The Kenya National Rally Championship (KNRC) calendar has kicked off with the Eldoret rally hosted by the Western Kenya Motor Club (WKMC) and the Kenya Motor Sport Federation (KMSF) in Eldoret. The rally took place on 17/18 February with a seeded entry list of only nine drivers; Samman Vohra navigated by Alfir Khan in their Skoda Fabia Rally2 won the event with a total time of 01:17:37 in six stages. Vohra competed in the late stages of last year’s championship, autocross, and the local rally raid; the team is hoping to keep the momentum going for this season as they are also gearing up to participate in the beloved WRC Safari rally in March. Samman Vohra leads the championship with thirty-three points.
The reigning KNRC champion Jasmeet Chana, finished in second place with his co-driver brother Ravinder Chana in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10 with a time of 01:19:10. The Chana brothers had a time difference of 1:33 from Vohra/Khan. Jasmeet Chana was crowned 2023 champion after a triumphant season; they are second in standings with twenty-six points.
Uganda’s Yasin Nasser and co-driver Joseph Kamya finished in third place with a time of 01:20:30 in their Ford Fiesta R5, the crew suffered a thirty seconds penalty but still kept the pace to finish on the podium. Nasser, who is a two-time National Rally Champion (NRC) champion for 2019 and 2023 and the current Tanzania National Rally Champion will be looking to compete in this year’s KNRC season, and if he ends up as the champion, he would have made history as the only driver to have three East African championships. Nasser is third on the standings with twenty-two points.
Legendary rally driver Ian Duncan finished fourth overall and won the SPV category (Specially Prepared Vehicles) with a time of 01:22:16 in a Nissan Patrol P/UP. Duncan mostly competes in the East African Classic rally
Ghalib Hajee navigated by Riyaz Ismail came in fifth place in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10 with a time of 01:32:42.
The final finisher of the event was Joey Ghose navigated by Kashif Shaikh in their Porsche 911 with a time of 01:36:43. Ghose also usually competes in the classic rally.
Two crews Did Not Finish (DNF), Jose Sardinha navigated by Assad Mghal in their Pajero Mitsubishi and Khalid Omar navigated by Salim Mohammed in their Subaru Impreza.
The WRC Safari rally will also serve as the second round on the KNRC scheduled to take place in March.
