Cut-throat competition expected as Autocross season concludes

It is down to the wire between Neel Gohil and Brandon Nganga for the tenth and final round of the KCB Kenya National Autocross Championship which returns to Jamhuri Park racetrack this Sunday. 

Neel currently sits second on the Two Wheel Drive Non-Turbo Junior Class log, five points behind Ng'ang'a and not letting the championship slip through his grasp in Sunday's showdown.

Neel candidly admits that it has been tough to catch up on points after missing Round 4 which he could not honor due to an urgent family commitment and had to travel out of town.

Ng'ang'a, who also joined the sport this year, currently tops the Junior log with 159 points after nine races and five wins to boot. Neel, on the other hand, has four wins despite skipping a round earlier this year.

"We will do our best and go all out for a win and FTD (Fastest Time of the Day) at Jamhuri to cover the 5- point difference. I am aware it is the last round and this is going to be tough with the championship at stake. The buggy should be ready by Friday. And should all go well, we will fight to rack up the win at Jamhuri, and if not, as a team, we will be glad that we gave it our all and did not let the championship go easy in our first year of racing," said Neel.

He further adds that it has been a fantastic Autocross season despite the challenges that COVID-19 presented earlier in the year.

"I have really had a great season of learning and meeting some great personalities who have all mentored me in some way or the other. Special thanks to my lead sponsors Salomon Kenya for supporting me throughout the 2021 season," he continued.

In another development, Duma Racing Team's Yuvraj Rajput will be debuting his 2WD Junior Non Turbo buggy at round 10 on Sunday after securing his second championship in the Bambino Class at Twisty Corners. 

Although Yuvraj, son of outgoing Open Class Champion Kirit Rajput, will not score any points towards Sunday's race meeting, he intends to use this as a practice drive to see how far he can push the championship-winning buggy previously driven by Rajveer Thethy. 

Yuvraj's sister Kiana Rajput just needs to enter the last round this weekend to seal her first championship title in the Pee Wee Class, and thereafter will be graduating to her brothers championship winning buggy in the Bambino Class for the 2022 season.

Zameer Verjee, who sealed the Two Wheel Drive Non-Turbo buggy title after Round 8 in Nanyuki, has also signed up for Sunday's race and so Is the newly-crowned Quad Class Champion Gurraj Singh. 

Double championship winner Lovejyot Singh sealed the Two Wheel Drive Turbo and Four Wheel Drive Turbo titles at Twisty Corners and will be back in the saddle for more points at stake in the season-closer.

Meanwhile, Two Wheel Drive Non-Turbo Car leader Rajveer Thethy and Sam Karangata will also fight for the coveted title on homestretch. Their lead has swapped over a number of times and currently the gap is at 9 points. between them.

At the VCCCK round at Jamhuri Park, Karangata came really close to a win with a gap of a mere 0.079 seconds after technical issues with his brakes and a tyre blow out.