Varese targets back to back wins at Nakuru Rally

• Varese won the last Rally in Kajiado
• He is one of the most successful 2WD drivers
• Sam Karangatha has pulled out of the rally

Multiple 2WD Champion Leo Varese is leaving nothing to chance as he seeks to clinch back to back victories with the Nakuru leg of the Kenya National Rally Championship scheduled to start at the Mogotio Cultural Center on Saturday.

The Sportpesa Rally team driver reveals that his 22nd career win in Il-Bisil during the season-opening KMSC Rally has motivated him to go for the coveted 2WD Championship title for the umpteenth time.

His round one win in Bisil went down as his fourth in the Kenya Motor Sport’s Club round after previous wins in 2008/2014 and 2017.

“We are now leading the Two Wheel Drive Championship and the essence going forward is to take as many points as possible. Kajiado has always been a favorable hunting ground, so let’s see how it goes in Mogotio,” said Leo.

He added; “Now I am getting a good feeling with the car and hopefully I will run most of the events. The initial plan was to do five but after the win in Kajiado, the plan is to run a full season God willing. I fine tune the Auris every now and then and things seem to be getting better – especially in in the Bisil stages, where I felt I had more reliability.”

“We needed to really fight and there is nothing good that overtaking a 4WD when we saw Kush Patel kind of stuck in the last stage. I tried to push to fight with my two wheel rave adversaries, so fingers crossed.”

Leo is the most successful two wheel drive competitor in recent memory. He has won Mombasa, RSC and Guru Nanak rounds twice, Nanyuki thrice and  Eldoret once.

“It was always a great feeling winning in Kajiado last month and as such, it’s an honour increasing your stats on clubs’ Roll of Honors.” He said.

Meanwhile, Sam Karangatha has withdrawn from the Rally citing personal reasons. Karangatha is hoping to compete in the clubman rally championship to gain more rally experience.

“I was planning to participate in the clubman category of the rally. However due to circumstances, we have to postpone to the next clubman round which on the calendar is 21-22 May in Meru,” he said.