motor sports
By Samson Ateka
How farm-life contributed to a production of rally champions
W
hile most Kenyan kids
grappl e with initial
bicycl e l essons as
early as eight years old, a unique
group of young ‘bush boys’ may
well have discerningly dispensed
with their two wheel contraptions
and busy driving trucks at some
rough terrain in the countryside.
It still puzzles many why
most successful rall y drivers
have a farming background.
Former world rall y champion
Petter Solberg is not the red-
faced sort of farmer, the kind
who angrily orders trespassers
off their land in Oslo.
Like his former 2001 Subaru
teammate and former World
Ch ampion, the late Rich ard
Burns, Petter started his driving
career at the same age and in
similar spirit and fashion- when
most children were getting to
terms with their first bicycles.
From eight years old, he was
driving cars on the fields around
his parents’ farm in Spydeberg, 50 km east of Oslo.
Petter’s parents were both
keen rall y-cross drivers, and
naturally, Petter and his elder
brother Henning inherited their
fascination with cars. The then
11-year old Petter helped his
parents build and maintain
their autocross cars. Still far too
young to compete, Petter raced
radio-controlled cars and was
Norwegian Champion at 13.
master of wet and slippery
terrain, honed his skills in the
farm fields.
Otto Ulyatte, Kenya’s 2003
African Motocross Champion
sharpened his skills at their farm
in Narok County after being
inspired by his father, Robin
Ulyatte who raced for Toyota
works team in the Safari Rally.
Former Kenya champions
Carl Tundo and Lee Rose (now
living in Nelspruit SA near
Mozambique border) both have
farming background.
Rose’s and Tundo’s fathers,
Frank Tundo and John Rose were
farmers in Nakuru and reputable
rall y drivers who had a feel
of the works team cars when
the country was blessed with
world-beaters in the World rally
Championship Safari Rally.
Frank and John are oldies
who were lucky to have seen the
sport morph through different
guises.
The local rally farmers fondly
referred to as the ‘bush drivers’,
have dominated the local rallying
scene for years leaving in their
opponents trailing in their dust.
Interestingly, a sizeable number of Kenyan drivers who have
laid their hands on the coveted
national Ch ampionship titl e
(KNRC) owe their success to the
bush connection.
Limuru horticultural farmer,
Rory Green, now on sabbatical,
won the KNRC title twice in
succession in 2001 and 2002
before Lee Rose took over the
reins in 2003 and 2004. As if
to prove that the ‘bush boys’
obduracy was far from over, Carl
Tundo lost the KNRC title in 2005
to veteran auto-engineer Azar
Anwar on homestretch at the
KCB Guru Nanak Rally. You may
think that there is some voodoo
of sorts working for the bush
drivers but Carl Tundo was quick
to dispel this perception in past
interview.
“I learnt to drive when we
were farming up in Maralal from
about 15 and before that rode
motor bikes from about 6 yrs
old. The advantage of living on a
farm in remote areas is that you
get the chance to learn riding
and driving much earlier. My
farther (Frank) made us a small
track for us to drive around in an
old pickup. He inspired me and I
A family affair
Kenya, it is indeed a similar
success story of careers honed
from a family line of exquisite
rally drivers. It is most certain
that the young and perhaps
the older generation of rallying
and motocross aces in Kenya
trace their roots from similar
backgrounds.
Carl Tundo
The legendary late Shekhar
Mehta –winner of 4WRC Safari
rallies and former President of
WRC Rallies Commission in the
world motor sports governing
body (FIA) - renowned as a
38
September 2017