Seventeen-year-old Amaan Ganatra announced himself as Kenya's newest rally champion after bagging a memorable victory on his Kenya National Rally Championship (KNRC) debut during the opening round at Stoni Athi Ranch, Machakos on Saturday, August 1.
Driving a Mitsubishi Evo 9 for Ganatra Racing and navigated by Mudasar Chaudry, the youngster completed the demanding event in 1:52:03.1. He sealed maximum championship points after also winning the Power Stage.
Ganatra produced a composed drive throughout the rally, resisting pressure from fellow youngster Neel Gohil before pulling clear to secure a dream start to his KNRC career.
"It is a huge relief because the whole team worked extremely hard. To win my first KNRC event at such a young age is a big achievement," explained Ganatra. "After the first loop we decided to keep things clean since we were already leading. The battle with Neel was very close, and after one 27-kilometre stage we were separated by only two seconds, so we had to keep pushing."
Partnered by Komaine Yakub in a Subaru N10, Mombasa-based driver Javed Lota, recovered impressively to finish second in 1:57:07.7 despite receiving a five-minute penalty for missing a junction.
Lota admitted the mistake cost him a realistic chance of victory, but praised the organisers for reviving the national championship.
"We were close to winning but the penalty changed everything. Fortunately, we recovered plenty of time in the remaining stages," he said. "It was a completely new challenge with different terrain. Some sections were familiar from the Shell Autocross series, but others had black cotton soil and rough surfaces that forced me to adapt my driving every few kilometres."
Gohil looked set to challenge Ganatra throughout the day after winning one stage, but electrical problems on his Mitsubishi Evo 10 ended his hopes during the second pass of the Simba stage.
He revealed the car had shown electrical faults during the opening loop before eventually shutting down in the afternoon. Although he managed to restart it, the vehicle entered limp mode, forcing him to nurse it back to service before retiring.
Rajveer Singh Thethy and James Mwangi wrapped up the podium in a Subaru N12 after timing 1:58:55.6, while Issa Amwari and Dennis Mwenda finished fourth ahead of Harpreet Singh Bhogal and Ismail Taher in fifth.
The event also featured a strong family presence from the Anwars. Veteran Azar "Mzee wa Kazi" Anwar competed in a BMW Classic, while siblings Samnia and Shabaz Anwar shared a Daewoo Cielo, with Shabaz enjoying his role as navigator and describing the rally as a fun learning experience.
Clerk of the Course Pipi Renu confirmed that the second round of the revived KNRC will return to Stoni Athi Ranch on September 19-20, promising another test on the fast and technical terrain. The championship's return was given an ideal start by Ganatra's breakthrough victory, highlighting the emergence of a promising new generation of Kenyan rally talent.
