Baldev Chager wins KNRC title

Baldev Singh Chager is the new Kenya National Rally Championship (KNRC) champion following cancellation of this weekend’s KCB Guru Nanak Rally.

The event, initially programmed for Sunday, was called off for the second time due to inclement weather.

Torrential rains and subsequent flash floods have since made it impossible for organisers Sikh Union Nairobi to run the event due to waterlogged black cotton roads in Stony Athi region.

Following the Kenya Motor Sports Federation (KMSF) announcement that the 2019 KCB Bank KNRC will count as a seven-round championship instead of eight, Chager becomes the new champion with an unassailable 162 points against Carl ‘Flash’ Tundo’s 142.

Chager was hoping to finish in the top 10 on Guru Nanak to recapture the coveted title but not until the force majeure was called.

The KNRC title race went down to the wire after the muddy KCB Eldoret where Tundo swept the ground with all his opponents to keep his title defence alive.

The decision to call off the event was taken by Clerk of Course Raju Chaggar and communicated to KMSF
The statement from KMSF said: “Changes in championships due to such unforeseen circumstances are common in global motorsport and a comparative case is the 14th round of the World Rally Champion (WRC) in Australia, which was cancelled at the last minute by the organizers following bush fires in Coffs harbor last month.

“The Australian organizers communicated their decision to the Federatione Il’ Automobile (FIA) which declared the WRC concluded and points earned were tabulated based on 13 instead of 14 rounds to decide the drivers’ and constructors championships.

“The KMSF secretariat will compile final KNRC championships’ standings based on seven rounds after considering Article 16.3 of Appendix A of the regulations to declare the championship winners.”

Other Champions are Issa Amwari (Division Two), Ammar Haq (Division One), Daren Miranda (Two Wheel Drive) and Jasmeet Chana ,(Group N).

The 2020 calendar is already published with the first KNRC championship scheduled for 22nd – 23rd February 2020.

Final Standings-KNRC 2019

KNRC Group N

1. Jasmeet Chana 116
2. Ammar Haq 106
3 Mahesh Halai 57

KNRC Two Wheel Drive
1. Daren Miranda 75
2. Leonardo Varese 21

KNRC Division One
1 Amaar Haq 104
2 Karan Patel 97
3 Sohanjeet Puee 78

KNRC Division Two
1 Issa Amwari 132
2 Minesh Rathod 109
3 Daren Miranda 69

KNRC Overall
1 Baldev Chager 162
2 Carl Tundo142
3 Manvir Baryan 91
4 Onkar Rai 68
5 Tejveer Rai 63
6 Jasmeet Chana 41
7 Ian Duncan 38
7= Issa Amwari 38
9 Izhar Mirza 33
9= Ammar Haq 33