Newly crowned Kenya National Rally Championship champion Jasmeet Singh Chana, aka Iceman, has finally joined the growing list of past winners of the iconic SUC Guru Nanak Rally which culminated in the Great Rift Valley’s Elementeita region.
Driving his championship-winning Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 10, Chana had his campaign effectively sewn up when his race adversaries failed to catch him in the wet and muddy conditions around Mbweha Conservancy, Soysambu and Sleeping Warrior in Nakuru County.
Chana led the Sikh Union-organised round from start to finish and here’s what he had to say after the event.
“With the championship already in the bag, we went into the penultimate round eight event under no pressure. The essence for now is to enjoy the remaining bit of the season, before starting our new challenge. It was such an exciting outing to have a fun wet rally without feeling any pressure,” Jasmeet, who also won the B13 Class, said.
Jasmeet’s maiden Guru Nanak win went down as his third career victory after the Eldoret and Nakuru rounds of 2023.
Samman Vohra, winner of last month’s KMSC Rally, was well on course for great things but suffered a hefty penalty at the start of SS3.
“We could have won this rally by a bigger margin but we were handed a 10-minute penalty at the start of SS 3 for checking into the time control early. But I’m glad we fought back to claim a podium third place,” Vohra said.
McRae Kimathi came second overall in a Ford Fiesta Rally 3 as Ian Duncan, who has won the Guru Nanak a record 12 times, didn’t leave the round empty handed, as he went home with the Classic Car title. Duncan finished fourth overall.
Physically challenged driver Nikhil Sachania won the NR4 Class in his hand-controlled Evo 10, whilst Chinu Matharu in a CRT Protype won the raid class.
Samman and McRae won the Rally2 and Rally 3 classes respectively while Jose Sardinha emerged the winner in the SPV (Specially Prepared Vehicles) class.
Early lead
Chana took an early lead after he claimed the initial run of the 21km SS1 Mbweha speed-test. Skoda Fabia’s Samman set the quickest time on the 23km SS2 Sleeping Warrior 1 but Chana clung to his lead with a six-second lead over the former.
Navigator-tuned-driver Piers Daykin also displayed steady pace in his Datsun 280Z classic car by winning the third stage at Soysambu, but Chana still consolidated his lead, this time with a massive 56.48 seconds advantage after Vohra’s penalty woes.
Vohra bounced back with three fastest times on repeat runs of Mbweha, Sleeping Warrior and Soysambu but it was Chana again who led the rally with one stage remaining.
Power stage
But Chana won the third run of the demanding Mbweha test (the day’s power Stage) which earned him three bonus points on the KNRC table as Samman took third fastest on this closing stage to salvage a bonus point. Jeremiah Wahome took two bonus points on the power stage for his second fastest time.
Daren Miranda and Linet Ayuko driving a Subaru Impreza won the Two Wheel Drive category.
This year’s Guru Nanak was sponsored by CFAO Motors (Formerly Toyota Kenya) who also provided a brand-new Toyota GR Hilux as the “00 Car” for the event,
FINAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER SS07 MBWEHA
1 #2 Jasmeet Chana / Ravi Chana (Mitsubishi Evolution 10) 02:11:21.1
2 #21 McRae Kimathi / Mwangi Kioni (Ford Fiesta Rally 3) 02:18:08.7
3 #42 Samman Vohra /Alfir Khan (Skoda Fabia Rally 2) 02:24:23.0
4 #17 Ian Duncan / Jaspal Matharu (Nissan 280 Z) 02:25:20.5
5 #18 Nikhil Sachania / Deep Patel (Mitsubishi Evolution 10) 02:27:48.9
6 #65 Jose Sardinha /Yusuf Shameer (Mitsubishi Pajero) 02:31:19.7
7 #8 Jeremiah Wahome/ Victor Okundi (Ford Fiesta Rally 3) 02:44:52.4
8 #45 Chinu Matharu /Raju Chaggar (CRT Prototype) 02:47:50.0
9 #29 Daren Miranda /Linet Ayuko (Subaru Impreza) 03:37:45.7
