Carl “Flash” Tundo goes into Sunday’s final sections of the African Rally Championship Equator Rally with a huge, six-minute head start.
Tundo, the five times winner of the Safari Rally, set fastest times on all the six completive stages of the rally on Saturday despite driving a VW Polo R5 car for the first time.
Drew Sturrock, navigating Onkar Rai in a VW Polo R5, runs to clock in at the Service Park of the African Rally Championship Equator Rally at the Kenya Wildlife Training Institute in Naivasha on April 24, 2021.
Drew Sturrock, navigating Onkar Rai in a VW Polo R5, runs to clock in at the Service Park of the African Rally Championship Equator Rally at the Kenya Wildlife Training Institute in Naivasha on April 24, 2021.
Drew Sturrock, navigating Onkar Rai in a VW Polo R5, runs to clock in at the Service Park of the African Rally Championship Equator Rally at the Kenya Wildlife Training Institute in Naivasha on April 24, 2021.
The final day of the Equator Rally kicks off this morning at 8am from the Kenya Wildlife Training Services in Naivasha before crews tackle the final five competitive stages of the competition.
Today, the drivers will tackle Malewa (9.71 kilometres) and Loldia (11.33 kilometres), twice, while the Kedong section (32.68 kilometres) will only be done once. Today’s total competitive distance will be 74.76 kilometres while the liaison distance will be 162.41 kilometres.
With the WRC Safari Rally in the mind of most of the event organisers, the Equator Rally has so far gone well as a dry run for the WRC Safari Rally which will run from June 24 to 27.
Kenya’s rally driver Ian Duncan and Kenya’s co-driver Tej Sehmi drive over a stream during the African Rally Championship (ARC) Equator Rally Kenya at the Kenya Wildlife Services Institute in Naivasha, Kenya, on April 24, 2021, ahead of the return of the World Rally Championship (WRC) scheduled in Kenya in June 2021 after 19 years.
President Uhuru Kenyatta on Saturday joined Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed and WRC Safari Rally chief executive officer Phineas Kimathi in following the Equator Rally action at the Soysambu section.
The President arrived just before 3pm and watched the cars for about an hour, taking photographs with excited guests before flying off.
President Kenyatta is also Patron of the WRC safari Rally while CS Amina is a member of the International Automobile Federation’s World Motor Sports Council.
Kenya’s driver Carl Tundo and his Kenya’s co-driver Tim Jessop on their way to the African Rally Championship (ARC) Equator Rally Kenya start point in Naivasha, Kenya, on April 24, 2021, ahead of the return of the World Rally Championship (WRC) scheduled in Kenya in June 2021 after 19 years.
On Friday, the CS Amina embarked on another tree planting exercise as part of the WRC Safari Rally Green Legacy Project in which organisers plan to plant 19 million trees to mark the 19 years in which the Safari Rally has been out of the World Rally Championship circuit.
Kavamahanga Alain Franck, the Vice President of Club Automobile du Burundi (CAB), is in Naivasha as one of the scrutineering officials assisting the FIA Delegate Team under Kenya’s Musa Locho.
“It is nice to be here personally and see how the Kenyans are professionally involved with organising a major international rally.”
“The return of the WRC Safari Rally is exciting not only for Kenya but the whole of Africa,” he said. BY DAILY NATION