NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 13 – Former African Rally champion Jaspreet Chatthe will return to the Kenya National Rally Championship (KNRC) during the season-closing 39th Guru Nanak Rally this weekend.
Chatthe, who racked up an unprecedented African Rally Championship and KNRC double in 2015, will drive a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 10 R4 in preparation for the 2019 season.
His regular co-driver Gugu Panesar will partner the Kisumu speed merchant, who last tackled the KNRC on the ARC Safari Rally 2018.
In an interview, Jassi said the feeling one gets in the rallysport is one of the most amazing feelings.
“My last rally was Safari this year. Guru Nanak to me is a special event as I started my serious rally career with the Evo 9 in 2011. I will be tackling the rally to enjoy the event and warm up for next year.”
“The last event I did with Jassi was Pearl of Africa 2017 in June last year. I have been navigating for many years and I am very confident that this weekend we will have a good rally and the spirits are quite high. Guru Nanak Rally has always been a great event!”, he added.
The Kabras Sugar Racing team of Baldev Chager and Ravi Soni heads into their fifth Guru Nanak Rally partnership brimming with confidence.
Ravi has participated in nine Guru Nanak Rally events while speedster Chager is returning to the Sikh Union event for the umpteenth time.
Chager’s co-driver Ravi had this to say in an interview: “We are both entering this event in high spirits. We have had a good second half of the season and go with the intention to win the rally named after our Guru.”
“I have participated in approximately nine Guru Nanak rallies and it’s always a great pleasure returning to the Sikh Union organised event time and time again. The team is looking forward to end the season on a high and it should be a good battle for the podium positions with Onkar, Tej and Flash.”
“Boldy (Chager) and I go into our 5th Guru Nanak Rally and my best and never forgotten memory has to be 2013 in our 1st season together where we won GN and the KNRC overall championship in our first year together as teammates.”
The Guru Nanak, cosponsored by KCB Bank, is the last round of the KNRC 2018 and will take place this weekend at Stoni Athi.
The season ender will be flagged off from Stoni Athi Resort at 07:15 after which crews will tackle three stages of which Stoni Athi (58km) and SGR (15km) will be repeated twice. The designated 3km spectator stage is the shortest and will be repeated thrice.
Last year’s Guru Nanak Rally winner Carl ‘Flash’ Tundo and his partner Tim Jessop have the KNRC drivers’ and navigators’ titles in the bag while Baldev Charger and his partner Ravi Soni are assured of second position.
Eric Bengi will be fighting for the third position against former Divison Two Champion Onkar Rai, reigning African Rally Champ Manvir Baryan and Farhaaz Khan of Oilibta Racing.
Baldev Chager said: “Flash had a very spirited drive in Eldotet and beat me by 3 seconds. The championship is done and dusted and we are going to the GN to have fun. I don’t think anyone can challenge me for second place,”
Flash Tundo said: “I am very chuffed going into Guru Nanak as the champion. Its been a very hard fight and I’m overly excited that we have finished every single event this season. We have proven that we have the pace and we are looking forward to a good event on Guru Nanak.”
2018 KNRC STANDINGS
Main Class
- Carl Flash Tundo 168/(champion)
- Baldev Chager 135
- Eric Bengi 83
- Onkar Rai 79
- Manvir Baryan 78
- Fazzy Khan 72
- Jasmeet Chana 48
- Tejveer Rai 38
- Ammar Haq 37
- Sohanjeet S. Puee 28
Division One
1.Eric Bengi 155 (champion)
2.Jasmeet Chana 106
- Aakif Virani 63
ENTRY LIST
1 (7) Jaspreet Chatthe/Gugu Panesar (Mitsubishi Evolution 10 RC2-R4, Team Kibos)
2 (4) Manvir Baryan/Drew Sturrock (Skoda Fabia RC2-R5 MRT)
3 5 Baldev Chager/Ravi Soni (Mitsubishi Evolution 10 NAT-B13 Kabras Sugar Racing)
4 (6) Onkar Rai/Gavin Laurence (Skoda Fabia RC2-R5, Kabras Sugar Racing)
5 3,() Carl Tundo /Tim Jessop
KEN Mitsubishi Evolution 10 NAT-B13,(Menengai Racing Team)
6 (14) Eric Bengi/Tuta Mionki
(Subaru Impreza RC2-N4, Menengai Cream Boyz/Galz)
7 (11) Amaanraj Rai, Tauseef Khan ( Ford Fiesta RC2-R5, Rai Racing)
8 (9) Tejveer Rai/Zahir Shah (Mitsubishi Evolution 10 NAT-B13, Kabras Sugar Racing)
9 (12) Jasmeet Chana/Ravi Chana (Mitsubishi Evolution 10 RC2-N4, CRS Racing )
10 (1) Ian Duncan/Anthony Nielsen Nissan Pickup NAT-SPV, Ian Duncan Rallying)
11 (29) Ammar Haq/Victor Okundi (Mitsubishi Evolution 10 RC2-N4, Team Yalfa)
12 (17) Mahesh Halai/Ketan Halai 1 (Subaru Impreza RC2-N4, ShambaBoys Motorsports)
13 (19) Aakif Virani/Azhar Bhatti ( Subaru Impreza NAT-B13 Arrow Rally Team )
14 (47) Nikhil Sachania/Alfir Khan
( Mitsubishi Evolution 10 NAT-SPV, Filmico Racing)
15 (41)Sohanjeet Puee/Adnan Din 2 (Subaru Impreza NAT-S Team Nanak)
16 (26) Asad Khan/Murage Waigwa (Subaru Impreza NAT-S Tuko Juu Rally Team)
17 (18) Minesh Rathod/Shameer Yusuf (Mitsubishi Evolution 10 RC2-N4 A One Auto)
18 (37) Paras Pandya/Fagun Bhojak (Mitsubishi Evolution 10 RC2-N4 Synergy Gases Rally Team)
19 (72) Jonathan Somen/Richard Hechle ( Ford Escort MK2 NAT-Classic Scuderia Dagoretti)
20 (67) Ken Nteere/Edward Ndukui (Subaru Impreza NAT-S Nanyuki Rally Team)
21 (65) Gerald Maina/Mwangi Kioni (Subaru Impreza NAT-S, G – Captain)
22 (68) Rajay Sehmi/Tej Sehmi ( Porsche 911 NAT-Classic, Aero Atlas Racing)
23 (42) Edward Maina/John Ngugi (Subaru Impreza NAT-S, Emka Racing Team)
24 (46) Ramesh Vishram/Riyaz Ismael (Ford Escort MK2 NAT-Classic ,Cementers Racing Team)
25 (43) Daren Miranda/Wayne Fernandes
(Toyota Sprinter NAT-2WD, Ndovu Cement)
26 (56) Evans Kavisi /Absolom Aswani ( Subaru Impreza NAT-S, Greenlife Motorsport)
27 (54) Sarit Shah/Kigondu Kareithi (Toyota Corolla NAT-2WD, Congo Racing)