Junior WRC star Anw*r returns ah**d of this week’s ARC Equator Rally in Voi
After almost a month’s lull since the conclusion of the WRC Rally Sweden in Umeå, Västerbotten County, FIA Junior WRC star Hamza Anwar is back in the saddle for this weekend’s ARC Equator Rally in Voi.
The reigning African Rally Championship (ARC) Junior Champion returns to the bucket seat of an M-Sport Poland prepared Ford Fiesta Rally3 car alongside Kenya National Rally Championship leader Jeremiah Wahome and last year’s Junior WRC contender and ARC3 Champion McRae Kimathi.
Also in the Voi mix is the reigning ARC 4 Champion Rio Smith who has entered a Ford Fiesta Rally4, the only one of its kind on Kenyan soil.
The Ford Fiesta Rally3 car to be driven by Hamza, Wahome and Kimathi is three steps below in the FIA Rally Pyramid after World Rally hybrid car (Rally 1) and the Rally 2 (the former R5 car).
Rio’s Rally 4 machine is the “performance” version of the 2WD contraption which is a step ahead of Rally5, classified under “access” in the Rally Pyramid. Jeremiah hopes to replicate his KNRC 1 RSC Machakos Rally form where he registered his career first victory in the Rally3 Fiesta.
During the Equator Rally in 2021, Jeremy checked out early out of Naivasha’s Service and the mistake cost him what would have counted as his career best second then.
Hamza anticipates returning to the bucket seat of his Rally 3 Ford Fiesta, which is a similar car he is piloting in the FIA Junior WRC.
He will be back in Voi three months after retiring in the 2022 KNRC season-closing Guru Nanak Rally where he drove his Mitsubishi Evolution X car under the watchful eye of his dad Asad Anwar.
