KCB Racing Team’s Nikhil Sachania is beaming with confidence after having an outstanding performance in his hand-controlled growth X at the just concluded WRC Safari Rally in Naivasha.
The paraplegic driver now says he’s got a great feeling inside him after a credible fourth position on WRC Safari Rally’s Kenya National Rally Championship (KNRC) Category.
Competing against able-bodied drivers and beating the M-Sport Poland Rally 3 duo of Jeremy Wahome and McRae Kimathi was quite an achievement finishing 18th overally.
Carl Tundo dominated the KNRC3 claiming first place followed by Jasmeet Chana, Maxine Wahome and Sachania settling for fourth place.
“We are really happy with our finish as we completed the rally without any major issues and we were one of the crews to finish without having to restart any day on Super Rally. The 2022 WRC Safari Rally was a very tricky and tough event compared to last year. Our main goal was to bring the car home and achieve a good finish,” he said.
Sachania went ahead and got through Day 1 on Thursday at the 4.8km Karasani Super Special Stage (SSS) without any complications.
“Our Evo behaved well through and through and we managed to bring it back to Naivasha’s (Wildlife Research and Training Institute) Service in one piece,” added Sachania.
The second day Friday, was a lot tougher for him especially with the red flags on the Kedong fesh fesh stage that also troubled the likes of Veteran Sebastian Ogier.
Both the third and fourth day provided tricky assignments as well, but Sachania was happy to get through the challenging Hell’s Gate stage, where the second pass served as the Wolf Power Stage and indeed the last speed test of the Safari.
“On the final day, we thought it would be quite easy to navigate through but we realised the roads had quite deteriorated as we passed. The Hell’s Gate stage was challenging on the final pass, so we got stuck for a short time, losing two places.”
Nikhil extended his gratitude to sponsors KCB for according the necessary support. “I would like to thank our sponsors KCB Bank for trusting us. It was such a great pleasure flying their banner high. Without their support through the rally, it would have been a mission impossible,” said Sachania.
The 2014 KMSF Sports Personality-of-the-year is also grateful to the FIA Accessibility and Disability Commission for their continued support and for helping drivers in his condition to run their campaigns competitively.