Race cars vrooooom! in Eldoret

Alfir Khan, navigated by his uncle Tinu Khan, charges forward in a Subaru Delight during the KCB Voi Rally. The KCB Eldoret Rally takes place on July 4, 2015. PHOTO | ANWAR SIDI |

What you need to know:

  • Series leader Chatthe of Kisumu still the man to beat this season
  • Uasin Gishu capital comes alive as drivers chase points in fifth round of national series

It will be business as usual as Jassi Chatthe returns to action with the KCB Eldoret Rally Saturday morning following his retirement in the recent Tanzania Rally.

Chatthe, who leads both the overall standings of the KCB Kenya National Rally Championship and the African Rally Championship respectively, said he was confident of returning to the old form despite the major accident in Tanzania couple of weeks ago.

“Though the accident was horrible and the first-ever in my career since I made my rally debut in the 2011 Guru Nanak Rally, it did not shake my nerves. I feel confident of doing well in the Eldoret Rally,” said Chatthe while talking to Nation on Friday.

Chatthe who shares two different navigators in the respective series, will be navigated by Kisumu-based Gugu Panesar while Craig Thorley of UK with whom he crashed in Tanzania, will continue to guide him the ARC circuit.

“While Thorley continues with navigating Jassi in the ARC, I remain in the KNRC contest. It is not as confusing or difficult to navigate him as people may think. We have adopted pace notes on a number system technique so it is easy for Jassi to be navigated by either of us,” said Panesar, who guided Chatthe to the win of the 2015 KCB Safari Rally. The Kibos Sugar-sponsored team is among the 54 crews expected to grace the fifth round of the National series starting from the KCB Branch at 7am.

While the current tread of “playing” with the new super cars continues in the competition, Carl Tundo will be going to the old format as he rests his Proton S2000 for the old Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9. Having won the rally on four different occasions, Tundo remains as one of the favorites to repeat his winning ways if all goes well in the latest rally.

Finland’s Tapio Laukkanen, whose luck has slightly eluded him since winning the Kisumu Rally at the beginning of the season, is expected to bounce back to winning ways in Eldoret where the stages are made to suite his style of racing and if his Subaru Impreza stays intact.

A father, an uncle and four nephews will be seen in action in the Eldoret Rally in separate rally cars as the Khan family continues to enjoy the sport for over several decades. The Khan is made up of Salim, Tinu, Tauseef (Salim’s son), Alfir, Fayo and Imran (Salim and Tinu’s Nephews) respectively.

Flourspar, one of the most spectacular rally stages in the Kenya National Rally Championship series, will once again be part of the route that will have three stages to be repeated twice.