Federation reactivates account at KCB as bank deposits Sh75m

The Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) on Thursday committed Sh75 million towards motor sports competitions for the next three years.

Angela Mwirigi, the KCB Director for Marketing and Communication, announced the new sponsorship deal at a press conference in Nairobi, saying the amount will go towards supporting the seven rounds of the Kenya National Rally Championship (KNRC) in addition to the Autocross Championship.

“We are committing Sh25 million towards this initiative for the period. Every year, Sh20 million will be spent on staging of KNRC events and Sh5 million will be for autocross. Hence, the two motor sports disciplines will be dubbed KCB Bank Rally and KCB Bank Autocross moving forward,” said Mwirigi.

Drivers will be required to pay maximum of Sh25,000 entry fees for each of the seven rounds of the 2019 Kenya National Rally Championship.

The entry fee had jumped to close to Sh50,000 from Sh12,000 just about one year ago which discouraged most of the crews from competing in the KNRC events.

Phineas Kimathi, the chairman of the Kenya Motor Sports Federation (KMSF) said each of the other seven national motorsport clubs will receive Sh2 million.

Kimathi said KCB will soon announce a separate sponsorship package for the Safari Rally.

Additionally, each of the seven clubs will receive a medical services package, which will include an ambulance and a helicopter.

“I think it’s fantastic to have KCB back with us again. We can only improve rallies with sponsorship like that,” said Lynn Tundo of the Rift Valley Motor Sports Club.

Several of the other leading Kenya National Rally Championship drivers expressed optimism after learning of the latest deal.

Leonardo Varese, the 2017 national Formula Two champion said he was now ready to return to action following the new sponsorship deal for the clubs.

He said he would do one KNRC event before tackling the Safari Rally. His sentiments were shared by Jasmeet Chana, who finished seventh overall in the 2018 KNRC table. ''Yes, of course, the KCB deal matters big as we shall see more entries and a well balanced motor event,'' he said.

Newly-crowned special category champion Nikhil Sachania said: ''That is great news. It was quite hectic last season with every rally increasing their entry fee. This of course will encourage myself and others to participate in more rallies.

“The entry fees being lowered is an encouraging factor in allowing us to budget for participation.

"The Sh2 million for each of the clubs is an excellent initiative. Many clubs like Mombasa Motor Club had shied away from hosting rallies due to the high cost of organization without a sponsor. The helicopter issues was the biggest cost but now happy KCB has come back to rescue us,'' said Adnan Din, the newly-crowned Division Two and Group S Navigator champion.

Nakuru will kick off the 2019 KNRC season with its event on February 2 and 3.

The Safari Rally, which will be a FIA Candidate Event this year, will take place in July.