Chager seals Safari Rally victory in great style

Baldev Chager and navigator Ravi Soni celebrate after winning the 2019 KCB Safari Rally on July 7, 2019 in Naivasha. PHOTO | ANWAR SIDI |

What you need to know:

  • Tundo said they were lucky to have finished the rally despite several mishaps, which included losing 20 seconds in the final service.
  • Onkar Rai rolled in the second competitive stage of the competition while lying second overall in his Skoda Fabia car. This was Rai’s second consecutive accident in the Safari Rally, having suffered a similar problem in last year’s edition.

Baldev Chager won his third Safari Rally title after clinching victory in the last competitive stage of the 2019 KCB Safari Rally on Sunday.

The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 10 car of Chager and his navigator Ravi Soni took full advantage of Manvir Baryan’s misfortunes in the last few kilometres of the competition to win one of the most imports events in his rallying career.

“I am overjoyed to win the rally after a tough battle for the competition. This rally has been one of the most tense and tough event in my rallying career. It was a hard struggle but in the end we succeed as the overall winners,’’ Chager told Nation Sport in Naivasha.

Baryan, who is yet to win the Kenyan event despite his success in rallies across Africa, sounded disappointed after checking in at the final control in third place.

“That stage was pathetic and should not have been allowed. Our car sucked in a lot of dust till the radiator got blocked. The temperature gauge was reading 130 degrees Celsius. We lost more than six minutes to clean it but by then, two cars had overtaken us. I’m not happy at all,” Baryan said.

Carl Tundo, who missed out on hitting a record of five victories in the Safari Rally, finished second in a Mitsubishi Lancer car with Tim Jessop.

Tundo said they were lucky to have finished the rally despite several mishaps, which included losing 20 seconds in the final service.

Onkar Rai rolled in the second competitive stage of the competition while lying second overall in his Skoda Fabia car. This was Rai’s second consecutive accident in the Safari Rally, having suffered a similar problem in last year’s edition.

Although Rai’s navigator Gareth Dawe was admitted to hospital with back injuries after the incident, the two were lucky to walk away without any injuries on Sunday.

Their car was badly damaged.

“We hit couple of bumps at very high speeds before the car nose-dived and rolled. We are lucky there were no major injuries, but our luck in the Safari Rally did not improve at all,’’ Rai said at the final Time Control.

Izhar Mirza and Kavir Dave also escaped with minor injuries after their Mitsubishi Lancer car rolled in the second stage of Day Three.

Ian Duncan, the last Kenyan driver to have win the Safari Rally when it was part of the World Rally Championship calendar, finished fourth in Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10 car with Anthony Nielson by his side. Duncan is a multiple Kenya National Rally Championship winner. Four foreign crews performed commendably well to finish in the top 10. They included Leroy Gomes/Urshlla Gomes (Zambia/Ford Fiesta), Jassy Singh/Sajid Khan (Zambia/ Subaru Impreza), Giancarlo Devine/Sylvia Vindevogel (Rwanda/Mitsubishi Lancer) and Yassin Nasser/Ali Katumba (Uganda/Subaru Impreza).

The Safari Rally is seeking to regain World Rally Championship status, and senior officials from the global body, led by FIA Safety Delegate Michelle Mouton, have been present during the entire competition.

Geoff Mayes limped into the penultimate Service Point of the competition with a damaged clutch in his Land Rover, and mechanics got it ready for the final two stages.

At 24 years of age, McRae Kimathi, navigated by Evan Mwenda, was the youngest driver to finish the rally in 21st place in a Subaru Impreza car. McRae is son of Safari Rally Project CEO Phineas Kimathi.

Kimathi also contested the Safari Rally in 1998. With Abdul Sidi, they scored their first ever WRC points for the Hyundai Team by finishing first in class and 18th overall.

Chief Safety Officer Norris Ongalo said he was happy with the performance of his officials in the event over the past three days of the competition. Most of the marshals were graduates of the Abdul Sidi Rally Academy.

“I had 275 officials deployed alongside each and every stage of the rally. The officials was always divided into three according to the number of stages run on the day. Safety is paramount,’’ Ongalo, a graduate of Abdul Sidi Rally Academy, said.

Chief of Staff in the Office of the President Nzioka Waita also finished the rally in 24th place in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9, with Laban Cliff as his navigator.