Final touches
Edwin Otieno
Outgoing Two Wheel Drive champion Darren Miranda and his navigator Wayne Fernandes are set to unveil the first look of their new car at this weekend’s FIA ARC Equator Rally.
The duo have high hopes of using their new Subaru Impreza N10 on the WRC Safari Rally.
They are optimistic that the car will meet requisite FIA requirements well in time for the Safari which returns to the global stage from June 24-27.
“Preparations for the WRC event are in top gear. We will have to upgrade the fuel tank to FIA spec, and we are good to go.
We will compete with the new car in Naivasha this weekend so we are overly excited about it,” said Miranda.
They are also excited to intensify their KNRC Division 2 title prospects in a more superior 4WD machine.
The N10 Impreza was to be driven by Miranda on KCB Machakos Rally but following suspension of sporting activities in the country they will be hoping to unveil it in Naivasha this weekend.
Miranda candidly admits it had become increasingly difficult to fight for KNRC Division 2 Class honors in an underpowered 2WD car.
“Looking at our Division 2 prospects, it was no secret that our opponents were all in 4WD Turbo cars, so there’s no way we were going to keep up with them with our 2WD Subaru Non Turbo, so I made the bold decision with the WRC in mind to upgrade and go for an N10 impreza.” Miranda explained.
The Subaru Impreza N10 is an ex- Hapz Sagoo of Mombasa and has been run on a nurmber of KNRCs as well as Coast training rallies.
Miranda went on: “For us, the N10 will be a big big animal when we traverse Naivasha terrain, considering that we now have better prospects for the title and we can commit a lot more.
Bob of PAC Motor Sport and I went to see the car and finalise the deal. So after Bob gave the stamp of approval as he is the one who built and re-shelled the car.
The plan was to do the first KNRC with the N10, so the first week before the Nakuru, the car was sent to Nairobi, pre checks and service took time as the car had been sitting for close to 5 years without rallying, which meant we couldn’t use it for Nakuru, so we resorted to the faithful Subaru GC3 in 2WD.
Again we couldn’t drive it when Machakos Rally was postponed. I can’t wait to be in Naivasha this weekend.”
Miranda and Fernandes have already tested the car and are hoping to run a second test just before the rally.
“Coming into Equator Rally we went testing in the N10 last Sunday and discovered the rings needed to be changed as it was removing blue smoke from the exhaust, Vicky of Magic Road Recovery worked on the engine and did the necessary, so hopefully fingers crossed, Naivasha will be fun to drive,” Miranda said.
