African Champion Manvir Wins KNRC Kilifi Leg
18th August 2019
Coast based Pelee's Izhar Mirza celebrated his first career-best in the competition by completing the podium dash
- Manvir who won the 2017 edition of the leg triumphed in five of the seven grueling stages with Baldev Chager winning two to finish second
- Out of the 24 starters on Friday, only 13 survived the demanding course at below sea level
- Onkar Rai who was second fastest in the night stage was an early casualty on Day Two after his new VW Polo ran out of fuel in CS2 MCL stage
KILIFI, Kenya- Reigning African champion Manvir Baryan won fourth leg of the Kenya National Rally Championship (KNRC) that concluded in Kilifi County at the weekend.
Manvir, who triumphed in the 2017 edition of the leg, bagged five of the seven grueling stages in Kilifi with Baldev Chager winning two to finish the competition second.
"It's quite a good feeling winning our first event of the 2019 season. The stages were challenging but being very fast in the opening 21km section contributed to our victory,” underlined Manvir’s navigator Drew Sturrock.
READ ALSO: Continental Champion Manvir Takes Early Lead In KNRC Kilifi Leg
Out of the 24 starters on Friday, only 13 survived the demanding course at below sea level.
Coast based Pelee's Izhar Mirza celebrated his first career-best in the competition by completing the podium dash.
Another homeboy Ammar Haq came in fifth behind Tejveer Rai while Paras Pandya of Mombasa came sixth.
Onkar Rai who was second fastest in the night stage was an early casualty on Day Two after his new VW Polo ran out of fuel in CS2 MCL stage.
Chager who leads in the series despite finishing second noted: “It was a very tough rally but very enjoyable stages. The traffic was well controlled.
“We tried to push and keep up with the Skoda so we beat Manvir on CS3 but he beat us again on CS4 with three seconds.
“In the long 46km stage at Bamba we were pushing extra hard then went off and got stuck for several minutes. We have a lot of work to do because we will be headed for the Nanyuki leg in two weeks.”
KNRC Standings After KCB Killifi Rally
1. Baldev Chager (KABRAS SUGAR RACING) 102 points
2. Manvir Baryan (MRT) 73
3. Flash Tundo (TOP FRY) 71
4. Tejveer Rai (KABRAS SUGAR RACING) 51
5. Izhar Mirza (COAST PEKEE) 33
KCB Kilifi Rally Results
1. Manvir Baryan/Drew Sturrock (Skoda Fabia) 01.50.50.60
2. Baldev Chager/Ravi Soni Mitsubishi Evolution 10) 01.57.57.00
3. Izhar Mirza/Kavit Dave (Mitsubishi Evolution) 01:58.27.90
4. Tejveer Rai/Gavin Lawrence (Mitsubishi Evolution 10) 01:59.22.70
5. Ammar Haq/Victor Okundi (Mitsubishi Evolution 10) 02:05.35.70
6. Paras Pandya/Falgun Bhojak (Mitsubishi Evolution 10) 02:05.53.70
7. Jasmeet Chana/Ravi Chana (Mitsubishi Evolution 10) 02:08.37.60
8. Sohanjeet Puee/Adnan Din (Subaru Impreza) 02:08.57.90
9. Issa Amwari/Job Njiru (Mitsubishi Evolution 10) 02:12.48.80
10. Amit Vaja/Willy Kibata (Subaru Impreza ) 02:23.10.20
11. Evans Kavisi/Absolom Aswani (Subaru Impreza) 02:36.22.60
13. Daren Miranda/Wayne Fernandes (Subaru Impreza) 02:47.27.20