McRae Kimathi yearning for new experience in Croatia

Kenyan rally driver McRae Kimathi is yearning for a new experience in his career when he drives on asphalt in Croatia alongside his navigator Mwangi Kioni this weekend.

The 27-year old is looking to build on his experience in Rally Sweden where he made his debut in the World Rally Championship’s feeder series where he put up a strong display.

“Croatia will be a very new experience for us. I have never driven on Tarmac before, so it’s going to be very exciting. From what I have gathered, it becomes really slippery in the wet, so this is something we will have to be very careful about,” Kimathi is quoted as saying on WRC's official website.

Kioni shares the same sentiments as Kimathi, saying that they have assessed the terrain from their recce but remain focused despite not being used to racing on tarmac.

"The stay here has been good. We've done our recce for the past two days and it's quite tough; it's a different kind of terrain than what we are used to; it's tarmac but we will keep our eyes on the ball and see how it goes," Kioni told Citizen Digital.

Further, Kimathi added that he is hopeful they will have a good finish on Sunday, expressing his delight at debuting at the championship.

"It's been interesting for us, long day for recce. Of course it's the first time in rallying in the championship and it's something for the team. The rally is pretty narrow, quite challenging. The weather will play a big role in this rally so we will just take it a day at a time, a stage at a time and hopefully we will at a good place on Sunday," he added.