- Karan Patel has won the KNRC title for the first time
- He edged out Jasmeet Chana in a close finish
- Chana finished fourth in Seisa
Ford Fiesta Rally2 speedster Karan Patel savored his maiden Kenya National Rally Championship (KNRC) title with victory in the season- closing Sikh Union Club Guru Nanak Rally.
Karan won all the eight stages including an additional three points for winning the power stage.
The former 85cc East Africa Motocross Champion therefore laid his hands on the coveted national rally title with an unassailable 233points against Jasmeet Chana 230.
Chana went into the season closer with a 9-point advantage over Karan but suffered turbo gremlins in the first stage of the second loop which saw him dip to fourth overall hence losing the title.
Chana only needed to finish second and score at least one point on the power stage but rally gods proved otherwise.
Karan was all smiles and here’s what he had to say about his fairy tale victory: “It’s definitely something to cherish and remember for the rest of my life. I’m sure the same goes to the rest of the team. We have worked hard from 2014 from when I started my rallying.”
He went on: “It’s been good here in Teita, eight out of eight stages plus the power stage win which gave us 3 bonus points, I’m super chuffed.”
So near yet so far for Jasmeet
For Jasmeet it was a case of so near yet so far.
“All seemed okay. But unfortunately, into the second loop first stage 2 kms inside we lost the boost so we decide to stop and fix . Going into second last stage, the bottom pipe of the turbo came off; and all these dramas denied us the title.”
Baaldev Chager in a Porsche 911 came second while homeboy Anthony Nielsen sealed the podium dash.
Chana was fourth behind him.
The Sikh Union organized rally claimed four cars of Piero Canobbio who rolled out on SS3, Hamza Anwar with a damaged diff , Ian Duncan and Leonardo Varese who also sufferd mechanical problems.
Piero handed his Hyundai i20 NG Rally2 its first roll and here’s what his navigator Victor Okundi described their disappointing exit from the event: “The going was good from the start. But we realized the car was starved on fuel. The power was still low and not giving the full boost.”
“We noticed that from morning but we were able to do the first two stages well and then when we were trying to regain time on SS3, we went wide and rolled off the course. We were back on four wheels on a broken sisal stump.”
Hamza suffers woes
Hamza was well on course for a strong position until he suffered rear diff problems.
Hamza Anwar: “We were motoring really well. Unfortunately due to fatigue the rear diff gave up. We were actuallly looking to hold a string position in the car.”
“We ran second fastest on stage 1 then the diff stated giving us problems towards the end of the second stage and we still managed third fastest on that section We limped trough the third stage but it wasn’t to be.”
FINAL RESULTS -GURU NANAK RALLY
1 Karan Patel/Tauseef Khan (Ford Fiesa Rally2) 1:49.56.2
2 Baldev Chager/Gareth Dawe (Porsche 911) 1:59.12.2
- Anthony Nielsen/William Bass (EVOX) 2:00.33.3
- Jasmeet Chana (EVOX) 2:04.40.6
- Nikhil Sachania (EVOX) 2:04.48.9
FINAL KNRC STANDINGS
- Karan Patel 233points
- Jasmeet Chana 230
- Kush Patel 101
4 Leonardo Varese 82
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