Safari Rally entries hit 45 going into deadline

Entries close on Wednesday for the 2019 Safari Rally which will be held as a candidate event for the FIA World Rally Championship.

By last evening, the entries had hit 45, just 15 shy of a maximum of 60 allowed for the event. Most of the Kenyan crews have enlisted for the rally alongside several crews from neighbouring African countries.

The Safari Rally will also double up as the fourth round of the 2019 African Rally Championship (ARC). Kenya’s Manvir Baryan, driving a Ford Fiesta car, leads the ARC standings.

Carl Tundo will lead a team of five Menengai Oil-sponsored drivers in the Safari Rally. Tundo is a record five-time winner of the Safari Rally and will be seeking to tighten his grip on the top spot when the event is held from July 5 to 7.

It will be interesting to see how foreign crews will perform in the competition. The crew of Giancarlo Devite and Sylvia Vindevogel from Rwanda is confident of a good performance.

“I am happy to be back in Kenya for the Safari Rally as part of the FIA WRC Candidate Event. I hope to be among the top Mitsubishi Lancer drivers at the end of the competition,” said Davite.

The husband and wife crew of Leroy Gomes and Urshilla from Zambia is in the country to compete in the Safari Rally for the second time.

“I am looking forward to the competition. I’m very curious about the conditions of the roads, and the pace. Kenya has some of the best rally drivers in the continent, among them (Baryan) Manvir, Onkar (Rai), Baldev (Chager) and Carl (Tundo),” said Gomes. The Ugandan crew of Yasin Nasser and Ali Katumba is looking for a new challenge in the event this year.

“It will be our second Safari Rally. But because it’s a WRC candidate event, we expect a higher level of organisation in all aspects,” said Nasser.

Safari Rally entries so far:
1. Paras Pandya/Falgun Pandya (Kenya — Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10), 2. Mahesh Halai/Ketan Halai (Kenya — Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10), 3. John Lloyd/Adrian Cavenagh (UK -Ford Escort), 4. Jonathan Somen/Richard Hechle (Kenya — Ford Escort Mark11), 5. Edward Maina/Edward Njoroge (Kenya — Subaru Impreza N10), 6. Jasmeet Chana/Ravi Chana (Kenya — Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10), 7. Karan Patel/James Mwangi (Kenya — Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10), 8. Daren Miranda/Wayne Fernandes (Kenya — Toyota Sprinter 2wd), 9. Kepher Walubi/Anthony Mugambwa (Uganda — Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10), 10. Ronald Ssebaguzi/Leon Ssenyange (Uganda -Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10), 11. Sohanjeet Puee/Adnan Din (Kenya — Subaru Impreza N10), 12. Geoff Mayes/Suzanna Zwager (Kenya — Land Rover), 13. Onkar Rai/Dawe Gareth (Kenya — Skoda Fabia), 14. Baldev Chager/Ravi Soni (Kenya — Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10), 15. Kahlon Lovejyot/Harshil Limbani (Kenya — Subaru Impreza), 16. Leroy Gomes/Urshilla Gomes (Zambia — Ford Fiesta), 17. Nikhil Sachania/Deep Patel (Kenya — Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10), 18. Carl Tundo/Tim Jessop (Kenya — Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10), 19. Hardev Sira/TBA (Kenya — Ford Escort), 20. Yassin Nasser/Ali Katumba (Uganda -Subaru Impreza), 21. Aakif Virani/Azhar Bhatti (Kenya — Subaru Impreza VAB), 22. McRae Kimathi/TBA (Kenya — Subaru Impreza), 23. Minesh Rathod/Shameer Yusuf (Kenya — Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10), 24. Duncan Mubiru/Musa Nsubuga (Uganda Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10), 25. Giancarlo Devine/Sylvia Vindevogel (Rwanda — Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10), 26. Eric Bengi/Tuta Mionki (Kenya — Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10), 27. Issa Amwari/Job Njiru (Kenya — Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10), 28. Ammar Haq/Victor Okundi (Kenya — Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10), 29. Christakis Fitidis (UG)/Veer Dadar (Tanzania — Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10), 30. Godfrey Nsereko/Jb Musisi (Uganda — Toyota Runx 2WD), 31. Mahesh Halal/ Ketan Halal (Kenya — Subaru Impreza), 32. Abdul Katete/Rahma Mohammed (UG — Subaru Impreza), 33. Piero Cannobio/TBA (Italy — Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10), 34. Manvir Baryan/Drew Sturrock (Kenya — Skoda Fabia), 35. Moez Malik/Steven Njenga (Kenya — Subaru Impreza), 36. Hussein Malik/TBA (Kenya — Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10), 37. Ian Duncan/Anthony Nielson (Kenya — Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10), 38. Kirit Rajput/Kashif Sheikh (Kenya — BMW 3251), 39. John Nganga/TBA (Kenya — Subaru Impreza), 40. Waita Nzioka/Laban Cliff (Kenya — Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9), 41. Mughal Adil/Hamid Zaib (Kenya — Subaru Impreza), 42. Ken Kamau/TBA (Kenya — Subaru Impreza), 43. Izhar Mirza/Kavit Dave (Kenya — Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10), 44. Kailesh Chouhan/Tariq Malik (Kenya — Ford Escort), 45. Ken Nteere/Edward Ndukui (Kenya — Subaru Impreza)