Chager takes lead: Flying Singh opens four-point advantage after KCB Kajiado rally victory

Multiple former Kenya Champion Baldev Singh Chager navigated by Ravi Soni in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 10- R4 won the KCB Kajiado Rally to take over the lead on the Kenya National Rally Championship log.

The ‘Flying Singh’ drove like a man possessed, winning four out of five stages and leading the Kenya Motor Sports Club round from start to finish.

Chager savoured a cumulative total of 1:30.44 hours to win the KNRC 2 event by 36 seconds ahead of two-time reigning African champions Manvir Baryan and Drew Sturrock who came home second in a Skoda Fabia R5.

Defending champion Carl ‘Flash’ Tundo completed the podium dash in a time of 1:31.44 but candidly admitted he was outpaced by Chager and Manvir.

In the absence of Onkar Rai, who won the season-opening Nakuru Rally, Chager takes over the KCB KNRC lead on 43 points while Tundo retains second spot on 39.

Chager said: “I’m very happy that the Evolution has beaten the Skoda. The car was faultless throughout the rally and it’s one of those days when everything goes as planned. Eldoret is a few weeks away and the strategy is to take it as it comes. Our lead in the championship is not a comfortable one considering that Flash (Tundo) is only four points adrift. Stage one at Andy’s Corner and the second at Kenjoro kind of suited the Mitsubishis but to be very honest, we really worked hard to keep up with Manvir’s Skoda and to get the stage times we did.”

Manvir on his part said: “Everything went well today apart from the first stage in the morning. The setup of the suspension was too soft so we had had issues on the jumps but all in all I’m happy with second position.”

Despite losing quite a bit of power, Tundo was happy with his placing on the log.

“I got beaten properly today. We lost the exhaust quite early in the first stage and thought it was a crankshaft, so we lost quite a bit of power. It didn’t feel right today but third overall is okay. Those Skodas are beasts, you have to drive at 180%,” said Flash.

The event, flagged off by Kajiado Country Governor Joseph Ole Lenku outside KCB Kajiado branch, witnessed a high level of attrition.

Out of 27 starters, only 14 survived the demanding course.

The 33km Andy’s corner stage proved quite unforgiving to many of the crews. Among those who went out on this stage included Aakif Virani (broken suspension arm), Dinesh Sachania (engine), Rajay Sehmi (engine) and Edward Maina.

SportPesa Racing team of Leo Varese and Kigondu Kareithi on their very first outing in the Toyota Auris 2WD tackled the first two stages at Andy’s Corner and Kenjoro but retired with a broken suspension arm on the first service out.

It was a bitter pill to swallow for Eric Bengi and Tuta Mionki who suffered their second straight retirement on their ex Farhaaz Khan Mitsubishi Lancer.

Eldoret’s Western Kenya Motor Club will host the third round of the KNRC in early April.