"BUMBLE BEE" MURAGE

Waigwa Murage better known as "Bumble BEE" in off road racing circle has exciting benchmarks set for the fourth and last round of Ganatra Cross-Country Challenge in Masinga Dam area on the weekend of September 3-4.

Quite rightly so, Murage has vowed to fight to the very end with his Ranger Polaris 300cc contraption and hopes to give the "big bulls" of quad racing a run for their money.

"I'm fighting every inch of the way," quipped Murage. 

The Operations Manager at  Pentagon Agencies Ltd in an interview told RallyKenya that he is not ready to give it up easily to Champion Shazar Anwar (Bombardier 650) and title contender Vincent Boulanger (Can-am Renegade). He also reckons that Abid Ganatra (KTM) won't be a pushover as well.

"My benchmark is 3rd overall place in the championship points. Basically, that means finishing in top three hopefully in Masinga. My approach to Masinga race is just to go as quick as I can possibly go. I'm currently lying fourth in Championship and my goal is to finish 3rd overall. And its only one point separating 3rd and 4th," explained Murage.

Shazar is incidentally fixing Murage's quad at Aztek Motorsport workshop while his crew rush to fine tune the rear suspension setup.

For Murage, navigation is very key to cross country success.

" So I have actually just gotten my Garmin GPS. But funny enough, I still don't know how to use it. Masinga will be the first time I am going to be using a GPS. So I'm looking forward to it," continued Murage.

Murage admits Cross Country isn't that easy as it comes with its own challenges.

"Running Costs per event and preparation intricacies of the quad (because it an agricultural quad not a racing one) is quite a challenge."

"We have made it as light as possible. And you know the exhaust is also modified. But we have been very meticulous in trying to  get the suspension setup right (bushes, ball joints), so preparation starts as soon as one race ends."

The FIM Africa Cross Country Quad and bike Challenge will be talking place in Soysambu in October but Murage is yet to make up his mind.

"FIM is yet to be confirmed because I will need a different quad all together. But an upgrade is in the  pipeline," continued Murage.

His short term goal is just to  keep enjoying x-country racing on the quad. In the long run, Murage wants to venture into autocross and eventually rallying.

"I will  try my level best to grow in the sport," quips Murage, who now runs a workshop which assembles and sells motorcycles "but mainly for boda-boda".

And how did he did he join quad racing?

"I came across quads when I was in China and I thought of just importing one into the country. Then Dave (Macharia) introduced me to Shazar at last year's Race of Champions, where I tried to debut but by quad just packed up.

From there on, I was dragged into quads and eventually into my first x-country which was in Selenkay earlier in the year and Shazar really insisted I should come out and try quad racing. But motorsport has always been in my blood. So I took up quad racing as a platform to also step into the game," Murage expounds. 

And how did he earn the Bumble Bee nickname? "Ever since we did the exhaust, the sound it makes sounds like a 'bee' then the bumble because I am round and chirpy."

Organised by Rallye Sports Club (RSC) and sponsored by JCB country agents Ganatra Plant and Equipment, the event HQ has  been designated at Masinga Dam Resort.

Camping facilities for spectators, officials and competitors stationed  at the Resort from September 2 onwards.

CROSS COUNTRY STANDINGS AS AT RD 3

Bikes

1.  Shivam Vinayak 50 2. Andrew Pleasance 43 3. Shaun Miller 42

Cars

1. Nish Lakhani 46 2. Eddie Belcher 36 3. Rajesh Maini 36

Buggy

1. Ian Duncan 57 2. Altaf Ganatra 20 3. Mickey Hughes 17.

Quads

1.      Shazar Anwar 57 2. Vincent Boulanger 52 3. Abid Ganatra 33.