Rally Returns to Mogotio

Alistair in Thika 

Homeboy Carl ‘Flash’ Tundo hopes to make it four in a row when the KCB Easy Pay Loans Rally returns to Mogotio sisal estates on June 20.

Drivers will be chasing KCB KNRC points at a venue that proved truly splendid last year; absolutely with no problems encountered with crowd control and traffic.

Recce takes place on June 19 preceded by scrutineering at Nakuru’s National Oil filling station on the same day.

This year the Mitsubishi craze and menace brings more zest to the Rift Valley Motor and Sports Club (RVMSC) round with defending champion and Oilibya Racing’s Baldev ‘Boldy’ Chager with the only Subaru (N12) in the mix.

“It makes it more challenging and exciting for us to do better and commit more. With the new co-driver (Raju Sehmi) settling in well, we look forward to putting up a good performance against home boys (Carl) Tundo and Lee (Rose) if he drives,” said Chager.

Rose skipped the KCB Micro Banking Rally in Thika with financial restrains while Dalbit Team’s Tundo racked-up an interesting hat trick of wins after the season opening Eldoret round and the KCB Safari Rally in March.

Chager won last year’s edition of Nakuru with deceased navigator, Farak Yusuf, when Rose and Tundo ran into mechanical gremlins.

Mogotio, which happens to be home to Sports Minister Professor Hellen Sambili, promises some hair-raising thrills with 1999 Kenya Champion Alastair and three-time KNRC champion Azar Anwar at pains to break Tundo’s high-flying antics.

Rally enthusiasts are eager to see Asad Anwar in the new EVO 9 giving it its max and he could be another threat this season.

Legendary Ian Duncan (National Oil Racing) has also got his Nissan Patrol Pickup running very well and has been setting some serious times.

The Horsey brothers-Peter and Alex-in Mitsubishi Evolutions are also fast-rising and seem to be the future of the sport. The quality line up of rally cars in each event shows Kenyan rallying is headed in the right direction and the swopping of few seconds in every stage shows the quality of competition is good and healthy.

With 5 rounds to spare, Tundo seems to be the runaway leader. Luck has been on his side this year and he is settling well in his EVO 9. But the way the pace is this year, he will definitely have a run for his money. Tundo beat Chager by 37 seconds in Thika and the later beat Azar by a mere second!

There are some strong contenders like Chager and Azar just waiting for a small mishap on Tundo’s side to bite into his points lead. Tundo will have to keep his guard full time until he knows nobody can eclipse him in the table standings.

Last year, the stages in Mogotio were fantastic from the word go and it was maximum attack. Chager and Rose had a good fight.

It was a good experience for the late Farak Yusuf and Chager when they got to the end of the first stage and knew it was their day. Lee responded with some equal fastest times and cut into our lead but Chager fought it off until Lee’s unfortunate incident that saw his Mitsubishi stuck in a knee-deep river-crossing. Tundo also struggled to keep up with the pace and also retired with mechanical failure.