NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 20 – South African ARC contenders Guy Botterill and Simon Vacy-Lyle have waltzed into town as preparations for the weekend’s Equator Rally continue to gather momentum in the lakeside town of Naivasha.
Clerk of the Course Gurvir Bhabra confirmed to Capital Sport the arrival of the Southerners saying, “more teams are expected in the lakeside region of the Great Rift Valley tomorrow (Wednesday).”
“We had the first team arrive today (Tuesday) ahead of the service that will begin at 8am tomorrow. Many teams will start arriving tomorrow all the way to Thursday. Scrutineering will follow thereafter. The first on the qualifying stage on Friday will be the first one off the ramp.”
Botterill and Vacy-Lyle will tackle the Kenyan round behind the wheel of a Toyota Etios R5.
Botterill, who will be turning 35 next month, made his debut in the motorsport world in a 60cc GP Junior at the age of 10 years. After two short years, he was awarded his provincial colors for Motorsport after winning the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Championship in the GP Junior Class.
Vacy-Lyle, on the other hand, began his motorsport career in 2006, starting out in Karting, where he was coached and taught all the dynamics of setup and racing tactics by his current driver Botterill.
Simon went on to compete in karting for the next five years at a regional level, before being given the opportunity to navigate for Botterill in 2011, competing in the South African National Rally Championship.
Meanwhile, the designated service area at the KWS Training Institute in Naivasha was a beehive of activities as crews spent the better part of Tuesday offloading service equipment from their trucks.
Equator will act as a dry run for WRC Safari Rally which returns to the global arena on June 24-27 after a 19-year hiatus.
To spice up the occasion will be Uganda speed-merchants led by Ronald Ssebuguzi aka Sebu.
Amaanraj Rai, who previously competed in Kenya, will be making his debut on his newly acquired Ford Fiesta R navigated by Slovakia’s Oslaj Viljem.
Duncan Mubiru aka Kikankane is also expected to ruffle feathers in Kenya after his NRC 3 win back home.
He’s is obviously eager to replicate the form on the Equator drive after his teller run in Uganda. Other Ugandans include Hassan Alwi, Rajiv Ruparelia and Kepher Walubi.
