Karan Patel picks maiden KNRC win in Voi

Karan Patel has finally secured his maiden Kenya National Rally Championship (KNRC)career win as curtains came down on the KCB Voi Rally. 

Driving a Ford Fiesta R5, Karan, navigated by Tauseef Khan, took an early lead, checking into Service A at Voi Wildlife Lodge with a decent 49 seconds cussion over Carl "Flash" Tundo while defending champion Baldev Chager came in third.

The former 85cc East African Motocross Champion had his campaign effectively sewn up with four out of 8 stage wins which featured in the gruelling 445.97km Sikh Union organised round.

Karan, who made his KNRC debut in 2014, survived early red alarm scares in the first stage but rallied from fourth fastest at Teita1 to victory in his Ford Fiesta R5 contraption.

Chager on his very first outing in Onkar Rai's WRC3 Safari winning machine also won four stages to settle for second place.Tundo in his Evolution 10, navigated by Tim Jessop came home third followed by Group N leader Jasmeet Chana and Skoda R5 driver Aakif in 5th place.

Baldev also savoured bonus championship points for winning the Power Stage which incidentally was the repeat run of Izera Ranch stage. Apart from losing the side view mirror and front left/ right wings, Karan avoided trouble on the narrow roads in Taita Taveta County.

"We are really happy for our first. KNRC won, no secret really, it's a bit of good seat time in the car and some good commitment to the stages and the pace-notes. All in all a good drive, we have had no major troubles with the car touchwood, so that also helped to build confidence," Karan mused

"The terrain was very narrow. The car is missing it’s side view mirrors as well as left and right front wings so I think it’s part of committing to the stage and I’m not too disappointed with that.We had a red alarm with respect to our engine coolant pressure. Red is something you don’t take for granted and in order to save the engine I just stopped to actually ensure we have good water pressures. We managed the situation which was initially a worry for me. Hopefully some more wins come in this car, we have Africa Rally Championship events to do and we hope to be champions of Africa this season."

Baldev was happy with second place, "This was an amazing rally, amazing car to be honest and I don’t even think I’m driving it to 50 or 60 percent of its potential," he offered. "The stages in particular were not really the best to start learning the car with especially the Maungu one so we had our fair share of troubles to contend with today. We went off and overshot a corner then got stuck and lost 40 seconds."

The event which counts towards the fourth round of the KNRC was flagged off by Taita Taveta Governor Granton Samboja at the Lodge. 

The Voi Rally 2021 was revisiting some of the iconic stages around the Taita Hills, Kasigau and Maungu.

Running through a Sisal Estate and Ranches , the loop provided a different challenge for competitors with varied terrain taking in smooth fast roads, rocky outcrops, the deep, red dust baths of Tsavo and the short blasts through parched bushland that may well have proved very testing for heated tyres.

The start and finish was at the Voi Wildlife Lodge. Izera Ranch, 23 km south of Voi off the main Mombasa highway held a 5.2 km spectator/ power stage which was the center of attraction.

The 2021 KNRC series revved off in Nakuru in February, then headed to Naivasha for the ARC Equator Rally and WRC Safari Rally. This weekend's event in Voi counted towards the fourth round.