CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPS

It was a dream come true for Shivam Vinayak as the Yamaha 450 four-stroke go-getter claimed his maiden bikes Championship on homestretch-incidentally on his very first full year of off-road racing, this time round in the picturesque dry and rocky Masinga terrain.

Shivam was, however, unperturbed by second position in 2.46.46hours behind former Champion Sean Pelling (KTM) as Soysambu based Tom Cholmondeley sealed the podium dash in 2.50.39. Pelling won the fourth and last round after clocking 2.27.45hours cumulatively on Saturday and Sunday.

The 2011 KCB KNRC series leader Ian Duncan won the buggies class in 2.53.35 beating Jim Heather Hayes to second place. Jim drove his now elegant twin seater buggy which he has been driving for the better part of the season. Duncan had earlier sealed the buggies title on penultimate tour in Dol Dol and his drive was indeed a mere formality.

Shazar Anwar (quads) and Nish Lakhani (cars) retained their respective title despite failing to secure wins in Masinga. Shazar finished 5th in quads while Nish managed 3rd in the cars class. The cross-country series started off withe round 1 in Selenkay, then over to Lake Bogoria, Dol Dol and finally on the scenic but rocky Masinga setup. It also doubled up as the fourth round of the National Enduro series for motorcycles.

For the bikers and the quad riders Masinga was a good build up towards the FIM Africa Cross Country Enduro event which Kenya will host in October at the expansive Delamere Farm's Soysambu. The Cars class was won by Akash Dodhia who was navigated by Altaf Ganatra in a Wildcat. Akash timed 2.45.15 followed by Eddie Belcher in a Tomcat while Nish settled for third in the season closer.

Selected Results:

Bikes:
1. Sean Pelling 2.27.45
2. Shivam Vinayak 2.46.46
3. Tom Cholmondeley 2.50.39
4. Adrian Wroe 2.56.06
5. Piers Daykin 2.56.31
6. Asif Patel 3.00.04.

Buggies:
1. Ian Duncan 2.53.35
2. Jim H. Hayes 3.47.13.

Cars:
1. Akash Dodhia 2.54.15
2. Eddy Belcher 2.59.19
3. Nish Lakhani 3.22.37
4. Rajesh Maini 3.27.00
5. Simon Sharpe 3.53.19
6. Anish Govani 4.08.17.

Quads:
1. Christian Collete 3.13.15
2. Adil Viviani 3.15.23
3. Arafat Viviani 3.15.23
4. Zane Young 3.22.44
5. Shazar Anwar 3.23.05
6. Murage Waigwa 3.54.41