Kimathi Jr. looking forward to full asphalt debut in WRC Croatia Rally

FIA Junior World Rally Championship contender McRae Kimathi thinks there is still plenty of room for him to improve after a fairytale snow experience at WRC Rally Sweden.

The reigning African Rally Championship (ARC) Junior Champion arrived in Zagreb on Saturday for the forthcoming WRC Rally Croatia where he’ll resume his spirited hunt for WRC3 and JWRC points.

Together with his navigator Mwangi Kioni, they will also enter their names in the annals of history books as the first ever Kenyan pair to partake in the Croatian round of the global series.

All the best to @FIARallyStar team of @mcrae_kimathi and Mwangi Kioni. The duo jetted out of the country last night on a mission to tackle their first ever tarmac rally, @croatia_rally, in the @FIAJuniorWRC category. Go on and make Kenya Proud! pic.twitter.com/B6O7yo8bWS

— Safari Rally Kenya (@wrcsafarirally) April 16, 2022

What’s more, Kimathi and his partner will also savor the opportunity to test their Europe based M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally 3 well in time for action proper from April 21 to 24.

“Croatia will be a very new experience for us. It is going to be a full-tarmac event and not like a normal tarmac rally. I have never driven on tarmac before, so it’s going to be very exciting.

From what I have gathered, it becomes really slippery in the wet, so this is something we will have to be very careful about,” says Kimathi.

“My friends in Europe have told me that it’s such a fast rally with lots of crests and quick corners.

But we are planning on something; we’ll have a test before to give us a feeling of what the Rally3 feels like on tarmac setup.“In all our WRC events, we will be leaving slightly earlier so that we can get some testing time from M-Sport Poland.

Congratulations! @mcRae_Kimathi and Mwangi Kioni for becoming the first African crew to finish @RallySweden. We are extremely proud of you & cannot wait for what the future holds. Keep believing. #JWRC #WRC #RallySweden #ThePrideofAfrica #Kenya #TeamMcraeKimathi pic.twitter.com/t1HpVEaHro

— Kenya Airways (@KenyaAirways) February 28, 2022

They have been very kind with the pre-event program to try and get us up to speed,” the Kenyan added.

Kimathi believes his driving lines are getting better and better by the day. “I feel the pace has improved now.

It was very interesting on snow- new surface and new terrain. We had a small off in Sweden but we managed to come back, thanks to the spectators – we also managed to get a very good finish and points to start the championship with.

”Meanwhile, Kimathi will renew his rivalry with JWRC leader Jon Armstrong of Great Britain, the Finland duo of Lauri Joona and Sami Pajari as well as William Creighton of Ireland.

Croatia will mark the second rally of the year for JWRC with seven confirmed crews.

The event will also offer crews fast roads which are very narrow in parts, with the service park based in Zagreb.

Croatia will feature Stages 20 stages totaling 291.84 kilometres.Pajari, who won the series last year, has been testing near Lake Garda, while championship leader Armstrong was in action – albeit on gravel – at the ERC’s Azores Rallye.

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