Sidis Rally Bulltin Issue No:85

AUGUST 2012 ISSUE NO. 85

RAlly Heads to Private Farms in Timau KNRC Standards...

Alastair, Flash Cuts above the Rest Version 6 Rally Team Receives Sponsorship Boost From DStv Cavenagh Concedes Championship Chances Gone Tundo Makes it Four Tense showdown as Cavenagh breaks the duck

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N A N Y U K I R A L LY- R 6

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Rally Heads to Private Farms in Timau

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o public roads shall be used during the KCB Advantage Banking Rally programmed for August 24th and 25th. In their usual zest to venture into new territories as well as taking the rally sport to the people, Nanyuki Rally Group will take cars into a 4km spectator stage around Nanyuki town on Day 1 after flagging off. Clerk of the Course Nazir Yakub revealed that the event will revolve around private ranches in Timau on Day 2’s rally proper. “We shall not use any public road and this is a precaution we have undertaken to enhance safety,” said Nazir.

Scrutineering and documentation for the event starts at 7am at Sportsman Arms on August 24th,” said Bimal. Ceremonial flag-off will take place outside KCB Nanyuki Branch from 3pm on August 24th.

The event finishes at Sportsman Arms on August 25th after traversing the terrain in Timau. n

Aslam Khan / Arshad Khan-Porshe 911

KNRC Standards...

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hile the standard of the Kenya National Rally Championship continues to improve, more can be done by the organizing Clubs to make sure the sport becomes more attractive.

The ignominy of the Mombasa Motor Club rally still lingers in the minds of many after the club failed to issue results of the rally on time, and the subsequent quarrels between certain drivers and officials of the rally as a result of the humiliation. Lack of necessary information and concealing of route map details were a bloat to the competition which set tongues wagging, to say the least “Its either that someone is sleeping on the job or there is a trend of shirking of duties,” an enraged competitor told us, adding: “Its rather a sad epitaph that the map sent out to the media was inaccurate and contained scanty details.

The rally ended at 1pm yet no results had been complied as should be the procedure.

Mombasa used to organize the best rallies and what we see these days is a pale shadow of the organizational success we savoured those days.” Clubs are also accused of running away from using the Electronic Clocks for the timing system. In Mombasa’s case, a controller was spotted using an Iphone to do

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the job. The delay of Mombasa Rally results didn’t just send the entire media set-up into a spin but drew sharp reactions from various quarters across the rally community.

Thus the general consensus at the conclusion of Mombasa Rally 2012 in South Coast was that this disturbing trend (also witnessed in Kisumu and again in Mombasa last year) needs to stop, once and for all to save it from mediocrity in the organization.

Cars went through the ceremonial finish at Leisure Golf Club course minus official signed results and this cycle was repeated in the 2011 edition of Mombasa Rally in Mariakani.

As if to add insult to injury, formula Twos went to the podium and had the least of knowledge as to who the winner was. It’s also unfortunate that these days the final start list never reaches the media or even the competitors. This was indeed a case of conceding another own goal by MMC. The Club explained that the event ran to the prompt conclusion as per the itinerary.

But when doing an audit of results, the Club said, it was noted that some time cards of some competitors had information regarding the car number and the driver/navigator missing. In some cases the carbonated copies of some competitors were blank. n

AUGUST 2012

PAST WINNER: NANYUKI RALLY 1998

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Jonathan Toroitich – Mahesh Saleh Toyota Celica Gt4 Rob Hellier - Des Page Morris

Mitsubishi Galant Vr4 Ian Duncan - Dave Williamsom Toyota Landcruiser P/U Ian Duncan - Saleem Haji Toyota Landcruiser P/U No Rally Lee Rose-Piers Daykin Mitsubishi Lancer Ian Duncan-Salim Hajee

Toyota Landcruiser Carl Tundo - Tim Jessop

Subaru Impreza Asad Anwar-Nicholas Patel

Mitsubishi Lancer Baldev Chager - Farakh Yusuf

Subaru Impreza Baldev Chager - Farakh Yusuf

Subaru Impreza Lee Rose - Piers Daykin Mitsubishi Lancer Alastair Cavenagh - Gavin Laurence Mitsubishi Lancer No Rally ISSUE 85

<< R A L L Y N E W S

Alastair, Flash Cuts above the Rest

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he Monster Energy/Dalbit Petroleum team of two times former KNRC winners Alastair Cavenagh and Carl “Flash” Tundo are streaks in front of the rest having posted the most competitive stages and won 4 of the 5 rallies held thus far.

Cavenagh, whilst trailing third in the 2012 Championship with 190 points due to two non- finishes in Safari and Kisumu has attested his antics as the one to catch having set the highest number of fastest stage times and by extension taking the Coast scalp in awesome fashion.

He may be virtually out of contention from the cliffhanger Championship battle (pitting Tundo against Duncan) but has the bragging rights of having chalked up a total 15 competitive stages thus far; in what is increasingly turning to be a cutthroat speed war with “Flash”.

Statistically, Tundo and Alastair have a combined victory of 28 stages which is equivalent to 74% of the possible 38 sections that have been ran so far. “There is great competition at the moment between Flash, Ian and myself and I hope that by setting out to be fastest on every stage that we will continue to raise the bar and improve the level of competition,” Alastair remarked.

When Tundo won the season’s premiere RSC Nyeri Rally in February, he ran away with 6 stage against Alastair’s five-and the struggle con-

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Peter Horsey

Carl Tundo

Fahd Bahry

tinued.

In Lake Bogoria region (KNRC 2) , Tundo beat Alastair drove like possessed men: even after Duncan retired from the race. Tundo vanquished Alastair to second overall place incidentally by a mere 10 seconds with the former Jaswinder Chana Ian Duncan Baldev Chager claiming four stages and the latter two. the flying Dalbit Mitsubishi EVO9s.

New kid on the block, Peter Kisumu wasn’t a good hunt- Chager has failed to produce the fast Horsey has sent signals that he is a ing ground for Tundo and Al when and furious antics which won him future gem especially after winning Duncan crowned his outright victory the KNRC title in 2008 in the com- one stage in Mombasa. “Its only a with three fastest times whilst Chag- pany of the late Farakh Yusuf and matter of time before I begin taking er repeated Duncan’s stage-win tally Flash believes he is disadvantaged in the fight to Alastair,” quipped Peter. in his Subaru N16.Both Dalbit spon- the Subaru contraption.

Fahd Bary and Jazzy Chana have sored drivers were unable to finish Chager has so far posted three been the surprise packages having Kisumu in April with Cavenagh split- first fastest stage times which he won a stage each with the former ting his sump and Tundo damaging did in Kisumu. Duncan, on the other racking it up in Kisumu and the latter the radiator leading to their eventual hand, has notched up a total of 6 in . Quentin Mitchell has been pretty retirements in Chemelil and Awasi. first fastest times; three achieved in fast if his recent past performance is Like Duncan, Baldy has strug- Kisumu, one in Mombasa and two in anything to go by. gled to post enough stage times and Safari where he gave eventual winLet’s see how Nanyuki works out continue playing second fiddle to ner Tundo a belated big chase. for the stage ‘wizards’. n

Version 6 Rally Team Receives Sponsorship Boost From DStv

Stv Mobile has sponsored the Version 6 rally team.

The duo of Hussein Malik and Steven Njenga driving a Subaru Impreza GC8 will be participating in the Group S category of the sixthround of the 2012 KNRC. While receiving the DStv Mobile cheque, the elated team said the sponsorship would help facilitate a more enhanced performance this weekend.

The version 6 rally team has continued to display outstanding performance after recently finishing second (Group S Class) during the KCB Mobile Banking

ISSUE 85

Alastair Cavenagh

in Kisumu. In addition, during the just concluded KCB Safari rally they battled hard despite encountering a puncture to

romp home third position These podium finishes have propelled the team to fourth position in Group S rankings. n AUGUST 2012

Cavenagh Concedes Championship Chances Gone

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he double 1999/2010 Champion Alastair Cavenagh admitted that his chances of a third KNRC crown in 2012 have all but evaporated. “It was critical for us to win the Safari and gain maximum points,” said Alastair, adding: “but despite our best efforts, winning every stage that we did and leading the rally by 54secs, it was just not to be. Flash has now got a huge points lead and it will be impossible to catch him in the championship this year. Having said that, we will obviously not let him off the hook entirely and I will be looking to set fastest times on every stage from now until the end of the year. n

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S A FA R I R A L LY- R 4

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Tundo Makes it Four

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he mad rush for 60th KCB Safari Rally accolades was palpable from the word gobut it was Carl “Flash” Tundo and his partner Tim Jessop who really had the last laugh in their Mitsubishi EVO9 car.

Rightly so, Tundo won his fourth career Safari when he eclipsed a hard- charging Ian Duncan by a mere 15seconds!

But the much-talked-about driver in the first two days was non other than the 1999 and 2010 Alastair Cavenagh . He was leading by 54 seconds after stage 3 having set fastest stage times on every stage of the event.

Then on stage 4, a rim split that compelled him to change the puncture. At this juncture, Cavenagh knew full well that he had lost the rally and thereafter admitted candidly that he failed to pay due attention when he hit a big ditch too fast and put the fan through radiator.

“Obviously, I am destined never to win the Safari,” regretted Cavenagh. On the last day, Duncan was charging harder and harder to catch Tundo, hoping to reclaim the diadem he last won in the glorious WRC days in 1994.

Duncan then set quickest times on all the two stages available on the last day but this wasn’t good enough to assure him of the coveted title as he settled for second overall.

Youngster Quentin Mitchell was elated with his best ever result albeit being 14.39minutes behind Tundo.

So was Zambian Mohammed Essa and his Zimbabwe navigator Greg Stead who soldiered on the ARC front and savored their career best fourth place Safari finish only on the former’s second attempt since 2008.

To describe the last three days in a few words, Essa quipped: “ I would say it was rough, rough and very intense.” Essa had plans of an all out attack but this was nipped in the bud moments after he picked up the puncture on the first stage of the

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second day.

This saw his chances slip away so he decided to back off and consolidate what he had. For Team Kibos’ Jassi Chatte, finishing the Safari in the ex-Lee Rose EVO9 was a big achievement “and a top ten even made us happier.”

SUPLEMENTARY CLASS Simon Sharpe and his partner Crispin Kennedy gave the crowd-pleasing Platz hybrid SPV car its maiden victory in supplementary class.

Interestingly, Sharpe, whose SPV contraption ranked 5th overall in the whole rally, said: “Navigator was spot on as usual. We were doing very well in main class, I think we were lying fourth but unfortunately we got the bogey time for yesterday (Day 2).”

Jazzy Chana claimed second place as Michelle Van Tongeren won the Coupe Des Dames and third in supplementary: “This event is not called safari for nothing. You have to persevere, its takes a lot of courage and energy to do the Safari. If you are strong enough and have luck, then you get through.”

FLASH FLOODS This year’s Safari was characterized with flash floods and AUGUST 2012

Mohammed Essa/Greg Stead -Subaru N12

Izhar Mirza/Zah Shah-EVO 9 ISSUE 85

<< S A F A R I R A L L Y - R 4

Azar Anwar/Julius Ngige-EVO8

Jaspreet Singh Chathe/Gugu Panesar - EVO 9

Farhaaz Khan/Keith Henrie-Subaru Impreza the highlight was the long endurance type stages.

This is however a far cry to the olden Safari which tackled 500kilometers. The only difference now is that modern cars are tackling long stages at super special speeds.

Flash floods halted Day Two proceedings in Kajiado region causing the cancellation of the long 87kilometer CS4 stage which ran from Parane to Il-Bissel.

2WD CLASS Adnan Suhail was back with a bang when he won the Safari. He won four of the five stages handing the second ISSUE 85

car a 3 minute lead which is really fantastic.

Champion James Kirimi took second. “To bring the car back home in one piece for me is an achievement,” said Kirimi. Two times champion Leo Varese rued the gremlins which saw him to settle for 6th overall. “Day 1 we had a broken disc and lost time at service. Day 2 it was fuel pump failure in the section and we lost more time in cs 2. On Sunday morning we were 10th out 18 cars in the class and day 3 we were able to have a clean run without damaging the car.” n

Nzioka Waita/Labban Cliff-Subaru Impreza FINAL RESULTS – FIA ARC Rally 1. Carl Tundo/Tim Jessop (EVO9) 2. Ian Duncan/Amaar Slatch (EVO9) 3. Quentin Mitchell/Chris Davis (Subaru N16) 4. Mohammed Essa-ZAM/Greg Stead-ZIM (Subaru N12) 5. Peter Horsey/Bella Erskine (EVOX) 6. Jaspreet Singh Chathe/Gugu Panesar (EVO9) 7. Izhar Mirza/Zahir Shah (EVO9) 8. Azar Anwar/Julius Ngige (EVO8) 9. Don Smith/Bob Kaugi (Subaru) 10. Mavir S Baryan/Dennis GRaudet (Subaru N16) 11. Ghalib Hajee/Bharat Pattni (Mitsubishi EVOX) 12. Anwar Pandya/Ken Masoni (Subaru N10) 13. Farhaaz Khan/Keith Henrie (Subaru) 14. Arkif Virani/Arhaz Bhatti (Subaru) 15. Harpreet Sagoo/H. Dhanjal (Subaru N10)

2:50:05 2:50:20 3:04:44 3:13:04 3.18.11 3.23.53 3.24.05 3.31.00 3.33.31 3.33.43 3.35.34 3.47.05 3.57.2314 3.58.07 4.07.41

SUPLIMENTARY CLASS 1. Simon Sharpe/Crispin Kennedy (Platz) 3:22:23 2. Jaswinder Chana (Toyota Celica GT4) 3.37.40 3. Michelle Van Tongeren/Safina Khan (Sunaru) 3:44:23 4.Jonathan Somen/Richard Hechie (Ford Escort) 3:47:02 5.Husein Malik/S. Njenga (Subaru) 3:49:14 2WD CLASS 1. Adnan Suhail/Absalom Aswani (Daihastu) 2. James Kirimi/Kimeli Korir (VW Golf GTi) 3. Jagjit Liddar/Pinal Patel (VW Golf GTi) 4. Rajbir Rai/Supee Soin (VW Golf GTi) 5. Gurmitr Thethy/Depinder Kalsi (VW Golf GTi) SIDIS RALLY BULLETIN SEPTEMBER 2011 AUGUST 2012

3.52.37 3.55.10 3.56.56 3.58.56 4.05.18

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M O M B A S A R A L LY- R 5

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Tense showdown as Cavenagh breaks the duck

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wo times former Kenya Champion Alastair Cavenagh ended 15 years of trying as he finally laid his hands on the coveted Mombasa Rally accolade.

Winning his home event in South Coast attested Cavenagh’s “fast and furious” antics and he led the rally from start to finish clearing the ground with all and sundry.

For once, Cavenagh put behind him gremlins of the Safari whereby he had led every single stage prior to his exit. Like Cavenagh, homeboy Peter Horsey (and his female navigator Bella Erskine) savored his career best second place when he swapped his crowd-pleasing “Moto Moto” Datsun with his brother’s Mitsubishi EVOX.

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But asked if he will permanently drive the EVOX, Horsey candidly admitted that the “Moto Moto” was more fun to drive.

Peter, however promised to take the fight to Cavenagh in Nanyuki after trailing him with 54seconds. He lost time with a half spin on the opening super special but a spirited comeback which lasted for almost 160 high speed kilometres.

This saw the 2010 African Pirelli Star Driver claw back the time to take second overall back at the finish in Diani.

Legendary driver Ian Duncan and his partner Amaar Slatch completed the podium dash. It was however a bitter pill for Carl Tundo to swallow after he finished outside top 10 in as many years.

AUGUST 2012

Nevertheless, the Monster Energy/ Dalbit Petroleum team of two times former KNRC winners Cavenagh and Tundo has proven almost impossible to catch this season having won 4 of the 5 rallies held thus far. Quentin Mitchell proved he has quite some nerve; so fourth overall wasn’t that bad.

Alex Horsey sitting with Tariq Malik for the first time, gave the Moto Moto Datsun pick-up fifth position.

“Its great to finally win the coast rally after 15 years of trying,” quipped Cavenagh as he savored his first victory since the KCB Personal Loans Rally in Voi in February 2011.

Three time former Kenya Champion Azar Anwar retired after his EVO7 car lost power.

Hardeep Rehsi was out on the 40kms CS2 on breaking the rear suspension arm. Other casualties were reigning 2WD Champion James Kirimi and Leonardo Varese.

Hussein Malik and Steven Njenga kissed the event goodbye after they rolled their Subaru gc8 car on CS2.

Other retirees included Jonathan Somen(Ford Escort) after the propeller shaft packed up, Yusuf Khalid(Toyota Levin) with a blown engine and Anwar Pandya (Subaru N10) with a damaged diff.

Shaheed Wissanji was not only ecstatic of 10th overall-winning Group S class in a Subaru was a dream come true.

The 2WD class was won by Nadeem Kana who clung atop the Formula Two table after winning his third win of the 2012 season.

ISSUE 85

<< M O M B A S A R A L L Y - R 5

Mahesh Halai/Ketan Halai - Subaru Impreza

Charles Hinga/Norris Ongalo -EVO7

FINAL RESULTS-KCB S&L MORTGAGES RALLY 1. Alastair Cavenegh/Gavin Laurence 2. Peter Horsey/Bella Erskine 3. Ian Duncan/Amaar Slatch 4. Quentin Mitchell/Chris Davis 5. Alex Horsey/Tariq Malik 6. Don Smith/Bob Kaugi 7. Izhar Mirza/Zahir Shah 8. Onkar Rai/Raju Chager 9. John Nganga/George Njoroge 10. Jaspreet S. Chathe/Gugu Panesar

(EVO9) (EVOX) (EVO9) (Subaru N16) (Datsun Pick/Up) (Subaru N12) (EVO9) (Subaru N16) (Subaru N10) (EVO9)

1.38.43 1.39.37 1.42.26 1.42.54 1.46.21 1.49.40 1.50.31 1.52.47 1.54.44 1.55.41

2wd Class

Baldev Chager/Raju Chager - Subaru Impreza

The 2WD had only four finishers. The big list of F2 retirements was composed of Rajbir Rai -son of two time former Kenya champion Sarbi Rai, Leo Varese, Victor Okundi, champion James Kirimi and pacesetter Khalid Yusuf among others.

Second in 2WD was Patrick Kibaara in the Levin, Dennis Mwenda in the Golf and Sammy Nyorri in the “baby” Vitz.

Kibaara was all smiles after finishing the

1. Nadeem Kana/James Mwangi 2. Patrick Kibaara/Patrick Mwachuya 3. Dennis Mwenda/Edward Njoroge 4. Sammy Nyorri/Steven Nyorri

demanding course. “It was very challenging on the 78 km stage when we ran into dust of another car and ours started overheating.

The problem was sorted in service and we had a clean run in the rest of the stages which were very fast.

This has boosted our position in the 2wd championship and we hope to challenge our competitors in the remaining events,” Kibaara explained.

(VW Golf GTi) (Toyota Levin) (VW golf GTi) (Toyota Vitz)

2.23.17 2.27.19 2.33.24 2.36.50

Gurmit Thethy’s VW Golf GTi was out of after the fuel pump wiring caught fire. “We repaired it within the section but were time barred by the time we made it through,” said Gurmit.

Defending champion James Kirimi was also caught out in the long stage. “Our rear hub broke 20kilometers into the long section and the wheel came off ending our race in agony,” said Kirimi.

ANWAR SIDI to publish 2000 copies of 2013 Kenya Rally Calendar Order your own limited-edition-calendar now.This is a magnificent Christmas and Happy New Year gift for friends and families. We shall capture nostalgic images from the last few years of Kenya rallying, highlighting the magic and gusto which drove up the pulse-rate of motor sport lovers countrywide. We shall also go an extra mile, with catchy captions of past Kenya rallying champions. Photos of motor personalities of the year and many more celebrities have been factored in too.

This is a12-page full colour A2 “landscape” edition showcasing Group ‘B’, Group ‘A’ & Group ‘N’ rally cars which captivated the Kenyan rallying scene in the 1980s, 90s & 2000s. Inside, also, will be images from the prestigious East African Safari Classic Rally which traverses some of the most picturesque spots in the region.

Another highlight will be display of nostalgic “Black-and-White-era” photos depicting the glorious past of the sport of rallying in East Africa. It is packed with the history of dramatic moments.

Book your copy now.

Price @ 2,000/- Each UK & Europe @ 40 Euros (price is inclusive of postage costs) Contact: Anwar Sidi P.O. Box 11141-00400 Nairobi,Kenya Mobile: +254722786714 Mobile: +254735786714 Email:anwarsidi55@gmail.com

Sidis Rally Bulletin Crew: Story By The Sidi Brothers Photography by: Anwar Sidi Cell: 0722 786 714 Design and Layout: James Chunguli 0722 458 011 Printers: Bizone Copyright: Reproduction of material appearing on The Rally Bulletin in any form is forbidden without prior written permission from the publishers. To quote from any material, please write to us and include the publication date, title of the article, the portion you want to reprint and the purpose for your request. Disclaimer: All advertisements, photos and non commisioned text are taken in good faith and whilst every care is taken in compiling the contents of this magazine, the publisher and the organizers assume no responsibility in effects arising therefrom.

Team of Ages

Introducing the 2012 Oilibya Racing Team We are proud to introduce the 2012 Oilibya Racing Team: Azar Anwar, Quentin Mitchell and Charles Hinga

fusion

Libya Oil Kenya Ltd., OiLibya Plaza 2nd Floor, Muthaiga.

P.O. Box 64900-00620 Nairobi. Tel: 020 362 2000/ 8048120-6 Fax: 020-362 2345/ 3767575 Email: info@oilibya.co.ke