Altitude will be a big factor in KCB Eldoret Rally

Greetings from Eldoret, the venue for Saturday’s KCB Eldoret Rally, and event is making a return to the town for the first time since 2012, which was won by Carl ‘Flash’ Tundo.

The route should, in theory, favour the lighter and more nimble R5 and S2000 cars, although the altitude will be a factor, as the cars will lose quite a large percentage of power.

The fact that the S2000s are not turbo-powered will put them at a slight disadvantage compared to the R5s as the engines will be under more strain.

The world-renowned Fluorspar stage will be a major point of the rally, with the hairpin bends on smooth graded roads providing a major test of driver and navigator skills. Look out for championship leader Jaspreet ‘Jassi’ Chatthe to bounce back from his crash in the Tanzania Rally and aim to increase his points tally.

However defending national champion Baldev Chager, Tundo and Ian Duncan will not make life easy for him, while the Ford Fiesta duo of Rajbir Rai and Manvir Baryan could be the spoilers as they continue to familiarise themselves with the production version of World Rally Championship cars.

The rally is one of four major sports events taking place this weekend. Machakos will be hosting the Masaku Sevens while Diani is the venue of the Diani International Touch Rugby Tournament.

In Nairobi, Harambee Stars will be looking to overturn a 2-0 deficit against Ethiopia in the the African Nations Championships qualifier at the Nyayo Stadium Saturday afternoon.

This shows how important sport is becoming to the country, not just from a sporting perspective, but also from a social and economic point of view to the counties involved. The leaders of counties are regularly seen in events held in their area and they are happy to cooperate with the organisers and sponsors.

MOUNTAIN BIKING

The second Laikipia XC (cross country) international mountain biking race gets underway on Tuesday along the foothills of Mount Kenya and surrounding areas.

The brainchild of international cyclist and triathlete Helen Kinuthia, it is a six-day stage race with riders experiencing the breath-taking scenery along world-class mountain biking trails.

The route covers approximately 500 kilometres over six days with about 10,000 metres of climbing. Famed for its spectacular views and diverse terrain, the race snakes its way through steep, rocky singletrack, open savannah and virgin forests that border the legendary Ewaso Nyiro River. Riders must take part in teams of two.

They may be all male, all female or a mixed team. Although there are experienced riders going all out for glory, there will be teams just hoping to finish this grueling challenge, with the altitude a major factor. The Laikipia XC route has the best of stage race mountain biking: smooth murram roads, single track, rocky footpaths and forest trails. This is Kenya’s version of South Africa’s Cape Epic, the Tour De France of mountain biking, and along with the Rift Valley Odyssey, the country is well on its way towards hosting world-recognised international off-road cycling events.

CONFUSION IN FOOTBALL

It staggers me how incompetent the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) is. The botched Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Kisii last week is just the latest episode in a sorry tale of this once proud sport.

The scenario with what is happening in the local game actually mirrors what is occurring at Fifa, the under siege world governing body. As the investigations continue into allegations of massive corruption at Fifa, local football stakeholders still await the FKF financial records of the last year, while sponsors have been showing their displeasure at the way the sport is being managed.

The fact that the body has not conformed to the Sports Act has attracted a case at the Sports Tribunal where a member of the public has challenged the Federation’s constitutional existence.

Julius Igangi claims that the federation is in office illegally and it will be interesting to see what the outcome will be ahead of the elections later this year.

On the pitch, Harambee Stars will be looking for mission impossible against Ethiopia at the Nyayo Stadium in their return leg of the Chan qualifiers. An exit will be a huge embarrassment as Kenya will not qualify for the 2016 tournament, an event she hosts in 2017.

The Kenya Simbas’ crushing victory over Tunisia last Sunday had fans wondering why they could not replicate that win in Harare in their previous Africa Cup Division 1A match.

This was just the shot in the arm the national fifteens team needed ahead of their international friendly against Spain, and while Spain will provide a sterner test, the consensus is that the boys can do it if they play the way they did last weekend. Granted, the Tunisians may have had the problems of last week’s terrorist attacks in their country on their minds, but that shouldn’t be an excuse at this level of sport.

Despite an alleged split at board level (once again), business continues in the game. Kenya Rugby Union chairman Richard Omwela continues his quest to woo back sponsors who’d fled when the politics at the administrative level threatened to tear the sport apart.

However he must calm the murmurs of discontent that might be simmering to the surface once again.

Some board members are said to be unhappy with Felix Ochieng being in charge of coaching the national sevens squad, and want a foreigner to lead the team for the IRB series and Olympic qualifier.

I think Ochieng should stay on for the sake of stability. We cannot keep changing the technical bench every year because we are not happy with the team’s performance. We have seen plenty of examples in international sport where constant tinkering of the technical bench has not worked and severely disrupts the performance of the players on the pitch.

In the meantime, rugby continues on the pitch with the Masaku 7s and Diani International Touch Rugby Tournaments.

With Masaku proving a massive success, I believe its time for rugby administrators to see Machakos as a viable alternative to host more rugby events. With an enthusiastic governor, close proximity to Nairobi and solid infrastructure, why not take the sport there whilst a more permanent solution to a rugby stadium is being sought.

It looks like the organisers of Masaku have been listening in regards to the huge logistical challenges they faced last year, as the fans will witness huge changes in the way the event is hosted this weekend.