Carl ‘Flash’ Tundo shows flashes of old golden form
Champion Carl ‘Flash’ Tundo has vowed to fight all the way in his bid to eclipse leader Baldev Chager when the Kenya National Rally Championship (KNRC) culminates with Guru Nanak Nanak Rally on December 15.
Tundo and his partner Tim Jessop retained the Eldoret Rally in extremely muddy conditions to take the 2019 KNRC title race down to the wire.
Fears that Chager would seal it in Eldoret evaporated after the third stage when Tundo opened a three-minute lead and clung onto the top until the finish.
Tundo savoured his second victory of the season in his R4 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10, beating leader Chager to the second spot as Onkar Rai in a VW Polo completed the podium dash.
“We are not relenting in our hunt for the title although Chager has a comfortable lead. The plan is to attack in Guru Nanak and finish ahead of him. I am happy for the result in Eldoret which has taken the title down to the wire,” said Tundo.
Gearbox problems
“I prayed for the heavens to open but not as much as we witnessed in Eldoret this year. The stages were fun to drive. All in all, a good day at the office.
We are still in the hunt for the championship though with an outside chance,” added Tundo, who beat Chager by a massive 10:08 minutes after the latter suffered gearbox problems on the last stage of the Western Kenya Motor Club organised round.
Tundo’s victory in the high altitude terrain hands him a slim chance for his title defence as Chager now needs a top 10 finish on the belated Guru Nanak to recapture the crown he lost a few years ago.
Chager has a 20-point advantage over Tundo as he leads the log with 162 against Tundo’s 142.
“We still lead the championship which is the most important thing for now. We kind of enjoyed the conditions as they were different and very challenging as compared to other rallies.
Being first on the road, we were kind of sceptical about how it would pan out as we have never done a rally with such conditions,” said Chager’s navigator Ravi Soni.
He added: “We maintained speed in the conditions and won the first two stages. Unfortunately, on the very last stage, we were compelled to drive on first gear which cost us a lot of time.”
Onkar who alongside Chager will be proceeding to the East African Safari Classic Rally, confirmed his availability for Guru Nanak.
