Rally driver Qahir eyes maiden title as action heads to Kasarani stage
With most of the race categories already sealed, the battle between Two-Wheel Drive (2WD) Turbo leader Qahir Rahim and Azaad Manji is sure to treat spectators to some exhilarating displays in the last two rounds of the National Autocross Championship this weekend.
Fourteen points separate leader Qahir from his closest challenger Azaad Maji and it will be interesting to see how their rivalry pans out at Kasarani’s WRC Safari Rally Super Spectator Stage racetrack.
The 10th and last round of the Autocross season will be organised by Kenya Racing Team (KRT) on Saturday preceding belated sixth round which will be hosted by Rallye Sports Club (RSC) on Sunday.
Final classification
Qahir is keeping his fingers crossed but hopes to drive fast to win his maiden title in the closing two rounds that will feature four heats of which the best of three formats will count on the final classification.
“The buggy is in good shape, thanks to all the effort put in by coach Shazz Ismail who is meticulously fine-tuning it at his Parklands workshop well in time. I feel confident and motivated going into the decisive last two rounds -so let’s see how it goes,” Qahir noted.
Maiden career
Deepal Shah and 2021 Junior 2WD non-turbo champion Brandon Ng’ang’a have an outside chance but will be no pushovers on the weekend.
Neel Gohil only needs to participate in one of the two races of the weekend to lay his hands on his maiden career title in the 2WD non-turbo Junior Class. The junior title is a two-horse race between Neel (164) and Amman Ganatra (127).
Bambino Class leader Karamveer Singh Rooprai with 167 points has seven wins from eight races and only lost to Billy Tundo in the recent ninth round at Twisty Corners Kiambu.
But Karamveer already has the title in the bag and his participation is a mere formality.
With Karamveer already the champion, the focus in Bambino Class, for junior riders, will be on who between Saad Shamil Farouq (83) and Eann Bengi (64) settles for the runner-up position.
Rajveer Thethy has already taken the Open Class championship and leads by an unassailable points tally of 142 ahead of John Kadivane with 56 points.
Sameer Nanji and Eric Bengi have also sealed respective titles in 2WD non-turbo car and four-wheel drive (4WD) turbo classes but will be in Kasarani at the weekend to end the 2022 season in style.
Gurraj Singh already has the 2WD non-turbo Buggy Class in the bag with an unassailable cumulative points score of 171 as Manveer Ghalee now on 117 cannot surpass the leaders’ margin.
