Multiple Kenya National Rally Championship winner Baldev Chager is the new East Africa Safari Classic Rally winner.

Chager won the 10th edition of the rally in his Kabras-sponsored Porsche 911 with an incredible time difference of 07:43.9.

Chager who maintained a strong lead from day two of the competition was the favourite to clinch the title despite not winning any stage throughout the competition. The new champion said relying on his co-driver, Drew Sturrock helped him stay steady and ensured the consistency they required to win this year’s title.

“It was a matter of judging each day as you see it and clicking together as a team that pushed us to victory”, the champion said. The Swedish national Patrick Sandell in his Porsche 911, overhauled the Kenyan legend, Ian Duncan, in his Rover Vitesse to take the second position with a total cumulative time of 16:47:54.5, pushing the Kenyan rally icon to third position with a total cumulative time of 16:52:49.3.

Kenyan drivers, however, still dominated the top five positions with another rally star Lee Rose in his Ford Escort RS 1800 clinching the fourth position, while Piers Daykin in his Datsun 240Z summed the top five. The remainder of the top ten were Philip Kadoorie, Kris Rosenberger, Joost Van Cawenberge, David Danglard and Federico Polese, in their Tuthill Porsches.

The day started off at Chamaka in Kilifi County and finished at Arabuko covering a distance of 128.19km.

The 10th edition of the East African Safari Classic Rally is sponsored by Victoria Commercial Bank, Standard Group, A&K, Safaricom, NTT Dimension Data, Kenya Tourist Board, Aquamist, Vivo Energy and East African Breweries Limited.