as second overall position will guarantee me the coveted title. Last year we were pretty fast but skipping Kajiado and retiring on Safari while leading by a massive margin ended our title aspirations,” Tapio said.

Tapio, who is incidentally racing on a Kenyan competition licence, has literally swept the ground with all his opponents since joining the KNRC in 2012.

Tapio, driving Subaru Impreza GVB13 R4, leads the KNRC series with 129 points against Jaspreet Chatthe’s 100.

If the Flying Finn wins the penultimate Kitengela Rally, he will savour his maiden title on Kenyan soil.

And should Chatthe win Kitengela Rally and Tapio settles for second, the Finn will have racked up an unassailable 150 points to Chathhe’s 125, meaning the season closing Guru Nanak Rally will be a mere formality.

Other top drivers expected to spice up the occasion include Onkar Rai, Rajbir Rai, Baldev Chager, Carl “Flash” Tundo and Ian Duncan who is also the KNRC Group N leader. Duncan and his co-driver Amaar Slatch will drive a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X under the Liquid Telecom Racing banner.

Sammy Nyorri, Alex Lairangi, Champion Leonardo Varese and leader Eric Bengi are the main suspects in the Two Wheel drive class.

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Bengi leads the Two Wheel log on 131 ahead of Lairangi who is a point adrift.

Baryan and Rajbir Rai will run the crowd- pleasing Ford Fiesta R5 cars which are yet to win an event in Kenya thus far.

There is also a non homologated Ford Fiesta Proto for Flash Tundo also going for its maiden win on Kenyan soil. Tundo’s Proto will score points towards the main KNRC class and the Specially Prepared Vehicle (SPV) category. Division 1 driver Asad Khan “Kalulu” will also score SPV points in his Subaru contraption.

Tundo finished fourth in Eldoret and hopes to go for nothing shot of a podium in Kitengela Rally.

There’s a fabulous fight in prospect in the KNRC Division 2 category which has attracted KNRC regulars with a mix of cars that include the Subaru Impreza N12 of leader Mahesh Halai and Toyota RunX of second placed Bengi.

Group S has the series leader Chandrakhant Devji “Chandu” pushing for more championship in his Subaru GC8. The rally, which was initially programmed for Nakuru, gets underway from KCB Kitengela Branch on November 6.

The event organised by Equator Motor Club (EMC) will feature three stages which will be repeated twice for a competitive total of 140km and a liaison distance of 134km.

The designated Spectator Stage will be situated at the start of the 44km CS3 stage near Kajiado airstrip.

The Service Park will be centered at Kajiado field next to Total filling Station.

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The ceremonial finish and prize giving will be held at the Spectator Stage (2km from service) from 5:00pm on-wards.

-KNRC Standings-

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