Rhino Charge faces spectator explosion as popularity grows

So the annual Rhino Charge returns next weekend. Expect big changes for spectators this year.

I was at the 2014 event and my consensus is that the charity competition has become a victim of its own success. Thousands of fans converged at the venue just past Archer’s Post, and it appeared that the Charge was a two-day booze-fest with hundreds of men and women partying non-stop.

The organisers have grappled with this “problem” for a number of years with plenty of unsavoury incidents reported, and it looks like last year was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.

For the 2015 event, spectators will not be allowed to enter the venue on the day of the event. They have to book accommodation in advance through an internet portal site, with three approved companies offering various forms of camping, from luxury tented to the self-camping option.

This has to be paid in advance and the packages include shower facilities, security along with full board meals over two days for the tented options.

The big question is what happens to fans that travel several hours to the entrance without advance bookings? There is no doubt that there will be people who don’t know about the portal booking and will show up on the day expecting to get in.

The Rhino Charge is one of the most popular annual events in the sporting calendar and spectators will show up in their hundreds, booking or no booking.

The organisers want to regain control of the event after spending countless hours last year cleaning up the mounds of litter and struggling to contain drunken behaviour – and here lies the problem.

The men and women behind the organisation of the Rhino Charge are not entertainment organisers! I have said it before and I’ll say it again, entertainment at sports events needs to be out-sourced.

Entertainment is a vital component of any sports event with a large percentage of people going not for the on-field action but the social aspect. Entertainment is a specialist field, and it’s not just the Rhino Charge organisers, but also other disciplines that need to concentrate on the sport and leave the rest to the specialists.

That is what happens at the majority of international events from Formula One to rugby sevens where the off-field entertainment is as popular as what is happening on the field or track.

In the meantime, the Rhino Charge organisers need to have a plan in place to deal with the masses that will show up at the entrance next week otherwise it could get ugly.

Back to the competition. The teams are busy preparing for next weekend. The vehicles used are incredible. These are specialist monsters that are driven in anger less than a handful of times a year and the money spent on the teams is mind-boggling. Just as important is the fund raising aspect, with prizes awarded for the highest amount raised and also the Victor Ludorum award, which goes to the team that combines the shortest distanced travelled and amount raised.

The best of luck to both the organisers and teams next weekend.

AUTOCROSS GROWS

Autocross received a warm reception in Nakuru at a new track last weekend, with multiple Kenya National Rally Championship winner Carl “Flash” Tundo the star attraction in what was his first time competing in an autocross event.

However the competition marked the passing of the torch to a new generation of drivers breaking through as 16-year-old Tejas Hirani finished less than two seconds behind Tundo overall.

Bearing in mind that Tundo was in a four-wheel drive and Hirani wasn’t made the latter’s performance all the more impressive in Tundo’s back yard.

Hirani is aiming to compete in three World Rally X events later this year and is trying to raise Sh8 million. He has the best possible mentor in motorsports legend Rob Collinge who discovered him.

Hirani become the first Kenyan driver to win an international closed circuit series, the Formula Gulf series in Dubai last year.

From go-karting to autocross and rally raids, Hirani continues to rack up wins and podium finishes, and it’s vital we as a nation get him to the World Rally X this year. This will be his chance to shine at the highest stage and be spotted by a team or motorsports stakeholder. Please visit his Facebook page “Tejas Hirani Racing” for more details regarding sponsorship.

POSITIVE SEVENS SIGNS

Kenya national sevens coach Felix Ochieng won’t have much time to rest following a tough last half of the season in charge at the IRB Sevens Series that ended last weekend in London.

The positive news is that the team looked somewhat like their old selves on the final day at Twickenham where they won London Sevens Bowl and Ochieng needs to build on that.

Surely the Bowl win must be a morale booster ahead of the forthcoming All Africa Games, with the Rio 2016 Olympic qualifier the major factor later in the year.

Kenya Rugby Union boss Richard Omwela told me that he met with Kenya Airways chief executive Mbuvi Ngunze in London, and Ngunze said the national airline is willing to continue their sponsorship of the national sevens team providing the Union cleans house by ridding the board of directors implicated in the forensic report dealing with corruption in the sport.

Omwela is a no-nonsense lawyer and businessman and didn’t waste time in getting rid of his vice-chairman Phillip Jalang’o, who was named in the report. Jalang’o is currently trying to clear his name. Rugby was in a mess off the pitch when Omwela was elected second time around a month and a half ago, and he still has a long way to go to clear the sport of the ‘bad apples’ that almost brought the sport to its knees. It’s only then that corporations like Safaricom will consider talking to the board after leaving bitterly disappointed following allegations of financial impropriety and bad behaviour by board members at their events.