Kenyan rally driver Baldev Chager on Sunday won the 2019 Safari Rally held in Kenya ahead of Carl ‘Flash’ Tundo and Manvir Baryan.
Chager, who was navigated by Ravi Soni, claimed victory after African Rally champion Baryan, who had a healthy lead going into the final stages of the rally, got stuck in the final stage and eventually dropped to third place.
Kenya’s cabinet secretary in the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage Amina Mohamed congratulated the drivers and thanked spectators for coming out to support the event
Her counterpart in the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife Najib Balala hailed the 2019 Safari Rally as a very successful event and expressed optimism of its return to the World Rally Championship.
This year’s Safari Rally was held as a World Rally Championship (WRC) candidate event as the Kenyan government attempted to ensure the rally is restored to its WRC status.
Officials of the International Automobile Federation (FIA), the governing body for world motor sport, were present to assess its suitability.
The Safari Rally was part of the World Rally Championship for many years until 2002, when it was axed for lack of finance and government support.
This rally featured 51 crews, who were flagged off by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, in Nairobi, on July 5.
Results of the 2019 Safari Rally:
- Baldev Chager/Ravi Soni (Kenya/Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10) 164.30.
2. Carl Tundo/Tim Jessop (Kenya/Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10) 165.23.6
3. Manvir Baryan/Drew Sturrock (Kenya/Skoda Fabia)276.23.8
4. Ian Duncan/Anthony Nielson (Kenya/Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10) 179.28.4
5.Leroy Gomes/Urshlla Gomes (Zambia/Ford Fiesta) 186.08.6
6. Jassy Singh/Sajid Khan (Zambia/ Subaru Impreza) 186.48.7
7. Giancarlo Devine/Sylvia Vindevogel (Rwanda/Mitsubishi Lancer) 190.38.7
8. Tejvir Rai/Gavin Laurence (Kenya/Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10) 191.31.6
9. Yassin Nasser/Ali Katumba (Uganda/Subaru Impreza) 198.26.2
10. Mahesh Halai/Ketan Halai (Kenya/Mitsubishi Lancer) Evo10) 204.24.1
11. Karan Patel/James Mwangi (Kenya/Subaru Impreza) 208.59.9
12. Jasmeet Chana/Ravi Chana (Kenya/Mitsubishi Lancer) 210.38.2
13. Duncan Mubiru/Musa Nsubuga (Uganda/Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10) 218.34.4
14. John Nganga/Denus Mwanda (Kenya/Subaru Impreza) 223.46.22
15. Hussein Malik/Linet Ayuko (Kenya/Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10) 224.48.3
16. Nikhil Sachania/Deep Patel (Kenya/Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10)
17. Sohanjeet Puee/Adnan Din (Kenya/Subaru Impreza N10)
18. Minesh Rathod/Shameer Yusuf (Kenya/Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10)
19. Geoff Mayes/Suzanna Zwager (Land Rover)
20. Lyimo Emmanuel/Ali Mustafa (Tanzania/Subaru Impreza)
21. McRae Kimathi/Evan Mwenda (Kenya/Subaru Impreza)
22. Issa Amwari/Job Njiru (Kenya/Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10)
23. David Kioni/Henry Nyoike (Kenya/Subaru Impreza)
24. Waita Nzioka/Laban Cliff (Kenya/Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9)
25. Jonathan Somen/Richard Hechle (Kenya/Ford Escort Mark11)
26. Christakis Fitidis/Veer Dadar (Tanzania/Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10)
27. Ken Nteere/Edward Ndukui (Kenya/Subaru Impreza)
Additional reporting of classification by Mohamed Abubakar (CGTN Africa).
