Karan Patel Wins the Kenya Equator Rally 2023

Karan Patel and co-driver Tauseef Khan won the Kenya Equator rally 2023 in their Ford Fiesta R5 in a total time of 2:20:59.3 in a total competitive distance of 205.23km. The whole event was run at the Teita Estate in Voi.

From left to right; Ali Katumba and Yasin Nasser in second place, Tauseef Khan and Karan Patel on first, and Joseph Kamya and Jas Mangat in third. Photo credit:Innocent Mutaawe.

This was the second round of the African Rally Championship (ARC) and also the second round of the Kenya National Rally Championship (KNRC). Karan Patel and Tauseef Khan came into the second day of competition with a 2minutes 47second lead over other competitors. The second day of competition had only two stages to be run, and the first stage of the day was won by Patel, and the second and last stage was one by Yasin Nasser and co-driver Ali Katumba. This was Karan Patel’s first event this year and it’s a strong return to the ARC after missing out on the win last year.

Team Uganda scored second and third-place podium wins in the ARC championship with Yasin Nasser and co-driver Ali Katumba coming in second (they also finished overall second in the event) with a time of 2:27:19.6 in their Ford Fiesta R5 as Jas Mangat and co-driver Joseph Kamya came in third with a total time of 2:29:01.0. Mangat was also the ARC2 championship winner. This was a great performance from the Ugandan drivers who both won one stage each during the event; Nasser won SS10 and Mangat won SS8. Team Moil’s Nasser and Katumba were consistent throughout the event and a second-place podium finish is not a bad way to kick off their ARC journey. Jas Mangat and Joseph Kamya seemed to struggle throughout the first day of competition but came in strong on Sunday placing third on the first stage and fifth on the very last stage.

The rally was tough on the cars and drivers, and there were only nine finishers in total crossing the finish line at the Voi Wildlife lodge as the event ended. Jasmeet Chana and co-driver brother Ravinder Chana finished third overall in the rally and second on the national level in the KNRC with a total time of 2:28:58.7 in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X.

Among the causalities of the event were two of the FIA Rally stars program; Hamza Anwar and co-driver Adnan Din and Jeremiah Wahome with co-driver Victor Okundi as both crews suffered mechanical issues (Anwar on Saturday and Wahome sadly on the second last stage of the event). Piero Canobio and Aakif Virani also suffered mechanical problems that ensued retirements.

McRae Kimathi and co-driver Mwangi Kioni were the only finishers on the rally stars’ program giving them the maximum points (30) in the ARC3 championship category. Kimathi finished ninth overall but had to wear protective glasses in the last stages on Sunday because the windscreen on the Ford Fiesta R3 broke.

The next round (third) on the ARC championship calendar is the Pearl of Africa Uganda rally slated for 5-7 May; the third round of the KNRC is slated for 20-21 May 2023.

Overall results: