NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 6 – Ahead of this weekend’s Voi leg of the Kenya National Rally Championship (KNRC) circuit, Kenyan rally ace Maxine Wahome has bagged herself a Sh1mn sponsorship package from telecom giants Safaricom.
Wahome will now join her Tams Racing stablemates Hamza Anwar and McRae Kimathi as some of the rally drivers sponsored by Safaricom.
The sponsorship will boost Wahome’s motivation ahead of her maiden appearance at the Voi Rally, However, she will not have her regular navigator Chantal Young who will be unavailable due to work related issues and will be replaced by Linnet Ayuko.
Ayuko had formerly navigated Hussein Malik and the latter will now team up with Steven Njenga for the Voi Rally.
The latest Rally entry list indicates that 22 drivers have entered the rally. Noticeably missing from the rally list is Kabras Sugar’s duo of Tejveer and Onkar Rai. Tejveer is still recovering from injuries sustained during the WRC Safari Rally when his car rolled in one of the stages on the opening day.
Onkar will also miss the rally due to work commitments as he also has to double up for his injured brother.
There has been immense support for the injured Tejveer and this will continue at the Voi Rally with Carl ‘Flash’ Tundo and Issa Amwari set to continue spotting the #Tejstrong stickers on their cars.
Heading to the Voi Rally, Baldev Chager will behind the seat of Onkar Rai’s VW Polo R5 putting at par with Carl Tundo. This has many rally fans placing wagers on who will be faster now that they have the same power under the hood.
For many of the drivers, this is the first time they will be sitting behind the wheel of their cars competitively since the WRC Safari Rally.
The Voi Rally also sees Hamza Anwar switch to an Evo 10.
The Voi Rally see’s the entry of newbie John Fernandes who will be competing in a Subaru Impreza formerly owned and driven by Daren Miranda. This rally seems to have watered the pallet of Hassan Alwi from Uganda and local Autocross champion Rehan Shah as they make up the list of 22.
