NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 26 – Up until four weeks ago, Mitchelle Chao, a Geospatial Engineer by profession, had not planned to get into a rallying car in a competitive race. She was just excited to be among the planning team for the first ever all-women rally championship.
But, she found herself strapped in to become Pauline Sheghu’s navigator in Sunday’s rally, organized under the Lionesses Rallying Club, through the Kenya Racing Team.
WATCH THE INTERVIEW HERE
The rally at the Kasarani Stadium on Sunday will become the first ever all-women rallying championship in Kenya.
“I joined the club as a member and was called in by Lisa (Christoffersen) to be a route planner because initially the plan was an endurance race from Turkana to Fort Jesus. I would attend meetings and make sample maps for them and then became the vice chair when the committee was set up,” Chao told Capital Sports.
She added; “We all thought it was going to be Pauline and Lisa rallying because they were the ones who were actively talking about competing and also we were not thinking large scale because we didn’t have cars and not enough safety gear because rallying is all about safety.”
“Pauline didn’t have a navigator and she asked me to step in and that’s just how I ended up being one,” narrates Chao.
And now she is already excited after weeks of training and working with Sheghu, an experienced rally driver herself and they hope they can step into history by winning the first ever title in the Lionesses Rallying Club-organized competition.
“We are going to win of course yeah,” says Chao with an excited smile on her face.
She adds; “She (Pauline) is an incredible crazy driver and no doubt we will do our best to win.”
This is going to be the first time ever she is competitively sitting on the co-driver’s seat in a rallying car and she says Sheghu has been of massive help to her.
“I am excited and nervous of course but Pauline has been of so much help. I am very nervous because I don’t want to let her down because I am her first ever female navigator. But she has been kind and gracious to give me all the help I need and to help me learn,” she says.
“She has been like a mother goose to me and always tells me to relax and not panic and I got my confidence through her. Now I am ready for the rally on Sunday,” she added.
The rally is expected to rev off at the Kasarani Stadium at 9am.
