Ankush looking to topple experienced drivers for podium finish in weekend's Autocross action

Newbie Ankush Manoj Shah is excited to race in the seventh leg of the KCB Kenya National Autocross Championship which is slated for Batian View, Nanyuki on Sunday 3rd October.

The karting racer turned autocross driver joined buggy racing this year in an ex-Tejas Hirani two-seater Rage machine which he now hopes to steer to respectable podium positions in the Two Wheel Drive Non-Turbo Buggy Class.

Sunday's event will go down as Ankush's first-ever race in the Mount Kenya region and he's overly excited about it.

"We have talked to the people who have raced there before and the feedback is quite positive as we count down towards our debut in the Nanyuki leg. We have gathered useful background information. We just needed to get the finer details on the surface of the track, the amount of tyre pressure we need to tackle the demanding terrain there, and indeed what to expect," said Ankush.

He continued, "I have been having issues with my ECU but we managed to get that remapped and sorted out. So far the season has been going well. I’m in the second position behind leader Zameer Verjee," he added.

After the sixth race at Jamhuri Park in Nairobi, Ankush stripped down the buggy to ensure that all is well ahead of Nanyuki. The essence as now is getting more seat time and perfecting his driving lines.

Ankush says he is working towards new race limits, and indeed improve by every race meeting. 

"The Rage Buggy was acquired locally and it's performing really well right now despite the teething problems we had to contend with earlier in the season. In the last race at Jamhuri, I managed to take third position despite a few errors that I made. After Jamhuri we stripped down the buggy and had a thorough going over just to ensure everything is in good working order. Luckily, there were no major damages from the last race." 

The Nanyuki event will count towards the  2WD Non-Turbo (car and buggy), 2WD Turbo/ Supercharged , 4WD Non – Turbo, Bambino,PeeWee,4WDTurbo/Supercharged, Open, Quad Bikes and the Junior 2WD Non – Turbo.

Signing on and Scrutineering will take. Place on Sunday from 07:00 onwards. This will be followed by the Drivers Briefing at 08:45Hrs. Official Practice shall commence at 09:00 Hrs.

Official Heats begin at 10 AM EAT. Drivers will run four heats with the "best of three" counting towards the final classification.