Tundo Crowns 2018 KNRC Title With Guru Nanak Victory
19th November 2018
Five-time Safari Rally Champion trumps all at season ending event to chalk sixth victory of flying season in Machakos
- Having already taken some impressive scalps on Eldoret, RSC, Nanyuki, KMSC and Safari rounds, Tundo and his partner Tim Jessop savored their second career back to back Guru Nanak Rally success at the Sikh Union round in Machakos County
- Reigning African Rally Champion Manvir Singh Baryan who was the earlier pacesetter after clearing the ground with all his race adversaries on the first two stages completed the podium dash in a Skoda R5
- Amaanraj Rai's Ford Fiesta was on fire on CS6 but both the driver and navigator were said to be fine
- The crew were evacuated to the Service Park by an event safety chopper
NAIROBI, Kenya- Curtains came down on the "fast and furious" 2018 Kenya National Rally Championship season in Stoni Athi with five-times Safari winner Carl "Flash' Tundo registering his sixth win of the season on the 39th edition of Multiple Hauliers Guru Nanak Rally.
Having already taken some impressive scalps on Eldoret, RSC, Nanyuki, KMSC and Safari rounds, Tundo and his partner Tim Jessop savored their second career back to back Guru Nanak Rally success at the Sikh Union round in Machakos County.
Onkar Rai, winner of the season opening round in Nakuru earlier in the year finished second in the season ender to wrap the 2018 KNRC season in third overall.
Reigning African Rally Champion Manvir Singh Baryan who was the earlier pacesetter after clearing the ground with all his race adversaries on the first two stages completed the podium dash in a Skoda R5.
Legendary Ian Duncan won the SPV Class in fourth overall position while the 2015 ARC and KNRC champion Jassi Chatthe, who last raced in the 2018 Safari Rally, settled for fifth in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X.
Tundo, who sealed the KNRC title on the penultimate Eldoret leg last month, celebrated his most successful season which saw him equal the longstanding Shekhar Mehta's record of five Safari wins, over and above, the six 2018 wins he chalked up this season.
It was a bitter pill to swallow for Baldev Chager and Eric Bengi who kissed the Guru Nanak Rally goodbye following excruciating mechanical problems.
Championship double
Although Bengi lost third place (in the final standings) to Onkar Rai, he completed a rare championship double when he added the KNRC Group N title to his trophy cabinet.
Bengi sealed the KNRC Division 1 during last month's Eldoret leg but had his Group N campaign effectively sewn up when his closest challenger Fazzy Khan decided to give Guru Nanak a wide berth.
Like Bengi and his lady partner Tuta Mionki aka Tuts, Tundo and his partner Jessop also claimed a KNRC double after clinching the overall titles and the B13 Class which Kenya Motor Sports Federation is scrapping effective 2019.
Chager who has been the fastest driver in 2018 alongside teammate Flash, settled for second position on the KNRC log: which he had secured in Eldoret.
He also wrapped the B13 Class in second spot behind Safari legend Tundo.
Sarit Shah and Kigo Kareithi beat Daren Miranda and Wayne Fernandez to the KNRC 2WD title.
Daren won the Guru Nanak 2WD title but Sarit's second in class earned him the coveted title.
For Sarit it was his maiden F2 title while Kigo, who previously navigated Leonardo Varese, won it for the umpteenth time.
The two-wheel tussle was a two-horse race pitting Sarit against Daren.
Miranda said: "I didn't do Eldoret because it coincided with my brothers wedding and didn't score points in Nakuru because I drove the group S car. I wasn't intending on doing 2WD this year, but after selling the N10 after Nakuru, I went back to my old 2WD car."
Sarit drove the ex-Varese Corolla RSI that was previously driven by David Horsy while Miranda drove the Sprinter GT previously driven by Alex Lairangi and Dennis Mwenda.
Out of 27 starters only 19 survived the demanding course.
Amaanraj Rai's Ford Fiesta was on fire on CS6 but both the driver and navigator were said to be fine.
The crew were evacuated to the Service Park by an event safety chopper.
Provisional Final Classification
1. Carl Tundo/Tim Jessop (Mitsubishi Evolution X) 1h56m06s
2 Onkar Rai/Gavin Laurence (Skoda R5) 1h58m30s
3 Manvir Baryan/Drew Sturrock (Skoda R5) 2h00m24s
4. Ian Duncan/Anthony Nielsen (SPV Nissan Pick Up) 2h03,m12s
5 Jaspreet Chatthe /Gugu Panesar (Mitsubishi Evolution X) 2h03m23s
6. Mahesh Halai /Ketan Halai (Subaru N4) 2h10m58s
7. Sohanjeet Puee/ Adnan Din (Subaru Impreza -S Class) 2h12m66s
8. Jonathan Somen/ Richard Hechle (Ford Escort MK2) 2h16m25s
9. Paras Pandya/ Fagun Bhojak (Mitsubishi Evolution X) 2h17m18s
10. Nikhil Sachania/ Alfir Khan Mitsubishi Evolution X) 2h17m56s
11. Ammar Haq/Victor Okundi (Mitsubishi Evolution X) 2h21m00s
12. Rajay Sehmi/ Tej Sehmi (Porsche 911) 2h22m04s
13. Jasmeet Chana/Ravi Chana (Mitsubishi Evolution X) 2h22m24s
14. Ramesh Vishram/ Riyaz Ismael (Ford Escort MK2) 2h29m14s
15. Evans Kavisi/ Kimeli Koriri (Subaru Impreza) 2h31m54s
16. Gerald Maina /Mwangi Kioni (Subaru S Class) 2h33m13s
17. Daren Miranda/Wayne Fernande (Toyota Sprinter 2WD) 2h40m55s
18. Sarit Shah/ K Kareithi (Corolla RSI) 2h42m039s
19. Ken Nteere/E. Ndukui (Subaru) 2h56m27s
KNRC FINAL STANDINGS
1. Carl Tundo 193
2. Baldev Chager 135
3. Onkar Rai 100
4. Manvir Baryan 96
5. Eric Bengi 83
6. Farhaaz Khan 72
KNRC 2018 champions
Main Class:Carl Flash Tundo
Division One: Eric Bengi
Division Two: Sohanjeet S. Puee
Division 3: Nikhil Sachania
Group N: Eric Bengi
B13 Class: Carl Tundo
S Class: Sohanjeet Pure
2WD (Formula 2): Sarit Shah
SPV Class: Nikhil Sachania