How Maxine Wahome rose to stardom in Safari Rally
She was fast but careful. That enabled Maxine Wahome to survive the treacherous WRC Safari Rally and finish as the winner of the WRC3 just on her second attempt.
When she began her rally-sport journey in June 2021, little did she know that her venture into the pinnacle of motor rallying in Kenya would come with good tidings 12 months later.
Maxine was only taking her baby steps towards a brighter future which had already taken shape with motocross bikes, an autocross Impreza - and most important - finishing last year’s WRC Safari Rally Kenya on her rallying debut.
But 2022 has been a huge one for the kindergarten teacher whose cockpit performance continues to speak volumes about her driving knack.
Two months ago, Maxine emerged the winner of the Inaugural Lioness All-Women’s Rally at Kasarani where she edged Natasha Tundo in a nerve-racking speed test tussle.
Two months later, the soft-spoken driver is at it again. She is now enjoying global recognition, not only for her cockpit knack but for finding her niche in performance manufacturer race cars.
Suprise winner
Maxine is incidentally one of the four Kenyans currently on the FIA Rally Star Programme alongside Hamza Anwar, Jeremy Wahome and McRae Kimathi.
This week she made all her effors count on her debut in the M-Sport Poland Ford Rally 3 car where she was a surprise winner in the WRC3 category.
“It’s unbelievable. I am equally astonished. I mean, we started really well and maintained a steady pace through and through. On the second day, on Friday, we clung on to the lead and came back to the finish as the surprise winner of the WRC3 category which is two steps below the WRC category,” she said on her return to the last service at Naivasha’s Wildlife Research and Training Institute.
Following a late retirement on Friday night which saw her incur a 10-minute penalty and relinquish the lead to Mcrae Kimathi, Maxine did not have to wait too long to go back to the summit on Saturday morning despite some troubles of her own.
She had a scare on Saturday morning’s opening stage at Soysambu, when she experienced a computer issue in her Ford Fiesta, seeing her lose six minutes.
FIA Junior WRC regular Kimathi struck a rock in the line on the same stage nearing the 15km mark, sustaining significant rear and front suspension damage, bringing an abrupt end to his day.
