Hardly a week after the conclusion of the World Rally Championship Safari Rally, motorsport fans will troupe to Machakos this weekend for first edition of rally cross circuit racing that will bring together Kenyan legends, upcoming drives and junior competitors.
The race, which is the brainchild of Kenyan National Rally Championship winner Carl Tundo and his peers in collaboration with Machakos County Governor Alfred Mutua, will see cars race in the same circuit like in F1.
Tundo and his co-driver Tim Jessop believe the initiative, dubbed “ Race with the Champions”, will be the next big thing in the local motorsport calendar.
The motorsport festival, to be held at the Machakos Peoples Park on July 9 and 10, is anticipated to be a big family outing.
“This inaugural edition of the event will be used to showcase the exciting and spectacular nature of rally cross to motorsport enthusiasts,” the event’s promoter, Anna Maina, told Nation Sport Monday.
“We have invited eight teams. Each team will have a junior competitor, lady competitor, and a veteran competitor. Competitors will race against each other and score points for their teams. Two-litre turbo cars like the Subaru N10 and Mitsubishi Evolution cars which have been used in rallying before are eligible to compete,” she added.
The rally cross will feature exhibition events like raid truck races, a competition between TT road cars and RX gravel cars, as well as drifters.
The organisers, who have blessings of the Kenya Motor Sports Federation, hope to set up a championship which will be part of the KMSF motorsport calendar.
The long term goal for organisers is to host one ound of the World Rally cross Series, Tundo said.
Tundo will be joined by local motorsport icons such as former national champions Baldev Charger and Alistair Cavenagh.
The KMSF has opened up the sport by recognising various competitions such as drifting, hill climb and karting.
Credit: Source link