Eldoret — The 2016 Topfry Classic Rally champion Raaji Bharij concedes he has to do all in his power to maintain his razor-thin lead in his bid for a first East African Mini Classic rally title after a generally punishing Day Two.
Bharij started Saturday morning atop the standings after a blissful opening day in which he went to bed with a 5:32-minute lead, ahead of fellow countryman Piers Daykin.
However, the latter's determined driving saw him slash Bharij's overall lead to a mere eight seconds on Day Two, going into the 364km closing leg on Sunday.
In third place was defending champion Baldev Chager - in a Porsche 911 - who was 32 seconds behind Bharij.
Bharij said he is not unconscious of the threat posed by the two and noted he would need to be at his best on Sunday to clinch the third edition of the annual rally.
"It is super tight (the competition between the top three)... I think its six seconds between Daykin and I and around 33 seconds with Boldy (Baldev Chager). I have got two strong guys behind me with a lot of power so (going into Sunday), we will have to do everything we can (to win the title)," Bharij said.
Rival-turned-good samaritan
It was the worst possible start for Bharij - driving a Ford Escort MK1 - at the 69.88km SS4 (Kapkitony-Kipsaos) after he got stuck only for his closest challenger, Daykin, to come to his aid.
He saluted his competitor for such a selfless act.
"Piers and I both went off at the same place and got stuck. Piers' car managed to get out and while they were pulling away they turned around and said 'let's get you guys out'. That was just brilliant and kudos to him," Bharij, navigated by Ravi Soni, said.
However, that was not the end of their troubles as the pair had to deal with mechanical challenges, six kilometres later.
"The first stage was horrendous. after we got stuck, the coil failed six kilometres later so we just drove really slowly to the end and lost a lot of time. But, thankfully we got out of the stage and when we got to service, we changed the coil and the car was back on," he said.
Bharij continued: "On the next stage, we thought we could have a go but towards the start we broke the rear arm and we over-heated all the suspensions. But, we really pushed on the last one and that seemed to have really helped us to make up time."
On his part, Daykin was emitting positive vibes, remarking that it has been a case of so far, so good - the challenging, rocky route notwithstanding.
"There was a lot of traffic on there like shambas and stuff but it is all good... we are here. The car is good... the weather is good so it is what it is," the former national navigators' champion.
Boldy's rocky ride
Chager, bidding for his third consecutive title, also acknowledged that Day Two had likewise put their driving skills to the limit considering they had to battle through rocky terrain.
A puncture suffered at the 82.35km-last stage of Day Two - Metkei to Kapkitony 2 - put a dent on what had been an otherwise impressive driving to make up for his Day one woes.
"I think (the puncture) has really brought the competition really close. The cars in front have also had their fair share of gremlins and loss of time but that's just how this rally has been really erratic from the first stage. Quite honestly speaking I think the route has been really rough for these cars. Today, we have done almost 240km of rocks and ditches through the three stages," Chager said.
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He added: "It is so rocky and narrow that making mistakes is so easy. If you ask me what rock I hit, I wouldn't be able to tell you because there are 10 million rocks in that stage."
Chager, who also won the 10th edition of the East African Safari Classic in February this year, expects more drama on the road on the final day of the race.
"The fact that on Friday night we were around 11 or 12 minutes behind the leader and now the three of us are in the same minute, tomorrow (Sunday) is going to be interesting. The whole game has changed completely. I think there's three stages tomorrow of 60km each... it's a short day but will still be rough," he said.
The ultimate day of competition will see drivers tackle three stages of a total of 364.31km including Kipsaos-Muskut (62.66km), Singore-Chebiemit (58.55km) and Kapsowar-Chebara Dam (59.78km).
