Jassi Chatthe upbeat as action nears
Jaspreet Chatthe, navigated by Gurdeep Panesar, power their Mitsubishi Evolution 10 car during last year’s KCB Eldoret Rally on July 04, last year. The 2016 KCB Safari Rally will start this weekend at Kenyatta International Convention Centre, Nairobi. PHOTO | JARED NYATAYA |
What you need to know:
- Only 15 cars had entered for Kisumu Rally by last Tuesday\
- The Nucleus Stage will be the longest with 47.34kms, while the shortest will be of 8.54km.
Jassi Chatthe, the reigning Kenya National and African champion, has shifted focus on next weekend’s 2016 KCB Kisumu Rally.
“It has been very quiet after the postponement of the Safari Rally. I had the difficult task of knowing when to get my team of mechanics from Europe to come to Kenya," Chatthe, who finished third in the opening round of the series, told Daily Nation Sport from his home in Kibos early this week.
He added: “I would definitely like to win my first event since winning the Mombasa Rally late last year. My preparations will now be in top gear after the Kajiado Rally in February."
Similar sentiments were shared by Ian Duncan, the former Safari Rally winner and one of the best rally drivers Kenya has produced.
“I am happy the event is ready to receive us next weekend. It has been quiet season so far but my team is now fully committed to get the car ready for the Kisumu Rally," said Duncan.
Finland’s Tapio Laukkanen, who started his winning streak in the Kisumu Rally last year, is expected in the country by next Wednesday to embark on yet another round of the KCB Kenya National Rally Championship, which he currently leads with 25 points.
Meanwhile, normal entries close on Friday as drivers prepare for next weekend’s KCB Kisumu Rally.
Though only 15 cars had entered by last Tuesday, the event’s organisers are expecting the list to hit a higher mark following the extension of normal entries.
The event will be the second round of the 2016 KCB Kenya National Rally Championship following the postponement of the Safari Rally, which was to be run over the Easter period in March. For technical reasons, the host club decided to move the major event of the calendar to June.
The Kisumu Rally’s programme begins next Thursday with drivers having a chance to check on the rally stages as their mechanics present their rally cars to the technical officials for inspection ahead of the main rally action on Saturday.
There will be three competitive stages of which two will be repeated through Nucleus, Simba and Kobonyo. The Simba stage will only be done once, while the other sections will be done twice.
In the interest of safety and also to discourage spectator movement during the competition, the organisers will only allow fans into the Nucleus Stage, while the other two sections will be closed to the public.
The Nucleus Stage will be the longest with 47.34kms, while the shortest will be of 8.54km.
ENTRIES
1.Tapio Laukkanen/Pasi Törmä (Subaru Impreza R4), 2. Manvir Baryan/Drew Sturrock (Ford Fiesta R5), 3. Karan K Patel/Tauseef Khan (Mitsubishi Lancer EvoX), 4. Nikhil Sachania/Salim Khan (Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000), 5. Eric Bengi/Tuta Mionki (Toyota RunX), 6. Onkar Singh Rai/Gareth Dawe (Mitsubishi Lancer EvoX), 7. Tash Tundo/Chantal Louise Young (Subaru Impreza N10), 8. Farhaaz Khan/Keith Henrie (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9), 9. Tejveer Singh Rai/Zah Shah (Mitsubishi Lancer EvoX), 10. Baldev Singh Chager/Ravi Soni (Mitsubishi Lancer EvoX), 11. Jassi Chatthe/Gugu Panesar (Mitsubishi Lancer EvoX), 12. Frank Tundo/TBC (Mitsubishi), 13. Chandu Devji Chhabhadia/Julius Mwachuya (Subaru Impreza GC8), 14. Alex Lairang’i/Anthony Gichohi (Toyota Sprinter), 15. Carl Flash Tundo/Tim Jessop (Subaru Impreza GC8), 16. Osman Abdulahi Osman/Evans Mwenda, 17. Rajbir Rai/Greg Stead (Ford Fiesta R5).
