Kenya’s rallying sensation signs up for Winter Rally
By COLLINS NABISWA, @kollonabiswa
Kenya’s racing sensation Tejas Hirani will be part of the Olsberg MSE team at the RX Winter Series on Ice and the RX Lites.
The event, which is a support series in the FIA World Rallycross Championship, is set to kick off in Piteå, Sweden from the 31st of January.
Tejas, a rally teen sensation becomes the first Kenyan to ever take part in the tournament. The first RX Lites event will take place at Montalegre in Portugal, which also forms the opening round of this year’s FIA World Rallycross Championship.
“Tejas has shown great skill and talent in the series he has raced so far in his young career, so with OMSE´s professional help to further develop him as a race driver and grow him as a person into this specific area of motorsport closely, he has all the chances to be one of the next generation stars in rallycross globally,” Olsbergs MSE Chief Executive Officer Andreas Erickson said while making the announcement on Friday.
Tejas will make his debut on the world stage in the RX Lites category, a lower level tier racing category from supercars. The latest development adds to Tejas budding career that started when he was 9 and adds to a number of accolades including the coveted Formula Gulf 1000 Championship that he won in UAE last year.
DREAM COME TRUE
“I am humbled and excited at the prospect of taking part in the upcoming championship as the first and only African; this is a dream come true for me and I would like to thank all my sponsors and especially Olsbergs MSE; my trainers and everyone who believed in me throughout my journey. My goal is to win the championships!” said an elated Tejas Hirani.
On his part, Rob’s Magic Chief Executive Officer Rob Collinge, who has been managing and training Tejas since his debut in 2010 noted that there was a lot more to be done to build the sport’s capacity in Kenya. He called upon the government to facilitate and consider bringing the World Rallycross Championship to Kenya.
“RX in Kenya is yet to catch on as a sport and it has been challenging and costly to prepare Tejas for this competition. This is why he will be staying with the Olsbergs team in Sweden for two months to prepare him for the RX Lites starting with Portugal in April,” noted Rob.
Among the sponsors who offered their support towards his career include latest sports gaming platform mCHEZA, Chase Bank, Brand Kenya, Magical Kenya, Afrika Aviation Services, Harbour Capital, USN, Pan African Heart Foundation as well as various private individuals.
Collectively, they have contributed Sh25.5 million in sponsorship, with a further Sh20 million anticipated from two multinational agencies.
RX Lites and RallyX on Ice was enormously successful in 2015, and is hugely popular in the Nordic and European countries. The former is a support series to the FIA World Rallycross Championship. This industry is only second to Formula 1 in terms of revenue opportunity.