Baldev Chager has opened an early 7- seconds lead over compatriot Ian Duncan on the first stage of the East African Mini Classic Rally which revved off at the Waterfront Karen today.
Driving a Kabras Sugar Racing Porsche 911, Chager cleared the 44.82km CS1 Corner Baridi section in 00:23:23.6, beating Duncan to second. South African Geoff Bell ran third fastest in a Datsun 240Z.
Multiple former Kenya navigators' champion Pier Daykin ran fourth fastest in a time of 25.23.7minutes. Daykin, who has called the pace notes for South Africa based Lee Rose, was 2.00.1minutes slower than Chager.
The cars will stay overnight at Ol Tukai Lodge in Amboseli and will tackle three stages.
Over 30 cars were flagged off at the Waterfront Karen to embark on the 1000km gruelling journey through some of the most nostalgic Safari routes of the old.
Event director, Tash Tundo said: “The Mini Classic is a teaser to the main EA Safari Classic in February. Cars will be rallying for a 1000km in three days, starting here this morning and heading down to Amboseli.
We have three sections and three service stations as well today. We have the rally raid cars running behind the classic cars which is a first in our country.
Kenya Motor Sport Federation (KMSF) chairman, Phineas Kimathi was among those who flagged off the cars at The Waterfront.
RESULTS
1. Baldev Chager/Ravi Soni CL3 Porsche 911 Kabras Sugar Racing 00:23:23.6
2. Ian Duncan/ Antony Nielsen CL4 Rover V8 Minti Motorsport 00:23:31.0
3. Geoff Bell/Tim Challen CL3 Datsun 240z Dansport 00:23:42.2
4. Piers Daykin/Marcus Rayner CL3 Datsun 280z Rocca Rally Team 00:25:23.7
5. Raaji Bharij/Gavin Laurence CL2 Ford Escort Mk1 Raaji Rallying 00:25:25.4
6. Jonathan Somen/Richard Hechle CL2 Ford Escort MK2 Scuderi Dagoretti 00:26:41.6
7. Rommy Bamrah/Harvey Jutley CL3 Datsun 240z Pan African Racing 00:27:36.5
8. Aslam Khan/Arshad Khan CL3 Porsche 911 ALS Motorsports 00:27:51.9
9. Ben Woodhams/Kavit Dave CL4 Ford Capri Knight Frank 00:27:55.5
10. Shakeel Khan/Assad Mughal CL2 Ford Escort MK1 Als Motorsports 00:28:35.2
11. Glen Edmunds/Jiri Kotek CL1 Skoda Classic Skoda 00:28:40.3
12. Iain Dobson/Dougie Rundgren Cl1 Skoda 130 LR/B Classic Skoda 00:29:07.9
13. Joey Ghose/Imran Khan CL2 Nissan Violet Gt Minti Motorsport 00:29:16.3
14. Eric Bengi /Gatimu Mindo CL2 Datsun 180B East African Classic Rally 00:30.24.7
15. Bob Sehmi/ Kyle Lucas CL2 Ford Escort MK2 Pac Motorsports 00:30:36.2
16. Nish Lakhani /Teeku Patel CL2 Datsun Terra Safi Eco Solutions 00:33:13.0
17. Maxine Wahome/Safina Khan CL2 Nissan 160J Minti Motorsport 00:35:34.8
18 Hamza Anwar/Adnan Din CL1 Toyota Levin African Eco Safaris 00:38:05.5
19 Karan Sehmi /Raju Sehmi CL2 Ford Escort MK2 Pac Motorsports 00:38:13.6
20. Shabaz Anwar/ Azar Anwar CL4 BMW 535 Aam Academy 00:40:03.7
