Excitement building ahead of KNRC decider leg

Series leader Jasmeet Chana anticipates a big fight for the National Rally Championship (KNRC) title in Voi as he goes for the title against Karan Patel.

Chana heads into season-closing decider, nine points ahead of his opponent Karan, with 30 points to play for in the Sikh Union Club organized Guru Nanak Rally.

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Karan will pilot a Ford Fiesta Rally2 in the event which starts at Voi Wildlife Lodge and finishes at the expansive Teita Estate on 26 and 27 November. Scrutineering will be held on Saturday with rally proper set for Sunday.

He heads to Voi off the back of a sixth victory of the season in Machakos, where he reignited his title hopes by lowering Chana's initial 20-point advantage to 9. Karan needs to win the event outright and score a maximum 3 points on the power stage to be on the safe side. This will make him the champion if Chana finishes second but doesn't score on the power stage.

Both Chana and Karan have yet to lay their hands on the coveted KNRC title currently held by Carl "Flash" Tundo. But Chana feels good, excited and really motivated to start his Voi campaign at the summit of the series.

"It has become a bit tighter now after the penultimate Machakos round. So, let's see how it goes in Voi. We will be positive. We will still fight to the very end. Opening the road was not a good idea in Machakos as we had a lot of animals that we had to stop for, so it was a bit difficult time for us," Chana said.

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Asked about his strategy for the weekend, Karan quips that the plan is the same, to win the event. "We are going back to Voi for Guru Nanak where we won our first KNRC in 2021 which is really exciting," he said.

Away from the much anticipated Karan-Chana tussle, other drivers will also drive to maximize on championship points and to try and end it on a high.

Crews in Voi will tackle a Competitive Distance totaling to159.17km while the Liaison Distance is 70.91km.

Four stages will be repeated to make a competitive run of eight stages. The repeat run of Charcoal Stage (21.30km) will serve as the power stage where the fastest three drivers will earn additional 3-2-1 points on the main championship log.

KNRC OVERALL CHAMPIONSHIP 

Drivers 

1. Jasmeet Chana - 209

2. Karan Patel - 200

3. Kush Patel - 86

4. Leo Varese - 82

5. Maxine Wahome - 74

6. Steve Mwangi - 60

7. Carl Tundo - 59

8. Hamza Anwar - 47

9 Jeremiah Wahome - 41

10 Nikhil Sachania - 40

10. Ghalib Haji - 40