Jasmeet Chama aka Iceman remains upbeat about his chances of lifting his maiden Kenya National Rally Championship crown this season, after he extended his lead to a massive 67-point advantage over McRae Kimathi.
Iceman racked up his second KNRC career victory in Eldoret where he also won the B13 category and additional two points to boot for returning second on the powers stage.
Chana lost the KNRC title to Karan Patel on homestretch in Voi last year but believes he has a better chance this season.
He is one of the few drivers in the country to have won virtually all support categories of the KNRC including the Two Wheel Drive, Group S, Group N, Division 3 and Division One.
Over the past two seasons, Iceman has spent longer on the podium than any other driver, but the Nairobi based auto mechanic is happy to have won two out of five events run so far hence the lead in the 9-leg championship.
“Our strategy is to rack up as many points as possible considering the fact that you don’t need to win a rally to win a championship.”
Iceman has savored a 100% finish record this season and is happy with the performance of his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X so far.
“The car ran smoothly with no issues. Just after stage 1, I decided to change the set up on the suspension. We were 2nd on the power stage which is good for our points tally,” Chana continued.
“I would firstly thank Rubis Energey for supporting me and believing in me. My wife and brothers for the support and my crew. We went into this rally to consolidate our points make sure the gap stays open.”
Ford Fiesta Rally 3 driver Mcrae Kimathi was happy with his performance in Eldoret. Navigated by Mwangi Kioni, Kimathi Junior came fourth behind Chana, Ian Duncan and teammate Jeremiah Wahome.
“It was a muddy event. First stage was slippery for our car. But we gradually increased our pace and savoured a lovely battle with my teammate until he pipped me in the last stage. Otherwise fun event.”
Hamza Anwar was an early pacesetter; winning the first four stages and retiring on the repeat run of the fifth at Kendur.
After Hamza’s retirement, his teammate Jeremiah won the next two stages at Kendur2 and Bulgar 3 whose third run served as the power stage.
Hamza : “We retired due to a transfer issue. We were quite unlucky but also won the first four stages that we started.”
Kush Patel, Karan Patel’s younger sibling, won the S Class in sixth overall position.
Jose Sardinha won the SPV (Specially Prepared Vehicles) Class driving a Mitsubishi Pajero.
Jose came seventh overall followed by Navdeep Sandhu and Sam Karangatha who won the Two Wheel Drive class.
KNRC STANDINGS AFTER ELDORET
1. Jasmeet Chana 146points
2. McRae Kimathi 79
3. Jeremiah Wahome 54
4.Kush Patel 49
5. Nikhil Sachania 44
6. Carl Tundo 39
7. Karan Patel 34
8. Amman Shah 33
9. Hamza Anwar 26
10.Ian Duncan 25 .
