BY SAMSON ATEKA
Following the conclusion of the KCB Kisumu Rally, focus now shifts to the USN Rally Raid 500 the final round of the national Rally Raid championship organised by Sikh Union Club at Soysambu and Kedong ranches from October 31-November 2.
The event has become the biggest and longest Rally Raid, being 500km over 3 days. The normal Raids are approx 200km, so this event is almost 2 and a half times the distance. This is a consequence of the Rally Raid committees objective to hold one event that will grow in line with International Raid standards where international competitors can be invited in future.
The USN 500 will be the first three day rally and is an evolutionary step forward.
“In addition we have focused on our route notes, routes, competitor compliance with compulsory use of GPS/road book navigation systems. We have experimented with tracking systems, but have been limited with progress due to costs. This will be a target for 2015,” said rally raid commission chairman Sean Wilcock..
“For our final event, the USN 500, we currently have over 50 competitors, inclusive of motorbikes, quads, buggies and cars. This gives us an entry that almost surpasses that of our infamous Safari Rally. We have the usual suspects pushing for the final championship titles,” said Wilcock.
Among those expected to take part in the cars class is Nish Lakhani with the famous Kenya Cat, Adin Haq with the Range Rover E-bowler and Chirag Soni.
Tejas Hirani who has been practicing with a Formula Gulf 1000 car in Dubai is defending his buggy class title.
Quad class will feature the likes of Nikhil Kapoor and Shazar Anwar who is a five time raid champion.
Sean Wilcock, Shivam Vinayak, Shaun Miller are the men to watch in the bikes class.
The Kedong/Soysambu showdown is a far cry from the usual two day forma over the years.
Courtesy of the-star.co.ke