African Champion Manvir Baryan Confirms 2019 Safari Rally Entry

NAIROBI, Kenya- African champion, Manvir Baryan on Thursday confirmed his participation in the 2018 KCB Safari Rally that has attracted 36 drivers a week before entries for the country's premier motor sport event closes.

The 2018 champion and Africa Rally Championship (ARC) runaway leader will be seeking his third successive continental rally victory following triumphs in the South Africa and Zambian rounds of the event with David Sturrock of Britain navigating the Kenyan star.

This year's Safari will be a Candidate Event for inclusion in the 2020 World Rally Championships (WRC) calendar as Kenya seeks a return to global status for the first time since October 2002.

Baryan said his goal was to score points in the Safari to maintain his lead in the continental championship as he strives to hold on to his ARC crown.

“The title race is still open as I am only 70 points ahead of Leroy Gomes and we still not half way through. He is not my target as all I want is to drive well,” he added.

“My prospects are to score points by finishing on the podium,” said Baryan who led in Zambia from start to finish highlighted.

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Gomes will also compete in the Safari in a Ford Fiesta R5 navigated by Gomes Urshlla. The R5 category is second tier competition cars after the WRC machine.

Besides Baryan and Gomes, Onkar Rai is the other driver in a similar car in that category, a Skoda Fabia. Other competitors are in Group N or upgraded standard cars like Mitsubishi EVO X and Subaru Impreza range.

Champion Carl Tundo in an EVO X will be aiming for a record sixth victory in the Safari which is fighting to return back to the World Rally Championship.

Baryan failed to finish last year’s Safari due to mechanical problems.

By Thursday 36 drivers had confirmed participation in the July 5-7 event in Nairobi, Kiambu and Nakuru counties.  

Meanwhile, the International Motorsport Federation (FIA) has appointed five officials to grade the Safari and if convinced will see the highly storied event return back to the high profile WRC which has  a guaranteed 876 million cumulative annual television viewership in 2020.

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FIA has already slotted the Safari Rally in the 2020 WRC draft calendar and the final decision will be taken by October this year in the FIA Motorsport Council meeting.

French woman Michelle Mouton will be the Safety Delegate and is expected to drive the safety car ahead of competitors throughout the rally. She was here in April to check out the rally route.

Chris Birkin (South Africa) is the Technical Delegate while Finnish rally ace Timo Rautianen is the Sporting Delegate.

Others are FIA Observer/Steward Alain Ambrosino (Ivory Coast), Satinder Birdi (Tanzania), Chairman of Stewards, John Kamau (Kenya), KMSF Steward.

Stewards are experts who ensure all sporting and technical aspects of a rally meet set FIA rules and regulations.

The WRC Promoter is sending Jarmo Lehtinen of Finland and Briton Iain Campbell as technical experts who have been working with the WRC Safari Rally Project since March this year.

Lehtinen, will  navigate Finish rising star Teemu Suninen in the WRC eighth round that started on Thursday in Italy.

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Both spent seven days last month in Kenya to review the 2019 Safari route and proposed itinerary for 2020 WRC in Nairobi, Nakuru Kiambu and Baringo counties. This was a follow up tour of March this year for a similar mission.

Campbell is the Clerk-of- Course of WRC  Welsh Rally GB. Besides the routes the experts also imparted insightful knowledge of hosting a WRC event.

Lehtinen said before departure that they were impressed with progress and wished Kenya will host the most successful Africa Championship 2019. Iain expressed similar sentiments.

They return in the first week of July to assist in organizing the Safari.

Lehtinen is one of the sport’s most knowledgeable co-drivers. He has started 169 WRC events, most alongside Mikko Hirvonen, with whom he finished runner-up in the WRC four times, and won the manufacturers’ title with Ford in 2006 and 2007.

He explained the nitty gritties from an experienced world level driver’s point of view to the Organising Committee of the Safari.

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After retiring from co-driving in 2014, Lehtinen was sporting director at Toyota Gazoo Racing when the Japanese manufacturer returned to the WRC in 2017. He left in August that year and has most recently worked as a consultant in the championship.

2019 Safari Rally entries so far

No: DRIVER NAVIGATOR NATIONALITY Car Make

1: Paras Pandya/Falgun Bhojak (KEN) Evo X N4

2: Mahesh Halai/Ketan Halai (KEN), Subaru Impreza N4

3: Lloyd John – UK/Cavenagh Adrian (KEN), Ford Escort Classic

4:Somen Jonathan/Hechle Richard (KEN), Ford Escort Mk Ii Classic

5: Edward Maina/Edward Njoroge (KEN),  Subaru Impreza N10

6: Jasmeet Chana/Ravi Chana (KEN), EVO X 

7:Giancarlo Davite(Begium)/Sylvia Vindevogel (Burundi), EVO X

8: Karan Patel/James Mwangi, (KEN) EVO X

9: Daren Miranda/Fernandes Wayne (KEN), Toyota Sprinter 2WD

10:  Walubi Kepher/Mugambwa Anthony (Uganda), EVO X

11:  Ssebaguzi Ronald/Ssenyange Leon (UG), EVO X

12: Puee Sohanjeet/Din Adnan (KEN), Subaru Impreza N10

13:  Geoff Mayes/Suzanne Zwager (KEN), Landrover SPV 

14:  Rai Onkar/ Dawe Gareth (KEN), Scoda Fabia RC2-R5

15: Rai Tejvir ( TBA) Ken,  EVO X

16:  Chager Baldev/Ravi Soni (KEN), EVO X

17: Kahlon Lovejyot Singh/Limbani Harshil  (KEN), Subaru Impreza N10

18: Gomes Leroy/Gomes Urshlla (ZAMBIA)  Ford Fiesta R5

19: Sachania Nikhil/Deep Patel (KEN) EVO X SPV

20: Carl Tundo/Tim Jessop (KEN) EVO X

21:  Sira Hardev /TBA (KEN), Ken, Ford Escort Classic

22: Nasser Yassin/Katumba Ali  (UG),Subaru Impreza

23:  Aakif Virani/Azhar Bhatti  (KEN), Subaru Impreza – Vab SPV

24:  Mcrae Kimathi/TBA (KEN),Subaru Impreza - N12

25: Minesh Rathod/ Shameer Yusuf (KEN), EVO X

26: Duncan Mubiru/Musa Nsubuga  (UG), EVO X

27: Eric Bengi/Tuta Mionki (KEN), EVO X

28: Issa Amwari/Job Njiru (KEN), EVO X

29: Ammar Haq/Victor Okundi (KEN) EVO X

30: Christakis Fitidis (UG)/Veer Dadar  (Tanzania), EVO X

31: Godfrey Nsereko/Jb Musisi (UG), Toyota Runx 2WD

32: Manvir Baryan (KEN)/Drew Sturrock (UK),  Skoda Fabia

33: Abdul Katete/Rahma Mohammed (UG), Subaru Impreza

34:Piero  Cannobio/TBA (Italy), EVO X

35: Hussein Malik/ TBA EVO X

36: Moez Malik/Steve Njenga, Subaru Impreza

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