By OUR CORRESPONDENT
The fight for this year’s Kenya National Rally Championship goes down to the wire on the weekend of November 29-December 1 with series leader Samman Vohra and defending champion Jasmeet Chana going for each other’s jugular in the season-closing ARC Guru Nanak Rally 2024.
Samman goes into the Sikh Union organized gravel fixture with a massive 14-point advantage over champion Jasmeet Chana who has vowed to fight tooth and nail to salvage the title fortunes.
In a bid to savor a bit of seat-time at the wheel of his new Ford Fiesta R5, Jasmeet has entered this weekend’s Tanzanian version of Guru Nanak Rally; that will tackle speed tests around Miswakini, Naitolya and Makuyuni areas.
–The Final Push–
Guru Nanak Equator Rally 2024 sets up a scintillating final-round showdown of supercars with Samman ready to pilot his Rally2 Skoda Fabia to victory and Jasmeet at it behind the wheel of a Ford Fiesta R5 contraption.
Samman (66-points) has two wins under his belt at Eldoret and Nanyuki legs. Jasmeet (52-points), on the other hand, skipped round 2 WRC Safari KNRC event but finished second in Eldoret and Nanyuki.
Samman, is gunning for his maiden drivers’ title and it will be interesting to see how his fight with Jasmeet pans out.
All that Samman needs to do to lay his hands on the coveted title is secure a podium finish on Guru Nanak. Should Samman retire, then Jasmeet will be on course for a career second KNRC title.
–Speed Merchant–
Speedster Karan Patel is not in contention for the KNRC title, but his presence at the season-ender is sure to treat fans to some exhilarating displays.
Sublime Karan has literally swept the ground with all his opponents across the African continent and will be seeking to end his ARC season on a high.
He already has the African title in the bag and will definitely be the fans’ favorite on the race weekend.
Reflecting on his title defense, Jasmeet candidly admitted that his race adversary Samman has a quite head start.
“We will be going to Tanzania this weekend for their version of Guru Nanak traditionally held around this time of the year. The essence is to get some seat time on the Fiesta as we have not driven it much,” said Jasmeet.
Jasmeet: “Samman has decent points tally after we skipped Safari over Easter. We’re now headed for more seat time right now and looking to make Kenya proud in the Tanzania Guru Nanak. I won the championship in an Evolution 10 last season; but I’m glad that now I can take on my race adversaries in a state-of-the-art machinery. It will be a good fight between us and Team Samman.”
Samman, on his part, commented: “As a team, we’re just grateful that we have a rally to do before closing the year. We haven’t driven the car since the Nanyuki Rally back at the end of June, so we are definitely a bit rusty and will approach the rally with caution until we find the right rhythm and pace. The car is ready to go, just the final checks and setup adjustments over the next few weeks.”
KNRC STANDINGS AFTER NANYUKI RALLY
1 Samman Vohra 66
2 Jasmeet Chana 52
3 Ian Duncan 41
4 Carl Tundo 39
5 Joey Ghose 34
6 Minesh Rathod 29
7 Josiah Kariuki 25
8 Aakif Virani 24
9 Yassin Nasser 22
9= Hamza Anwar 22
11 Francesco Garosci 18
12 Ghalib Hajee 17
12= Shakeel Khan 17
14 Tinashe Gatimu 16
15 Lisa Christoffersen 15
16 Pauline Shegu 13
CO-DRIVERS
1 Alfir Khan 66
2 Ravi Chana 52
3 Tim Jessop 39
4 Gordon Noble 29
5 John Ngugi 25
6 Zahir Shah 24
7 Joseph Kamya 22 22
7= Adnan Din 22
7= Kavit Dave 22
10 Jaspal Matharu 19
10= Ryan Champion 19
12 Daniele Bottallo 18
13 Riyaz Ismail 17
13= Wayne Fernandes 17
15 Caroline Gatimu DNE 16
16 Kashif Sheikh 15
16= Assad Mughal 15
18 Linet Ayuko 13
18= Lynn Lury 13
WINNERS SO FAR
ELDORET-Samman Vohra
KNRC SAFARI: Carl “Flash” Tundo
NANYUKI: Samman Vohra
