Tapio Laukkanen wins Machakos Rally, Tundo continues revival in series

Finland’s Tapio Laukkanen  registered his third win of the 2015 Kenya National Rally Championship by clinching victory in the KCB Machakos Rally on Saturday.

Laukkanen, the pre-race favourite and one of the quickest drivers to have contested the local championship in the history of the Kenya National Rally Championship, set fastest stage times in almost all the stages to walk away with another impressive victory in the KCB-sponsored series.

When asked what was the secret behind his winning ways, the former British and Finland Rally Champion was quick to thank the members of his service crew who were able to replace the gearbox of the Subaru Impreza within the stipulated twenty minutes.

“There is no secret to winning rallies. I am just enjoying myself with good support from my service crew who were able change the gearbox in less than 20 minutes after I was forced to use only numbers four and five of the transmission in one stage before limping to the service point. Our transmission had given up but we survived to win the rally. It is good feeling,’’ said Laukkanen.

Carl Tundo’s recent streak of poor results finally came to an end after finishing second in his first rally driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10. The former champion snatched a ten-second lead in the final stage to beat Baldev Chager, who had a narrow lead of two seconds going into the last stage of the competition.

“I really enjoyed it in the latest car after getting hang off it. It was good and fun all the way. Nice to finish without any major issues that had hindered my progress in the recent rallies,’’ said Tundo.

Chager, the defending national champion, produced one of his best performances this season, his Mitsubishi Lancer lost vital seconds in the final stage after sliding off to lose the all-important second place.

The Finn’s victory has now taken him from sixth to second place in the overall standings of the Kenya National Rally Championship with 83 points, 35.5 points adrift of Jassi Chatthe, who maintains the lead despite finishing in the fourth place. 

Chatthe is now on 128.5 points with another 50 points to score from the last two rounds of the series.

The Finn has so far won three out of the six rounds of the series. Mechanical problems sidelined him in the Safari Rally, while another one slowed him in the Mombasa Rally where he finished eighth overall. He failed to take part in one rally.  

High flying Rajbir Rai and Uganda’s Jas Mangat were among the first casualties of the rally. Rai, in one of the two Ford Fiestas gracing the KCB-sponsored series, stopped in the fourth spectator stage with a broken differential, while the Ugandan’s Mitsubishi Lancer halted in the second stage with a turbo failure.

Denis Mwenda has extended his lead in the Division One Class despite losing over twenty minutes in on stage following two separate punctures and damaged brake pipe that slowed his Mitsubishi Lancer EVO10.