Sweden is probably the last place 27-year-old McRae Kimathi would have chosen to start his World Rally Championship driving experience.
The Kenyan, as could have been for many African drivers, would have Australia or even Argentina as their pick, maybe Wales. After all, those countries have much the same rallying surfaces; dirt, mud, and rocks as in Africa.
But Kimathi now finds himself in a rather unfamiliar yet unique space in Umeå Northern Sweden.
The Junior African Rally Champion will debut in the first round of the Junior WRC this weekend.
He admits, being in Sweden is a huge career leap.
“The news that I will be part of the Junior WRC came about three weeks ago after I realized that I was on the rally Sweden entry list.
“At first, I didn’t believe it, thinking it was just a joke. But as days went by, I got more excited as I saw the opportunity to mingle with world rally drivers and junior WRC champions.
“It has been a pleasant surprise and at the same time a big challenging step but I am glad to be here,” he says.
Sweden is by far a huge contrast to life in Kenya. Temperatures in the East African country can shift to 30 degrees celsius compared to Sweden’s -12 degrees.
There, certainly, will not be any basking in the sun for Kimathi.
“Acclimatising to this condition is still quite tricky, given back home it’s sunny or just rainy. Here it is in minus.
“But for now I am trying to keep positive and get myself going until the weekend,” says Kimathi who also made a trip to John Haugland’s rally school where he had a few drives on snow ahead of the weekend race.
To get up to speed with the all-new terrain, Kimathi shared a cockpit with Msport Ford’s driver Craig Breen for a quick tutorial.
“Craig is a fantastic driver. He was so encouraging and so kind. He told me to be neat and tidy and not to fight a lot with the car in this kind of condition and just keep away from the snowbanks.
“He corrected most mistakes I had and he said it was a big step and a start of something new. I really enjoyed sitting with him,” he added.
Lauri Joona, William Creighton, and Estonian Robert Virves are the other cast of junior crews that will be up for the challenge along with Kimathi in the round Junior WRC calendar.
The weight of expectation is high. Kimathi though is cautious with his targets.
“It is a learning season for me. Most events are quite specialized and my competitors are more experienced on these.
“I just want to try and finish these events and get the mileage which is very important for me. The future target is to be a full-time WRC driver. I know there is a lot that comes with that to be done. But I am looking forward to it,” he explained.
Kimathi and Mwangi Kioni will drive the Ford Fiesta R3 for the weekend’s challenge in the JWRC.
The Kenyan crew is sponsored by M-Sport Poland with a car and technical support, Safaricom, Kenya Airways, Sparco, and Pirelli.