Nairobi Star (Nairobi)
Samson Ateka
20 June 2011
Carl Tundo, a wheat farmer from the Great Rift Valley, savoured his third career KCB Safari Rally victory as curtains came down on the world’s toughest rally.
Tundo’s calm and assured march to last service in Isinya Service belied the excitement that was bubbling underneath-and at exactly 3pm, it spilled over in a solid stream of joy at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) finish ramp. “The game plan in the Safari was to get points because you know if you don’t score points, your championship is kind of over; so we went in with a sensible head from the first day and on the third stage, we realised we were leading by over a minute. We spent lots of time in preparations and made sure everything was running well,” said Tundo.
Jas Mangat secured his career best second overall position despite trailing Tundo by a massive 8.43minutes margin. “It feels great. It hasn’t sunk in yet; I think we will realise this tomorrow. We knew the Safari was a long rally and that it would be rough. Towards the end we were like four or five people fighting for the third position and at the end of the first stage today (yesterday) morning, they had all caught up with us. So it was a decision to either push and get a reward or just hang around,” said Mangat. Mangat was also bestowed the inaugural Lochab Memorial Trophy for the best Sikh driver.
In winning the 59th edition of the KCB Safari Rally 2011, Tundo achieved his third Safari career scalp with previous victories in South Coast in 2004 and in 2009.
Tundo’s drive on Saturday’s Leg 1A was peerless when he won five stages and went to bed with a 5.42minutes cushion from reigning African Champion Jamie Whyte. Tundo won all the five stages at stake on Saturday but appeared to back off in Leg 2’s three long stages around Konza, Kipeto and Olekajiado yesterday.
Youngster Quentin Mitchell set the fastest stage time on CS7 (Konza 2-Olekajuado) , Mangat took CS8 in Kipeto while Duncan the closing CS9. Behind Tundo was a spirited FIA African Rally Championship (ARC) rivalry pitting Champion Jamie Whyte and his Zimbabwean counterpart Conrad Rautenbach.
As at CS8 end, Whyte was well on course for a second place but dipped to fourth overall place after the Zimbabwean picked up a puncture on the last stage around Kipeto. Ian Duncan, the 1994 WRC Safari Rally winner, sealed the podium dash in a National Oil sponsored EVO9. Kenya’s former Pirelli Star qualifier Raaji Bharij from Kenya savored his fifth career best Safari result with Conrad Rautenbach settling for sixth overall. Rautenbach finished second in the ARC class while Madagascans Jean Yves Ranarivelo and Rila Ranaivomamianina took third in the ARC. Ranarivelo in his Safari debut ran quite aggressively with a joint second fastest time in Friday’s Jamhuri Spectators stage and 4th fastest on CS3 and CS4, but had his spirited fight stymied with two punctures on the latter stages. Ranarivelo finished 9th.
RESULTS
Carl Tundo/Tim Jessop (Mistubishi Evo9) 2:43:45, Jas Mangat/Gihan Desilva (Subaru Impreza N12) 2:52:28, Ian Duncan/Amaar Statch (Mitsubishi Evo9) 2:52:48, James Whyte/Phil Archenoul (Subaru Impreza N10) 2:54:14, Raaji Bharij/Raju Chaggar (Subaru Impreza N10) 2:54:40, Conrad Rautenbach/Nicholas Klinger (Ford Fiesta S2,000) 2:55:24, Quentin Mitchell/Tim Challen (Subaru Impreza N16) 2:55:56, Hardeep Rehsi/Ravi Soni (Subaru Impreza) 2:58:36, Jean Yves Ranarivelo/Rila Ranaivomamianina (Subaru Impreza) 2:59.02, Imran Mogul/Mutuma Marimba (Subaru Impreza N10) 2:59.26, Christakis Fitidis/Guy Dekelver (Subaru Impreza) 3:02:28, Izhar Mizra/Zahir Shah (Mitsubishi Evo9) 3:02:49, Valery Bukera/Nital Khetia (Subaru Impreza) 3:04:20, Alain Dethise/Ronald Van der Veken (Subaru impreza) 3:14:25, Onkar Rai/Andrew Doig (Subaru Impreza 12) 3:15:19.
AllAfrica – All the Time
Continued here:
Kenya: Ace Tundo Completes Hat-Trick