Premier Class driver Issa Amwari has averred that sweeping the roads during the seventh round of the KCB Kenya National Rally Championship (KNRC) in Nanyuki this Saturday will place him in a vantage position to attack.
This is the virtue which he believes will trigger the much-needed adrenaline to make an impression.
The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 10 speedster is overly excited with the rotational seeding system which gives him a new experience of being placed in front of fellow Premier Class speedsters.
Amwari returns to his home rally behind the wheel of a soaped up Mitsubishi Evolution 10 and will be navigated by KCB Bank Group Customer Experience Director Job Njiru.
In the pecking order of frontrunners, Amwari will be followed by defending champion Baldev Singh Chager (VW Polo R5), Voi winner Karan Patel (Ford Fiesta R5) and the three Evolution 10s steered by five-time Safari winner Carl “Flash” Tundo, Eric Bengi and Jasmeet Chana.
“it’s never an advantage to start first and especially after missing out on Ramisi last month. But then again, being my first road sweeping experience in my home and having been on the reserve list in the Premier Class evokes a feeling of anticipation and a chance for an honorable placing rolled into one."
‘’Recently, Jasmeet (Chana) swept the roads in Ramisi for the first time in his racing career. So, we are all excited about it as a team and are looking forward to bringing the Evo back in one piece,” said Amwari.
Meanwhile, preparations are in high gear ahead of the Nanyuki Rally Group (NRG) organized round.
Clerk of the Course Gopi Bharat Pattni confirmed that reconnaissance and pre-event scrutineering will be held on Friday, October 8.
It will not be business as usual as organizers are deviating from the norm by starting the rally at the Graystone Service Park.
‘This time, we have moved the rally to a new ranch in Ole Naishu where the two main stages are going to be run. This route has never been used before in a KNRC event. The reason why we have moved from our traditional Service Park at Batian View is because of Covid-19 restrictions. It’s practically impossible for us to control the crowds in a public place like Batian and this necessitated moving everything to private ranches,” said Gopi.
NRG will be running a 78.02km three-stage loop that will be repeated twice. Two stages will be based in Ole Naishu with the Greystones special stage being the day’s Power Stage on its second run.
Gopi also alluded that the event is possibly going to be wet ‘because of rains which normally pound the area in the afternoon.
“I must say that should the heavens open, we will have the second part of the rally really wet,” said Gopi.
He added: “We couldn’t get access to Loldaiga. All in all, the new route has got pretty much everything in there. We have the twists, tights, rocks and straights in there.
The first stage is Mlima Hema which is 28.56km long while the second is Ole Naishu which is a grueling 41.51 km run followed by the 7.86km Super Special at Graystone.”
KCB NANYUKI RALLY 202 ENTRY LIST (08th - 09th OCTOBER 2021)
1. (10) Issa Amwari /Job Njiru (Mitsubishi Evolution 10)
2. (1) Baldev Chager/Ravi Soni (Volkswagen Polo R5)
3. (8) Karan Patel/Tauseef Khan (Ford Fiesta R5)
4. (3) Carl Tundo/Tim Jessop (Mitsubishi Evolution 10)
5. (7) Eric Bengi/Peter Mutuma (Mitsubishi Evolution 10)
6. (9) Jasmeet Chana/Ravi Chana (Mitsubishi Evolution 10)
7. (200) Amaanraj Rai-UG/Gurdeep Panesar (Skoda Fabia)
8. (23) Aakif Virani /Azhar Bhatti (Skoda Fabia R5)
9. (57) Hamza Anwar/Adnan Din (Mitsubishi Evolution 10)
10. (24) McRae Kimathi/Mwangi Kioni (Ford Fiesta RC2)
11. (5) Ian Duncan/Tej Sehmi (Nissan 240)
12. (39) Nzioka Waita/Tuta Mionki (Mitsubishi Evolution 10)
13. (55) Piero Canobbio/Shameer Yusuf ( Mitsubishi Evolution 10)
14. (20) Nikhil Sachania/Deep Patel ( Mitsubishi Evolution 10)
15. (25) Steve Mwangi /Dennis Mwenda (Subaru Impreza)
16. (53) Galib Hajee/Sinder Suddle ( Mitsubishi Evolution 10)
17. (58) Maxine Wahome/Linet Ayuko (Subaru Impreza)
18. (34) Daren Miranda/Amman Shah (Subaru Impreza)
19. (22) Edward Maina/Anthony Gichohi (Subaru Impreza)
20. (67) Kush Patel/Mudasar Chaudry (Subaru Impreza)
21. (35) Ramesh Vishram/Riyaz Ismail (Ford Escort MK2)
22. (64) Shakeel Khan/Assad Mughal (Ford Escort)
23. (37) Aslam Khan/Arshad Khan (Porsche 911)
24. (61) John Fernandes/Rattos Nique (Subaru Impreza)
