Carl Tundo hangs on to Safari Rally lead

Carl Tundo maintained his lead at the end of the Day Two action of the 2018 Safari Rally on Saturday.

Tundo, a former winner of Kenya’s premiere round of the African Rally Championship, has so far won all the seven competitive stages of the competition since the rally started on Friday.

His FIA-homologated Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10 is 22 seconds ahead of the Skoda Fabia of Onkar Rai, who maintained second place with just two more stages remaining on Sunday.

Despite this flawless drive, Tundo remained focused on an even better performance on the final day on what will be a damp route with wet patches following an overnight drizzle.

“I am taking it easy and plan to attack in the last loop. The speeds are high having averaged 96.5kph, sometimes logging over 200kph in straights,” said Tundo.

EVENLY POISED

That the Safari is contested by evenly matched talents was not in doubt with the first six cars running in the same minute. But in a sprint dash, as it is turning out, anything as slight as a puncture could alter the results.

Driving a time-tested but ageing Mitsubishi EVO X, Tundo made his intentions clear from Day One when he outsprinted Africa Champion Manvir Baryan and Briton Drew Sturrock, in Skoda Fabia, by 1.9 seconds in the 31.69km Kedong 1.

Rai, fresh from winning the Nakuru Rally, is lying a close second, 22 seconds behind, while his main challenger in then Rift Valley Motor Club event, Baldev Chager in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10, is trailing in third place albeit within a two-minute margin.

Tanzania’s Randeep Singh, in yet another Lancer Evo10, is the best placed foreign driver in fourth place with Uganda’s Jas Mangat in fifth place.

The final day of the competition will visit Kedong (31kms) and Aberdare Hills (12kms) before the three day competition ends at the Sopa Lodge.

The thrills and unpredictability of the Safari were right on cue even before the cars could leave the Sopa Lodge service park on Saturday.

Osman Abdullahi and Edward Njoroge’s Subaru Impreza N10 could not “fire” into a start and make it to the starting line.

The previous day they had finished 21st from the 36 entries and their hopes of continuing on yesterday were almost dashed.

The event is under the microscopic watch of FIA (International Automobile Federation) to see whether Kenya’s organization meets the criteria for readmission to the WTC calendar.

Oliver Ciesla, the (FIA) WRC Promoter Managing Director started his Observer Mission of the Safari Rally with a very promising proposal to Kenyans.

“It is our desire to return the Safari Rally back to the World Rally Championship as soon as possible because the event is mutually beneficial to us,” he said.

Pundits are of the view that at least the two leading officials are impressed by the unique route, terrain and view of the rally’s competition areas which are unique to Africa.

Top 10 crew at the Safari Rally after Day Two:

1. Carl Tundo/Tim Jessop – (Mitsubishi Evolution 10 RC2-N4) 01:36:52.3

2. Onkar Rai/Gareth Dawe – (Skoda Fabia R5 RC2-R50) 01:37:14.3

3. Baldev Chager/Ravi Soni – (Mitsubishi Evolution 10 RC2-R4) 01:39:38.4

4. Randeep Singh/Gurvinder Singh – (Mitsubishi Evolution 10 RC2-N4) 01:45:23.3

5. Jas Mangat/Joseph Kamya – (Mitsubishi Evolution 10 RC2-R4) 01:46:11.1

6. Eric Bengi/Tuta Mionki – (Subaru Impreza RC2-N4) 01:47:54.3

7. Duncan Mubiru/Musa Nsubuga (Subaru Impreza) 01:48:32.3

8. Farhaaz Khan/Keith Henrie – (Mitsubishi Evolution 10 RC2-N4) 01:48:54.6

9. Ammar Haq/Victor Okundi (Mitsubishi Evolution 10) 01:55:57.8

10. Mahesh Halai/Ketan Halai (Subaru Impreza) 01:58:52.9