Eldoret — Raaji Bharij's hopes of clinching his maiden East African Mini Classic title seems to be evaporating in thin air after he was slapped with a five-minute penalty for diverting from the prescribed route as defined in the competition's tulip notes in the roadbook.
According to a letter signed by the stewards' chair, Surinder Thatthi, Bharij missed three tulip diagrams and followed a bridge, instead of a river diversion, a breach of Article 5(ii) of the event regulations.
"We got a report from the clerk of the course that an incident at CS4 Kapkitony 1 to Kipsaos 2 where car no. 4 (Bharij) as well as several others took the bridge instead of a river crossing. Having considered the matter, the Stewards determined the penalty as per APPENDIX A - Penalties, P34, 1st Offence," Thatthi said.
Article 5 (ii) of the event regulations decrees that all drivers should adhere to the tulip notes in the roadbook failure to which they are liable to punishment by the stewards.
This turn of events compounds the misery for Bharij who had endured a torrid race on Day Two, after he got stuck at the 69.88km SS4 (Kapkitony-Kipsaos) alongside his closest challenger, Piers Daykin, who came to his aid after the latter succeeded in hauling his Datsun 280Z.
"Piers and I both went off the same place and both of us 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
Bharij had taken a slim eight-second lead going into the ultimate day of competition on Sunday but Daykin retained second position as Chager - eyeing his third Mini Classic title - came third, 33 seconds behind Bharij.
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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 and 6-kms later the coil failed, 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.
The total distance covered on Day Two was 425.89 km including the competitive (232.29km) and liaison distance (193.60km).
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).
Following the latest developments, the stewards are presently locked in a meeting to scrutinize the results and update them in line with the penalty.
