Tapio Laukkanen man to beat in Fly540 race

Ian Duncan will be the first off the ramp in Saturday’s Fly540 Rally at 7am from the Galleria Mall in Nairobi. 

The fourth round of the 2017 Kenya National Rally Championship series has attracted 39 cars.

Finland’s Tapio Laukkanen, who has proved to be the driver to beat in the local series, is seeded at number two in his Subaru Impreza, and will follow Duncan three minutes later

Laukkanen, the national defending champion, has so far scored two outright victories out of the last three  rounds of the KNRC.

Carl Tundo, the former Safari Rally and National Champion is seeded at number three in his Mitsubishi Lancer EV10, while Manvir Baryan, who opened the season by winning the Mombasa Rally in a Skoda, will follow Tundo in fourth place.

‘’We are set for the rally with the official reconnaissance of the route fully in mind. Besides the FLY540 Rally, we are also planning to do Uganda’s Pearl Rally at the end of this month,’’ Baryan told Nation Sport.

It will be Baryan’s second contest in Uganda since finishing fourth overall two years ago at the wheels of a Subaru Impreza. He will enter a Skoda rally car this time round.

Charles Hinga, who has been out of action for several seasons, is seeded at number Number 36 in a Toyota RunX.

Denis Mwenda swaps seats to navigate Gerald Maina in a Subaru Impreza from number 38.

Cars will head for the first of the eight competitive stages at the Oldonyati, where the first machine will start rally action at 7.40am.

The second competitive stage will be tackled at Sintato (8.08am) followed by Kajiado (9.36am), Champagne (10.22) before cars report for service at the Champagne Part as from 10.27am onwards.

The second loop will start with the first car out at 12.15 noon from the Service Park before repeating the stages from the first section of the competition.

Manvir Baryan won the Mombasa Rally before flying Finn claimed Safari Rally and Eldoret Rally in quick succession.