Magnificent Karan Grabs First ARC Win at Equator Rally
Fresh from winning his first African Rally Championship (ARC) at Kenya's Equator Rally in Naivasha, top Kenyan driver Karan Patel is now shifting focus to solidifying his Kenya National Rally Championship (KNRC) lead.
Karan, the Kenyan speedster beat Zambian Champion Leroy Gomes by a massive 3:13.1minutes margin to rack up victory on volcanic ash soil stages in Naivasha on Sunday.
Navigated by Tauseef Khan in a Ford Fiesta Rally 2, Karan achieved the feat by winning four out of the possible eight stages; clocking a cumulative two-day total of 02:26:55.4hours.
He also won the qualifying stage of the event which counted towards the second round of the continental series and the third on the local circuit.
This was Karan's third successive win of the 2022 season after Il-Bisil and Mogotio; and his fifth career victory after Arusha Guru Nanak 2020 and KNRC Voi Rally 2021.
"It's a good feeling to win the Equator Rally. I'm happy for the position because we work hard all the time to be on the prime of our career, so hard work pays off."
He added, "The competition was all good and I am happy to have our brothers from the continent competing in Kenya. The drive-shaft problems towards the last two stages of Saturday slowed us down but we were lucky to nurse the car to the service and changed it to tackled leg two with a good car."
Zambian couple of Leroy and Urshlla Gomes were happy with their maiden podium in Kenya but candidly admitted that Karan is currently in a class of his own.
"It's exciting to see a new crop of drivers coming up in Kenya. The FIA Rally Star drivers were quick and drove well. On our side, I think we have shown some pace on Kenyan soil and tried to chase some positions."
"It's was a great experience winning three stages, but when you come to imagine that you are not racing against all the best Kenyan drivers; I mean there is still amazing new talent here," said Gomes.
To complete the podium was Jasmeet Chana in a career best ARC finish while FIA Rally Star Driver Jeremy Wahome settled for third place.
Wahome and his partner Victor Okundi regretted losing second overall position following an early morning Service error at KWS Institute Naivasha.
"In the morning, we checked out the service early which costed us a podium position," navigator Okundi said.
Jasmeet Chana was all smiles. "It was a long and grueling weekend with tough volcanic ash soil stages. I am glad to score KNRC points but its still early days for the championship which heads to Eldoret."
Jeremy said: "We had a good day yesterday (Saturday) on the three stages. We ran a trouble-free leg. We didn't have any issues and when everyone else had gremlins, we sailed through really well."
"We weren't going slow but just being cautious. We knew, all things considered, we won't catch Karan. Really sad though that we lost second position."
A total of 12 out of 19 starters survived the demanding course which acted as a dry run for the 2022 WRC Safari Rally.
Saturday's Leg 1 route revolved around Elementeita, Sleeping Warrior and Soysambu.
Today's Leg 2 featured only two stages at Loldia and Kedong.
FINAL STANDINGS AFTER SS8 KEDONG
1 Karan Patel/ Tauseef Khan (Ford Fiesta - Rally 2) 02:26:55.4
2 Leroy Gomes/ Urshlla Gomes (Ford Fiesta - Rally 2) 02:30:08.6
3 Jasmeet Chana/Ravi Chana (Mitsubishi Evolution 10) 02:30:51.0
4. Jeremy Wahome/Victor Okundi (Ford Fiesta - Rally3) 02:30:56.0
5 Giancarlo Davite/Sylvia Vindevogel (Mitsubishi Evolution 10) 02:42:19.2
6 Maxine Wahome / Murage Waigwa ( Subaru Impreza) 02:53:48.1
7 Hamza Anwar/ Adnan Din ( Mitsubishi Evolution 10 ) 03:06:15.3
8 Mcrae Kimathi/ Mwangi Kioni (Ford Fiesta - Rally 3) 03:11:41.6
9 Steve Mwangi/Dennis Mwenda (Subaru) 03:14.53.1
10 Rio Smith / Riyaz Ismail (Ford Fiesta - Rally 4) 03:18:12.2
11 Paras Pandya/ Falgun Bhojak (Mitsubishi Evolution 10) 03:18:18.9
12. Leo Varese/Kigo Kareithi (Toyota Auris) 3:34.06.8
This article originally appeared on Capital FM
Photo: Capital FM