Two-up for Baryan, Finn Laukkanen fails to finish
AIRBORNE: Manvir Baryan’s speeding Skoda Fabia hovers above the road in Kajiado as the driver heads to victory in the Fly540 Rally on June 17, 2017. PHOTO | ANWAR SIDI |
What you need to know:
- Several punctures...no spare wheel, laments Laukkanen’s navigator after retiring.
- Skoda Fabia driver claims second victory in 2017 series with hard chasing Chager, Karan, Duncan following in that order.
Manvir Baryan clinched the Fly540 Rally title on Saturday for his second win in the 2017 Kenya National Rally Championship series.
"It went very well for us, although we also had three separate punctures in the event at the end of the competitive stages. I hope this is a good, especially with Pearl Rally of Uganda end of the month for us and our team," said Baryan.
The Skoda Fabia driver took full advantage of Tapio Laukkanen’s misfortune after the Finn suffered several punctures in the competition while leading the event by a big margin.
“We are out due to several punctures. No spare wheel to carry on. So unfortunate," Laukkanen’s navigator, Gavin Laurence, told Nation Sport.
FAILED BID
Finland’s Laukkanen failed in his bid to score a hat-trick of wins in his Subaru Impreza car.
This was Laukkanen’s first retirement of the current series. Teammates, Laukkanen and Baryan have dominated the season so far by winning all the four opening rounds of the local championship, with Baryan clinching victory in the first event in Mombasa and the Fly540.
Laukkanen took victories in the Safari Rally and Eldoret Rally respectively.
It was another good performance from Karan Patel, who scored his best-ever result in the KNRC by finishing in the third position with James Mwangi at the wheels of a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10. Mwangi is a graduate of the Abdul Sidi Rally Academy.
Ian Duncan drove with a flat wheel in the final spectator stage. That was his third puncture of the competition, thus dropping his Mitsubishi Lancer down the order to the fourth position.
Carl Tundo, the former National Champion, was among the other big causalities after his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10 suffered a transmission failure. A similar problem also affected his dad, Frank Tundo, in a Mitsubishi Lancer.
It was also a bad day for Jassy Chatthe in his bid to catch up with the pace setters of the series after his Mitsubishi Lancer was hit with transmission failure.
Onkar Rai’s luck also deserted him shortly after he lost his way in a Skoda Fabia before landing heavily in a concrete ditch a few kilometres into the opening stage.
PROVISIONAL RESULTS
1. Manvir Baryan/Drew Sturrock (Skoda Fabia), 2. Baldev Chager/Ravi Soni (Mitsubishi Evolution 10), 3. Karan Patel/James Mwangi (Mitsubishi Evolution 10) 4. Ian Duncan/Amaar Slatch (Mitsubishi Evolution 10), 5. Farhaaz Khan/Keith Henrie (Mitsubishi Evolution 10), 6. Eric Bengi/Tuta Mionki (Subaru Impreza), 7. Raaji Bharij/Rajay Sehmi (Ford Escort MK1), 8. Mahesh Halai/Ketan Halai (Subaru Impreza N12), 9. Jonathan Somen/Richard Hechle (Ford Escort MK2), 10. Jasmeet Chana/Ravi Chana (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10),
11. Minesh Rathod/Shameer Yusuf (Mitsubishi Evolution 10), 12. Natasha Tundo/Chantal Young (Subaru Impreza), 13. Aakif Virani/Azhar Bhatti (Subaru Impreza N14), 14. Rehan Shah/Imran Khan (Mitsubishi Evolution 9), 15. Manmeet Puee/Adnan Din (Mitsubishi Evolution 10), 16. Leonardo Varese/Kigondu Kareithi (Toyota Sprinter), 17. Paras Pandya/Falgun Bhojak (Mitsubishi Evolution 10), 18. Gerald Maina/Dennis Mwenda (Subaru Impreza), 19. Ben Woodhams/Cor Roest (Ford Capri).
