Tapio Laukkanen hangs on to lead to seal victory

One of the closest battles ever fought for overall victory of the Safari Rally finally came to end Saturday, with Finland’s Tapio Laukkanen emerging as the winner of 65th edition of the famous event.

Reinging National Rally Drivers champion Laukkanen, becomes the first ever driver from Finland to win the round of the African Rally Championship.

“I am more than excited and pleased to have won the rally after three attempts. It is a great feeling. The last two stages proved vital though they were rough and dusty. I had to recover from the 53-second deficit to achieve the feat," Laukkanen said.

“I may now start looking for a house in Kenya now that this makes me feel a proper Kenyan, having clinched the National and Safari Rally titles in addition to being the Motorsports Personality of the Year,” Laukkanen enthused.

It was also Gavin Laurence’s first victory in the Safari Rally as Laukkanen’s navigator.

His victory in the Subaru Impreza will be considered unique, considering the car’s age and power compared to the super cars that have continued to feature in the Kenya National Rally Championship series.

Ian Duncan, who exchanged the lead with Laukkanen on several occasions over the two days of the competition, settled for the second place in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10, just 22 seconds behind the winner.

Carl Tundo, who survived a roll in the last stage of the competition, came third in his Lancer Evo10. It helps him take the lead of the African Rally Championship as the top-placed ARC-registered competitor in the event.

Despite suffering a 10-minute penalty on Day One, Jassi Chatthe finished sixth overall and second in the ARC standings at the wheels of the Mitsubishi Lancer. Manvir Baryan’s attempt to win his second consecutive round of the 2017 KNRC came a cropper after he finished eighth in a Skoda Fabia.

Like Chatthe, Baryan was also victim of the tracking system, which caught several drivers off the track. A car leaving the road by more than five metres on either side of the track was adjudged to be breaking the rules.

Karan Patel used all his recent experience on the WRC outing by scoring his best result in the Safari Rally by clinching the fifth place. The all-lady crew of Natasha Tundo and Chantal Young finished 22nd, while the best-placed female navigator was Urshilla Gomes from Zambia. She guided her brother Leroy to 12th place.

Valery Bukera of Burundi was the best-placed foreign driver in the 11th place out of the 30 finishers. South Africa’s Geoff Bell was the best-placed two-wheel-driver in 14th place, driving a Datsun 260Z car.

RESULTS

1. Tapio Laukkanen /Gavin Laurence 01:54:12, 2. Ian Duncan /A. Slatch 01:54:34, 3. Carl Tundo /T.Jessop 01:56:18, 4. Onkar Rai /G. Dawe 01:57:01
5. Karan Patel /J. Mwangi 02:01:13, 6. J. Chatthe /G.Panesar 02:02:38, 7. Q. Mitchel /S. Cook 02:04:54, 8. B. Chager /R. Soni 02:05:18, 9. M. Baryan /D. Sturrock 02:06:23, 10. F. Khan /Keith Henrie 02:10:21.

11. V. Bukera /N. Khetia 02:12:35, 12. J. Chana /Ravi Chana 02:12:51, 13. M. Singh Jnr /Z. Khan 02:13:37, 14. Geoff Bell /T. Challen 02:14:15, 15. L. Gomes /U. Gomes 02:15:39, 16. M. Halai /K. Halai 02:17:56, 17. P.Cannobio /T. Khandwala 02:19:18, 18. Asad Khan /H. Limbani 02:20:59, 19. J. Sandhu /Feisal Khan 02:21:06, 20. K. Gomes/Eric Small 02:24:31.

21. Jonathan Somen /Richard Hechle 02:25:18, 22. Natasha Tundo /Chantal Young 02:27:21, 23. Kepher Walubi /Susan Kalema 02:28:09, 24. Hassan Alwi /Enoch Olinga 02:31:00, 25. Christakis Fitidis /Eric Nzamwita 02:32:11, 26. Yasin Nasser /Ali Katumba 02:43:40, 27. Sammy Nyorri /Mwangi Kioni 02:48:44, 28. Leonardo Varese /Kigondu Kareithi 02:54:55, 29. Ramesh Vishram /Riyaz Ismail 03:01:00, 30. Minesh Rathod /Sachin Sumaria 03:03:52