New winner to be crowned at Equator Rally

This year’s Equator Rally is set to produce a new winner as Carl Tundo and Baldev Chager have decided to take a rest from rallying.

Tundo, the current African Rally Champion, won Kenya's round of the 2021 African Rally Championship. When contacted, Chagger said he was upset not doing the event, which he has tackled for many seasons

‘’Off course we feel a little upset not to be rallying. But it's just the way it is.  I have no plans at all for the weekend rally. I am just helping a few guys get their cars and parts in order for them," Chagger told Nation Sport.

"I am not sure of how many times I won the rally. It was called Safari Rally in between so i could say three times. Maybe I entered over ten Equator Rallies in my career," he added.

Only two foreign crews are expected to tackle the two-day competition set to start and finish at the Kenya Wildlife Training Institute in Naivasha.

The Zambian rallying couple, Leroy and Urshlla Gomes, will be representing the Southern African nation, while Giancarlo Devite and Sylvia Vindevogel will represent Rwanda.

Davite said he is looking forward to doing another rally in Kenya. He will drive a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10.

‘’I have always enjoyed rallying in Kenya where I have competed many times. I have been Rwanda champion on several occasions and also finished runner up in the ARC series twice among my achievements," Davire told Nation Sport from Rwanda.

Born in Kigali, Vindevogel has lived in the Burundi capital, Bujumbura, where she owns and manages Restaurant le Kasuku, since 1992.

The Equator Rally will be a dress rehearsal for the Safari Rally, which will take place in June as part of the 2022 World Rally Championship series.

The sections to be used in the Equator Rally will be exactly the same as what has been planned for Kenya’s major round of the 2022 WRC programme.

The Zambian couple are the current leaders of the 2022 ARC series after winning the first round of the series in Bandama recently.

The Zambia Motor Sport Association (ZMSA) appointed Ndola-based Urshila Gomes last year as rally commissioner for the 2021 season.

Urshila, who navigated her husband Gomes to the 2019 National Rally Championship title, takes over from veteran Muna Singh.

Maxine Wahome, who won the Ladies Rally in a Subaru Impreza last weekend, will be the only female driver in the competition filled with 23 crews.

Karan Patel, who has been in excellent form after having won the two opening rounds of the 2022 Kenya National Rally Championship in his Ford Fiesta, is the driver to watch in the Equator Event.

Patel, who is navigated by Tauseef Khan, tested his rally car at the Kasarani Circuit last weekend to make sure the machine is in excellent form. before trying to win his first ever Equator Rally.

Ian Duncan, the former winner of the ARC event, will be in action at the wheels of the Nissan 240RS with Tej Sehmi as his navigator.

Duncan, who will be sponsored by Minti Motorsports UK, is a former winner of the Safari Rally and multiple Kenya National Rally Champion.

Shakedown and Free Practice will be done on Friday. Shakedown will now be for the drivers in the Re-registered Non-ARC Cars. Free practice is meant for ARC homologated cars only.

The main event will take place on Saturday with three competitive stages that will be done three times. The stages will be Sosyambu 29.32kms, Elementaita 15.08kms, and Sleeping Warrior 23.05kms. The total competitive distance will be 183.82Kms.

The second day will be done on the following day when two more stages will be done to bring the competition to an end.

The final stages will go through Lodaiga (19.17kms) and Kedong (31.25kms).

They will have done eight stages with a total distance of 546.83kms of which competitive distance will be 183.82kms.