Duncan leads series into Naivasha

After a long break, the 2017 Kenya National Rally Championship resumes this weekend with the Multiple Carriers-sponsored Guru Nanak Rally on Sunday at Delamere Estate, Naivasha.

The Nanyuki Rally was cancelled a couple of months back at the last minute due to political reasons that had affected the stages on a ranch within the area.

Ian Duncan, one the most capped winners of the Simba Union Club’s round of the series, leads the current KNRC series with 72 points followed by Manvir Baryan with 68, Tapio Laukkanen (60), Carl Tundo (59), Karan Patel (58) and Baldev Chager (36).

The battle for the overall championship remains wide open with a maximum of 75 points available from the last three rounds of the current series.

The Kenya Motor Sports Club and Rift Valley Motor Sports Club will follow the Guru Nanak Rally in November and December respectively.

The Guru Nanak Rally will start at 6.30am from the Buffalo Mall in Naivasha before drivers tackle six competitive stages along the 350-kilometre route of which 158km will be competitive.

Three stages will be repeated during the course of the competition.

After scoring a hat-trick of African Rally Championship victories, with his latest in Rwanda Rally recently, Baryan after Guru Nanak will prepare for the final round of the African Rally Championship in Zambia next month.

The Skoda Fabia driver needs a single point from the maximum 25 to secure the African Rally Championship crown regardless of what Leroy Gomes does in the rally.

Thirty-five-yearold Baryan, who made his rallying debut in the 2011 Guru Nanak Rally in a Subaru Impreza N14, has so far won two Kenya National Rally Championship events - Mombasa and Fly540 rallies respectively.

He has also won three rounds of the 2017 African Rally Championship events in Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda at this early stage of participating in one of the most demanding motor sport events in the world.

START LIST

1. Manvir Baryan/Drew Sturrock Skoda Fabia,  2. Carl Tundo/Tim Jessop Mitsubishi Evolution 10, 3. Onkar Rai /Gareth Dawe  Skoda Fabia, 4. Tapio Laukkanen/Gavin Laurence Subaru Impreza, 5. Baldev Chager/Ravi Soni Mitsubishi Evolution 10, 6. Jaspreet Chatthe /Gurdeep Panesar Mitsubishi Evolution 10, 7. Ian Duncan/Amaar Slatch Mitsubishi Evolution 10, 8. Amaanraj Rai/Timothy Challen Ford Fiesta, 9. Karan Patel/James Mwangi  Mitsubishi Evolution 10, 10. Tejveer Rai/Zahir Shah Mitsubishi Evolution 10

11. Farhaaz Khan/Keith Henrie 1 Mitsubishi Evolution 10, 12. Jasmeet Chana/Ravi Chana Mitsubishi Evolution 10, 13. Piero Cannobio/Silvia Frigo  Mitsubishi Evolution 10, 14. Mahesh Halai/Ketan Halai  Subaru Impreza N12, 15. Eric Bengi/Tuta Mionki  Subaru Impreza N12, 16. Minesh Rathod/Shameer Yusuf  Mitsubishi Evolution 10, 17. Raaji Bharij/Rajay Sehmi  Ford Escort, 18. Stefano Rocca/Piers Daykin  Datsun 280Z, 19. Issa Amwari/Job Njiru  Mitsubishi Evolution 10, 20. Jansher Sandhu/Gurveer Pandhal Mitsubishi Evolution 10

21. Osman Abdullahi/George Mwangi  Subaru Impreza N14, 22. Natasha Tundo/Chantal Young  Subaru Impreza N10, 23. Ammar Haq/Victor Okundi  Subaru Impreza N10, 24. Daren Miranda/Wayne Fernandes  Subaru Impreza N10, 25. Edward Maina/Tony Kimondo Subaru Impreza, 26. Geoff Mayes/Charley Sayer-Payne  Landrover Discovery,  27. Ramesh Vishram/Riyaz Ismail  Ford Escort MK2, 28. Rajesh Maini/Devan Bhundia  Range Rover, 29. Sammy Nyorri/Mwangi Kioni  Toyota Runx, 30. Leonardo Varese/Kigondu Kareithi  Toyota Corolla RSI

31. Charles Hinga/Absolom Aswani Toyota Runx, 32. David Kioni/Edward Njoroge Subaru GC8, 33. Rajwinder Jutley/Malherbe Etienne Datsun 160J, 34. Sam Karangatha Edward Ndukui  Subaru Leone.