KEITH WINS JAMHURI THRILLER

 Keith Henrie clinched a rare double as the joint round 5 and 6 of the Kenya National Autocross Championship culminated at Jamhuri Park racetrack Sunday.Keith was all smiles and ecstatic that his title chase had gotten to the next level but was, however, made to fight extra hard amidst breathtaking heat-run exchanges from former Champion Ricky Aslam.

Both Keith and Ricky went through their heat runs simultaneously on the same venue which played host to the 2011 KCB Safari Rally CS1 spectator stage.But with the Championship almost in the bag, Keith observed it was too early for him to rest on his laurels and assume the championship has been won “yet there are three more round remaining.”

“It’s too early to say that I have won the Championship. I intend to treat every race with the seriousness it deserves. We blew the shock in the last heat of round 5 but managed fix it for the next race,” said Keith.Ricky who shared his buggy with Shalien Mughal, drove quite aggressively on both races and could hardly make life any easier for Keith.

“We had issues with braking system in round 5 but we are happy to have beaten Keith in the last two heats. We lost the round 5 win to Keith by a mere second; which is very encouraging. In round 6, we fought harder and harder and fought for Keith for seconds, but then we were forced to retire in the last heat with mechanical problems,” said Aslam.

Newcomer Pavit Kenth of Mean Cushion Industries was happy with the track set up, and by extension, top-10 finishes on his debut. Kenth finished 10^th in round five and 8^th in the preceding round.“We got the buggy prepared in good nick, but the biggest challenge was familiarizing myself with the track which was a loose; so we had to tread very cautiously,” said Kenth.

Organizers Kenya Motor Sports Club (KMSC) merged the two races together because round 5 was rained off last month.

After the double header, drivers looked rather exhausted at prize giving in the wake of the grueling action which involved eight laps and an additional early morning practice lap.
FULL RESULTS:

Round 5: 1. Keith Henrie 6.26.36; 2. Ricky Aslam 6.27.74; 3. Shalien Mughal 6.44.34; 4. Charles Mugo 6.48.80; 5. Ken Anunda 6.49.71; 6. Ammanaraj Rai 6.54.08; 7. Bobby Sehmi 6.57.62; 8. Rajbit Rai 7.00.25; 9. Asad Kalulu 7.05.98; 10. Pavit Kenth 7.11.75; 11. Samir Khan 7.15.32; 12. Hardeep Rehsi 7.16.15; 13. Shaz Esmail 8.15.33.

Round 6: 1. Keith Henrie 6.14.64; 2. Ricky Aslam  6.35.05; 3. Shalien Mughal 6.37.23; 4. Asad Khan 6.49.10; 5. Samir Khan 6.53.41; 6. Charles Mugo 6.56.94; 7. Rajbir Rai 6.58.51; 8. Pavit Kenth 7.04.23; 9. Ben Muchemi 7.10.83; 10. Ammanraj Rai 7.18.48; 11. Ken Anunda 7.30.55; 12. Shaz Esmael 8.02.98.

UNDER24: Mugo 6.56.94; Rajbir Rai 6.58.51; Pavit 7.04.83.