NANYUKI, Kenya, Aug 23- Four-time Safari Rally champion Carl “Flash” Tundo will be the first off the ramp in the KCB Nanyuki Rally on Saturday, searching for a maiden win this season.
Tundo will be on his second outing on the Ford Proto which caught fire in Wundanyi after accumulating grass.
Second off the ramp will be Rajbir Rai in a Ford Fiesta R5 while third is Flying Finn Tapio Laukannen followed by Baldev Chager, Jaspreet Chatthe and Ian Duncan.
Former Group S and Two Wheel Drive champion Jasmeet Chana is back and will be unveiling his new Mitsubishi Evolution X. He is seeded 11th.
Reigning KNRC Division Two champion Dennis Mwenda aka “Dere Mwenda” is also back and will take off in pole. Also returning from sabbatical is former Pirelli Star driver Raaji Bharij who is teaming up with Ranjeet Sehmi in a classic Ford Escort MK2.
Mwenda will be navigated by former Division 3 champ and current Div 2 champion Job Njiru in a Mitsubishi Evolution 9.
Bharij in an interview said: “This will be my first time in a rally car since the Classic and my first KNRC since the Guru Nanak rally last year. I do feel very rusty but this weekend is just about going to have some fun. Since I didn’t have a car or a sponsor for the 2016 season I decided to have a knee surgery that I had been putting off.”
“The surgery has a six month recovery time but I have been cleared to drive for as long as I use a special knee brace. Hopefully my leg lasts for the whole rally. If it starts to fail I will switch to the navigators seat! I am just happy to be looking forward to being back in a car even if it’s a one off, and I’m so excited about driving. I already can’t sleep!”
Mwenda was all smiles and this is what he had to say: “I’m really excited to be back after almost one year out of action and looking forward to Nanyuki which is one of my favorite rallies. The stages are just great; beautiful scenery and good roads. It’s lots of fun to drive on them. I hope we can pick up where we left and though rusty and a little out of shape, I look forward to catching up real quick.”
Nanyuki Rally will be run on 100% private land and will be flagged off outside KCB Branch in Nanyuki and will tackle stages at Batian View, Loldaiga and Lengetia. Loldaiga will be repeated twice.
KCB NANYUKI RALLY 2016 SEEDED LIST
- Carl Tundo /Tim Jessop -Mitsubishi Evo 10
- Rajbir Rai /Timothy Challen- Ford Fiesta
- Tapio Laukkanen /Pasi Torma –Subaru Impreeza
- Baldev Chager /Ravi Soni -Mitsubishi Evol 10
- Jaspreet Chatthe/ Gurdeep Panesar -Mitsubishi Evo10
- Ian Duncan/TBA -Mitsubishi Evo 10
- Manvir Baryan/Drew Sturrock-Ford Fiesta R5
- Onkar Rai /Gareth Dawe -Mitsubishi Evolution 10
- Tejveer Rai /Zahir Shah -Mitsubishi Evolution 10
- Frank Tundo/TBC -Mitsubishi Evolution 9
- Jasmeet Chana /Ravinder Chana -Mitsubishi Evo 10
- Amaanraj Rai/Tauseef Khan -Mitsubishi Evolution 10
- Imran Mogul /Adnan Din -Subaru N12
- Farhaaz Khan /Keith Henrie -Mitsubishi Evo 9
- Raaji Bharij/Ranjeet Sehmi-Ford Escort MK2
- Sammy Nyorri /James Mwangi –Totota Runx
- Leonardo Varese /Kigondu Kareithi –Toyota Corolla
- Alex Lairang’i /Anthony Gichohi –Toyota Corolla
- David Kioni/Victor Okundi
- Edward Maina /Steve Mbuthia –Subaru IMpreza GC8
- Josiah Kariuki/John Nganga-Subaru N11
- McRae Kimathi /TBA – Subaru Impreza GC8
- Sam Karangatha /Edward Ndukui –Subaru Leone