Samman Singh Vohra is looking to bury past Safari rally disappointments with a new experience at this month’s third round of the world rally championship.
The WRC Safari rally Kenya is scheduled for 20-23 March in Nairobi and Naivasha, Kenya.
The Kenyan Rookie has participated in two Safari rally events; with the first in 2023. He recovered from mechanical problems to finish 16th overall.
The 2024 WRC Safari rally campaign ended in a rather heartbreaking way.
Samman rolled his Skoda Fabia rally2 in the Super special stage. The damage to the car could not see him continue; prematurely ending what was expected to be a good rally.
“It was just a simple mistake of carrying too much entry speed into the corner which I misjudged. It was a very disappointing feeling being unable to continue given how much work went on behind the scenes in the run up to the event,” said Samman.
“But those are moments in life we use to learn from,” he added.
This year’s Safari rally will be Samman’s eighth career event.
The Sheffield Africa sponsored crew is among the teams categorized under WRC2. The class includes seasoned WRC2 drivers like Oliver Solberg, Gus Greensmith, Daniel Chwist along with Kenyan crews like Karan Patel, Hamza Anwar among others.
“I am still in the early days of my rallying career. So, it is still about picking up experience. Every competitive kilometre offers us the chance to learn, gain experience and improve. We are looking to improve.”
“The aim is to just build a steady pace and rhythm from the start and hopefully by keeping it clean, end up in a good position,” he says.
Samman will share the cockpit with three-time Africa rally champion co-driver Drew Sturrock.
He said, “Drew is a famous face in African rallying with a lot of experience. We look forward to our first outing together.”
With the Safari rally knocking, Samman has more than his personal targets to achieve. part of his uncovered objective is to carry on his late father’s dream of rallying.
Samman’s late father JS Vohra was deeply involved in motorsport as a rally director and former chairman of the Kenya Motorsport Federation.
“I started this dream with my late father JS Vohra. I would like to acknowledge him ahead of the Safari rally. I always race in honor of his name. Family has always been my biggest supporter,” said Samman.
Samman Vohra is sponsored by Sheffield Africa.
