Kenya is still lagging behind when it comes to participation in motor sports although Kenyans have taken interest in the sport. This sport brings multi-ethnic groups fro far and wide all over the country. Kenya’s rally route is most demanding due to rough terrains which makes the race difficult. Often many drivers do not complete the race. A photojournalist was once said: “When you talk about the Safari without cars having mud, nobody will believe you”. Nevertheless, this is an understatement: The Safari Rally is unpredictable, mostly wet but some times very dry. Sections of the route demand very high speeds, in fact higher than it is the case in similar races.
The legendary Kenyan driver, Joginder Singh, won the event several times (1965, 1974, and 1976), becoming the first person to win the Safari three times. However, in 1972 Finland’s Hannu Mikola emerged the victor, becoming the first foreign driver to win the event.Another Kenyan, Shekhar Mehta, won in 1973. The following year, and for the first time, the event was held only in Kenya. Nevertheless, the Safari Rally maintained its status.Shekhar Mehta later made history by becoming the only person yet to win the event four times in a row – 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1982. This drivers were legends during their times but after them Kenyan drivers do not participate so much in the post except in 1990 when for the first time an African, Patrick Njiru, broke the jinx over Group ‘N’ cars and finished the event in 8th position driving a maiden Subaru Legacy thats when history was made.
Another driver Ian Duncan has been on the limelight after winning five times and also he achieved outright victory in a World Rally Championship round when he won the Trustbank Safari Rally in 1994. Carl Tundo is another rally driver who has won four times are among the few Kenyan rally drivers. This sport should be commercialized so that many African drivers can participate in the sport despite being a tough sport.
By Jepkemoi Chemjor
http://www.motorsportkenya.com, http://www.trucktrend.com, http://www.safariweb.com, http://www.race4change.org
BLOG SPORTS 