Guy shifts focus to WRC
Edwin Otieno
South African rally driver Guy Botterill is optimistic of making an impact during the World Rally Championships (WRC) Safari Rally event slated for Naivasha between June 24 and 27, despite his misfortunes at the 2021 Africa Rally Championships (ARC) Equator Rally at the weekend.
Botterill who was navigated by Simon Vacy-Lyle in a Toyota Etios, representing Toyota Gazoo Racing team, had a bright start to the race as he enjoyed a third spot after the first loop on Day one, but was time bad in the second day to deny him a podium finish as he would have wished.
“The rally was very challenge for us, we ran into a lot of problems, but without a major issue.
We are glad we managed to finish the rally, we can now fix a few problem in the car before the WRC Safari Rally,” said the driver who turned 35 years last month.
He added: “All stages at the Equator Rally were tough, but the Sleeping Warrior section was in a different level with a lot of volcanic rocks on the road and stagnant water at some areas when it rains.
The water gave us some electrical problems and our car had a lot of miss fire which made us stop for a while.”
He transported the car from South Africa by road and has decided to leave it behind for the WRC Safari Rally, because of the short duration.
“We transported the car on a track by road from South Africa, but we will leave it back, in Nairobi to use it during the WRC Safari Rally,” he said.
He added: “We are going to do some work on the car, like replacing the bumpers, we will also have to return with enough spare parts after seeing the condition of the routes. I also plan to engine the car’s engine and gear box before the Safari.”
In 2018, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT won the World Rally Championship earning Toyota their first manufacturer’s title since 1999.
