KEITH SEALS RARE HAT-TRICK

True to his word, Keith Henrie sealed a rare hat-trick as curtains came down on the National Autocross Round 3 action in Soysambu Sunday.But, Keith who is seeking to clinch his maiden career championship this season, bore the full brunt of defending champion Steve Anthony before pulling through in the last two heats.

“It’s great to have taken the hat-trick in the Rift Valley. I had an incident on the second heat where the fuel pipe slit as a result of the rough terrain but managed to win the next two heats to take podium,” said Keith.

This was Keith’s most memorable victory on the Rift Valley Motor & Sports Club (RVMSC) tour which he has dominated for the third year running.  It was also Keith’s second win of the season; serving-up great moment ahead for buggy lovers.

Keith beat Anthony by a mere 5 seconds to avenge the defeat he suffered to the latter in Ganze last month.

But Steve complained of overheating problems in the double lap system preferred during the Soysambu race. Every competitor was required to tackle each lap twice.

“If it wasn’t for the two-lap system, then Keith would have beaten me by 2.5 seconds. I was leading in the early morning run after winning the first two heats. The wet and slippery conditions in the first two heats appeared to favor me but as the day wore on, the rack was offering Keith more grip and my car was losing power and overheating as well,” said Anthony.

Keith savored two bonus points as a result of setting the Fastest Time of the Day (FTD) when he returned his buggy in 5minutes08.50seconds during the fourth heat.

Mickey Hughes made a stunning comeback which sealed the podium dash in 16minutes 31.09seconds.

Youngster Ken Anunda romped home fourth in 17.14.94 minutes followed by defending under-24 defending champion Charles Mugo on 17.15.81. Samir Khan came home sixth overall timing 17.47.34minutes.

Anunda was all smiles after the race- contented with his performance. But the son of former rally ace Dave Anunda “Davanu”, staunchly admitted Keith and Steve were in some truly imperious form.

“I didn’t have major problems save for spoiling the driveshaft in the first heat. But since we were doing four heats in the best of three format, that’s the heat I lost. But the track was amazingly- some good jumps, nice cornering and wide as opposed to Jamhuri Park which is quite tight. The top three were really good and I look forward to good competition in the next race,” said Anunda.