All-women team ready for Voi rally action

Natasha Tundo and Chantal Louis Young

The fourth round of this year’s Safari Rally will be going down in Voi today with top drivers ready to hit the terrain.

It is anticipated to be one of the toughest legs in the calendar year of Kenya National Rally Championship.

Top boys of the sport will be present with heavy and big machines ranging from Mitsubishi, Subaru and all the way to Ford, but one element which is winning the hearts of many rally enthusiasts is the Rally Chix.

The all-female crew of Natasha Tundo and Chantal Louis Young are going against the grains of perceptions to thrive in a male dominated sport.

Not just their presence in rally but how strong and consistent they are plus their general good performance are the main factors behind being darlings of many rally lovers.

Natasha Tundo, the younger sister of rally ace Carl Tundo and her navigator Chantal Louis Young are fired up and very optimistic they will do well in this leg.

Talking to FeverPitch, Natasha said they have prepared well and their main aim is to keep on pushing upwards the rankings from what they achieved.

“We prepared well for this round and we are in a very sound condition to achieve the best. We have a new gear box and so, our machine’s status is not a worry. Our focus is to stay in top 15 or top 20,” said Natasha.

Navigating with mastery of enjoyment, Chantal says that rally has its challenges but their main motivation is the love for sport and they would want to be part of one of the toughest sports.

“Rally has huge challenges but the men in the sport are so welcoming and are helping us a great deal in overcoming them. Our love for rally is the main source of motivation as we strive to achieve the best in every stage,” Chantal said.

Being the director of her driver is one of the toughest task but Chantal says her four years’ experience is good enough to place her way above average line and offer her best like it should be.

“Being a navigator is such a demanding task because you do many things concurrently failure to which everything will go wrong. I have been a navigator for four years and so, the experience gained in the past helps me a lot,” she said.

Coming from a rally family, Natasha says she is not planning to ditch the sport anytime soon. She wants to be among key rally figures and prove she can do what men can do.

“I grew up in a rally family and I loved it. Every experience was a learning lesson to me. What motivates me is the thrill and I want to show that l can do what men can do without fear. We are in the sport and we are ready to stay in and give men a good run,” said the animated driver.

As confirmed by Natasha, the Rally Chix appreciate their machine, a Subaru Impreza N10 because that’s their first car and its very reliable and a common car in the race.

“We love the performance of Subaru Impreza N10 because its very reliable and performs well. This is our first car and if we have to change to another car, we will see that in future,” she concludes.

The Rally Chix finished in an improved 15th position overall in the last leg at Elementaita.