Ian Duncan, navigated by Antony Nielsen, in an Rover Vitesse tackle a wet section in Monduli around Arusha in Tanzania during day two of the East African Safari Classic Rally on November 29, 2019.
With no motor rallies in Kenya due to coronavirus, local drivers are trooping to the neighbouring Tanzania for a piece of the action.
Former World Rally Championship (WRC) Safari Rally winner Ian Duncan and multiple Kenya National Rally Championship drivers' champion, is among the 11 local competitors set to participate in the Guru Nanak Rally in Arusha this weekend. Duncan will be co-driven by Tej Sehmi in a Nissan Patrol.
"Apart from the Classic Rally, I can't remember which other rally I did outside Kenya. It has been a long time. I am looking forward to travelling to Arusha on Friday if there are no changes concerning Covid-19 here in Kenya. Keeping our fingers crossed," Duncan told Nation Sport.
Karan Patel, who won the Arusha Rally in 2018 with James Mwangi in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10, will also take part but in a different car and navigator. Patel will be navigated by Tauseef Khan in a Ford Fiesta.
Riyaz Ismail and Ravi Chana will be navigating home drivers, Gurjit Dhani (Skoda Proto) and Manvir Birdi (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10), respectively.
The rest of the Kenyan crews will include Carl Tundo/Tim Jessop (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10), Hussein Malik/James Mwangi (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10) and Hamas Anwar/A.N. Other (Subaru Impreza). Twenty cars have entered the rally.
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The Safari Rally, which had been included in this year's FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) schedule but was cancelled due to the virus, is expected to run on June 24-27 next year.
The rally would have been making a return to the WRC calendar for the first time since 2002 but was postponed when the Covid-19 -pandemic swept out all sporting activities.
The fresh WRC Safari Rally dates come as a huge boost to the Local Organising Committee which had put in a shift of work to ensure the event is a success.
The 2021 WRC calendar will begin with the traditional season-opening Rallye Monte-Carlo in the French Alps. It will be followed by Rally Sweden, the series' only pure winter fixture.
This third leg will be in Croatia on April 22 - 25 April. It is the opening pure asphalt encounter and will be based in the capital city Zagreb. Portugal's late May fixture is the first of three hot weather gravel rounds.
It is followed in June by Italy and Kenya, which completes the opening half of the championship.
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Did you know that... .
Safety cars shouldn't be used to entertain sponsors to boost event publicity. Safety car crew members should be courteous to marshals as they are volunteers. Safety cars should keep to their pre- determined time schedule.
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