Baryan bags debut title, ace Duncan 2nd

Manvir Baryan scored a double over the weekend, winning his first ever Kenya National Rally Championship event behind the wheels of a Skoda Fabia 1600 R5 that was making its rally debut in the country.Baryan won four out of five stages and had his campaign effectively sewn up when his teammate and defending champion Tapio Laukkanen was forced out of the Mombasa Rally with a broken ball joint on the second section.

Only 12 out of the 35 original starters, finished the Mombasa Motor Club-organised round, which was described by some as one of the most tormenting events of the KNRC series.

Veteran driver, Ian Duncan was placed second overall in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo10 and Carl Tundo third in a similar car.

The opening round of the 2017 KNRC series experienced several difficulties. At one stage the rally looked like it was not going to run due to technical issues.

Last minute changes to the route didn’t help matters as the organisers were forced to cancel two of the competitive sections.