Kenya: Rose Returns

Nairobi Star (Nairobi)

Samson Ateka

21 July 2011

A high-octane war awaits rally frontrunners next week with former two-time Safari Rally winner Lee Rose announcing his comeback, eight months after signing off. The son of Safari Rally veteran driver John Rose, says he is settling for nothing short of victory at the KCB S and L Mortgages Rally on the hills and forests of Eldama Ravine on July 30. “My main aim is to win,” says Rose who is reuniting with his former Kenton College schoolmate Peirs Daykin in the same Mitsubishi Lancer EVO9 they used in winning the Guru Nanak and Safari Rally last year.

Rose, the 2008 and 2010 Safari champion, has since relocated to South Africa and resides near Nelspruit close to the Mozambique border. Lee is back in the country on a short holiday with his parents.

He clocked 116.49minutes in his 2010 KCB Guru Nanak Rally victory. The trip down south ended 11 years of his aggressive driving style on Kenyan soil. The wheat farmer is looking forward to his return to the former stomping ground in Eldama Ravin featuring all-new stages.

In a recent interview, Rose admitted he missed the adventure of the Safari Rally and by extension, the Kenya National Rally Championship which he won in 2003 and 2004. Rose’s surprise entry to the fifth round of the KNRC series is sure to force Championship contenders Ian Duncan and Carl Tundo into pulling up their socks.

Over the past seven years Lee has favoured fearless, flat-out driving especially in Nakuru, which has been his home-turf several times. The KCB S and L Mortgages Rally is set to take the 2011 KNRC to its second half and it will be interesting to see just how the championship tussle unfolds in Nakuru. Tundo, still rejoicing from his Safari Rally 2011 victory, goes to his home turf eager to maintain his dogged campaign for the KNRC title which he lost to team-mate Alastair Cavenagh.. Cavenagh has been forced to deal with the gremlins that saw his title defence start on a high note in Voi only to be followed by misfortune. Duncan will be hoping to uphold his lead in the KNRC table while Jas Mangat of Uganda will be gunning for his first KNRC event win. Mangat led last weekend’s KCB Pearl of Africa Uganda Rally 2011 prior to rolling on the penultimate competitive section.

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