Ian Duncan (rally driver)

Last updated
Ian Duncan
Personal information
Nationality Flag of Kenya.svg Kenyan
Born (1961-06-23) 23 June 1961 (age 63)
World Rally Championship record
Active years1983–1999
Co-driver Flag of Kenya.svg Gavin Bennett
Flag of Kenya.svg Ian Munro
Flag of Kenya.svg Yvonne Mehta
Flag of Kenya.svg David Williamson
Teams Subaru, Toyota
Rallies15
Championships 0
Rally wins 1
Podiums4
Stage wins4
Total points80
First rally1983 Safari Rally
First win1994 Safari Rally
Last rally1999 Safari Rally

Ian Duncan (born 23 June 1961) is one of Kenya's most successful rally drivers. He was Kenyan Rally Champion six times (1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 2000 and 2011), [1] and achieved outright victory in a World Rally Championship round when he won the 42nd Trustbank Safari Rally in 1994. This was one of seven consecutive top ten finishes in the event from 1990 to 1996, despite its notorious attrition rate.

Contents

Career

He spent his childhood at his parents' farm in Limuru. His first tastes of driving occurred when he was aged around ten, as he helped his mother when she got stuck on farm roads during the rainy season. He went to St. Mary's High School, but was more interested in repairing cars and motorcycles. He also competed in motocross winning the national 125 cc title in 1979 and 1980. He competed in the Safari Rally for the first time in 1983 driving a Nissan pick-up navigated by Gavin Bennett, reaching ninth position and a class victory, gaining the attention of rally people[ who? ]. [2]

His first victorious national rally was the Nakuru Rally in 1987 driving a Toyota Celica twin-cam turbo navigated by Ian Munro. [3] Duncan won his first national championship the same year winning most of the races. He won the 1987 national Motor Sportsman of the Year Award. [2]

Having competed with a Group A Subaru Legacy RS and Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD in the 1990s. Apart from the Safari Rally, he competed in WRC rallies only a few times. The best result was finishing 3rd overall during the 1993 WRC safari Rally. [4] During this edition, Toyota achieved a famous 1-2-3-4 that was repeated during the 2022 WRC Safari Rally. [5] He would also finish eighth overall and win the Group N class in a Subaru Legacy RS at the 1990 Acropolis Rally in Greece, navigated by Yvonne Mehta (the wife of Shekhar Mehta). [6]

Later he was running a non-homologated Toyota Hilux with a turbocharged 4.5 L engine in the Kenyan National Rally Championship (KNRC). In November 2006 Duncan won the Guru Nanak Rally, becoming the first driver to win a KNRC round for the tenth time. [7] He was imposed a four percent time penalty due to his non-homologated vehicle. He extended the record in 2007 by winning the Guru Nanak Rally again. [8]

Duncan has won the Rhino Charge off-road event in 1998, 2006 and 2007. [9] He has competed in motorcycling. In 2003, he was the runner up of the Kenyan enduro, motocross as well as rally championships. [10]

He introduced his newest rally car, a Nissan Patrol pick-up, in October 2008. [11] In 2008 he also won the national autocross championship. [12] In 2009, 15 years after winning the Safari Rally proper, Duncan won the Safari classic rally driving a 1968 [2] Ford Mustang navigated by his current navigator Amaar Slatch. The defending champion Björn Waldegård was left in second place. [13]

On 23 October 2011 he won the Kenyan National Rally Championship for the sixth time. [14] Duncan entered the 2011 Classic Safari Rally as a defending champion, now driving a Ford Capri. He finished seventh [15] In 2012 he came close to winning his second Safari Rally, now with ARC status, but lost to Carl Tundo by just 15 seconds [16]

WRC victories

 # EventSeasonCo-driverCar
1 Flag of Kenya.svg 42nd Trustbank Safari Rally 1994 David Williamson Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD

[17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlos Sainz Sr.</span> Spanish rally driver (born 1962)

Carlos Sainz Cenamor is a Spanish rally driver. He won the World Rally Championship drivers' title with Toyota in 1990 and 1992, and finished runner-up four times. Constructors' world champions to have benefited from Sainz are Subaru (1995), Toyota (1999) and Citroën. In the 2018 season, he was one of the official drivers of the Team Peugeot Total. He received the Princess of Asturias Sports Award in 2020. Sainz founded the Acciona | Sainz XE Team to join Extreme E and competed in the first two seasons alongside Laia Sanz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juha Kankkunen</span> Finnish rally driver (born 1959)

Juha Matti Pellervo Kankkunen is a Finnish former rally driver. His factory team career in the World Rally Championship lasted from 1983 to 2002. He won 23 world rallies and four drivers' world championship titles, which were both once records in the series. Both Sébastien Loeb and Sébastien Ogier have since collected more world titles, but no driver was able to repeat Kankkunen's feat of becoming a world champion with three different manufacturers until Ogier matched this achievement in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Safari Rally</span> Annual rallying event held in Kenya

The Safari Rally is an automobile rally held in Kenya. It was first held in 1953 as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The event was part of the World Rally Championship from 1973 until 2002, before returning in 2021. It is historically regarded as one of the toughest events in the World Rally Championship, and one of the most popular rallies in Africa. From 2003, a historical event has been held biennially.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Didier Auriol</span> French rally driver (born 1958)

Didier Auriol is a French former rally driver. Born in Montpellier and initially an ambulance driver, he competed in the World Rally Championship throughout the 1990s. He became World Rally Champion in 1994, the first driver from his country to do so. He was a factory candidate for Lancia, Toyota and Peugeot among others, before losing his seat at Škoda at the end of 2003. His sister Nadine was also involved in rallying as a co-driver, while his brother Gerrard was also a former rally driver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shekhar Mehta</span> Kenyan rally driver (1945–2006)

Chandra Shekhar Mehta was a Ugandan-born Kenyan rally driver. He won the Safari Rally a record five times, including four consecutively, and in 1981 finished fifth in the World Rally Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Per Eklund</span> Swedish rally driver (born 1946)

Per Torsten Eklund is a Swedish Rally and Rallycross driver. His nickname is "Pekka". In rallying he never made it to the very top but he has been very successful in his later rallycross career.

The 1999 World Rally Championship was the 27th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of 14 rallies. Tommi Mäkinen won his fourth drivers' world championship driving for Mitsubishi, ahead of Richard Burns and Didier Auriol. The manufacturers' title was won by Toyota, ahead of Subaru and Mitsubishi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joginder Singh (rally driver)</span> Kenyan rally driver (1932–2013)

Sardar Joginder Singh Bhachu was a successful Kenyan endurance rally driver in the 1960s and 1970s. Popularly known as "The Flying Sikh", He won the Safari Rally three times, in 1965 driving a Volvo PV544 with his brother Jaswant as co-driver, and in 1974 and 1976 driving a Mitsubishi Colt Lancer 1600 GSR.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armin Schwarz</span> German rally driver (born 1963)

Armin Schwarz is a German rally driver. He competed in the World Rally Championship from 1988 to 2005, winning the 1991 Rally Catalunya and taking six other podium finishes. Outside the WRC, he won the German Rally Championship (1987–88), the European Rally Championship (1996) and the "Rally Masters" event at the Race of Champions (2000).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Rådström</span> Swedish rally driver (born 1966)

Thomas Rådström, nicknamed "Rådis", is a rally and rallycross driver from Sweden.

Toshihiro 'Toshi' Arai is a Japanese rally driver and team owner. He is the first Japanese FIA world champion.

The 1986 World Rally Championship was the 14th season of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Rally Championship (WRC). The season consisted of 13 rallies, including all twelve venues of the previous season as well as the addition of the Olympus Rally. This marked the return of the WRC to the United States and North America, as well as the first world rally to be held on the western side of the continent. The December rally would also be the only WRC event to feature Group B competition in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freddy Loix</span> Belgian rally driver (born 1970)

Freddy Loix is a Belgian rally driver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toyota Celica GT-Four</span> Motor vehicle

The Toyota Celica GT-Four is a high performance model of the Celica Liftback that was produced from 1986 to 1999, with a turbocharged 3S-GTE engine, and full-time AWD. It was created to compete in the World Rally Championship, whose regulations dictate that a manufacturer must build road-going versions of the vehicle in sufficient numbers. These vehicles are referred to as "homologation special vehicles".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicky Grist</span> British rally co-driver (born 1961)

Nicholas Mark Grist is a Welsh former rally co-driver, born in Ebbw Vale. His factory team career in the World Rally Championship lasted from 1993 to 2002. He won 21 rallies with more than one driver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sport in Kenya</span>

Sport is an important element of Kenyan culture. Various indigenous traditional sports have prevailed in Kenyan culture from its earliest history. Some of the traditional games and sports prevalent in Kenya since antiquity have included wrestling, racing exercises, stick fights, hunting, board games, bull fights and dances.

Carl "Flash" Tundo is a Kenyan rally driver. He is a five times winner of the Safari Rally. In 2009 it was a round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, making Tundo the first and only Kenyan winner of an IRC round. His co-driver has been Tim Jessop since 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalle Rovanperä</span> Finnish rally driver (born 2000)

Kalle Rovanperä is a Finnish professional rally driver who competes in the World Rally Championship (WRC) for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, alongside co-driver Jonne Halttunen. He is the double reigning World Champion. As the son of former WRC driver Harri Rovanperä, he garnered international attention by starting rallying at an exceptionally young age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Takamoto Katsuta</span> Japanese rally driver (born 1993)

Takamoto Katsuta is a Japanese rally driver who currently competes in the World Rally Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT. Katsuta rose to prominence after taking a surprise victory in the WRC-2 class at the 2018 Rally Sweden. He achieved his first World Rally Championship podium in the 2021 Safari Rally, finishing in second place.

Maxine Wahome is a former motorcross rider and current Kenyan racing driver.

References

  1. ↑ Kenyan Rally Championship Archived 2007-05-21 at the Wayback Machine , WRC Place
  2. 1 2 3 Duncan's mustang ride to victory, Daily Nation , 26 December 2009
  3. ↑ "Rallying: Rains pose challenges for drivers" [ permanent dead link ], Daily Nation, 23 June 2007
  4. ↑ "41. Trust Bank Safari Rally 1993". eWRC. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  5. ↑ "WRC 2022 Rally Kenya". Motosport.com. Motosport Network. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  6. ↑ 37th Acropolis Rally, Rallybase.nl
  7. ↑ "Duncan zooms to victory in Guru", Samson Ateka, The Standard , 20 November 2006
  8. ↑ "Tundo crowned as Duncan wins Guru Nanak", Ochieng’ Ogodo, The Standard , 22 October 2007
  9. ↑ "Ian Duncan retains Rhino Charge crown", Samson Ateka, The Standard, June 5, 2007
  10. ↑ Rose takes over KNRC, Daily Nation, 29 December 2003
  11. ↑ Ian Duncan returns to action, Daily Nation, 3 October 2008
  12. ↑ Duncan wraps up Autocross title [ permanent dead link ], Coastweek, 17 October 2008
  13. ↑ Duncan wins classic rally [ permanent dead link ], Capital FM, 1 December 2009
  14. ↑ The Standard: Victory again
  15. ↑ East African Safari Rally 2011 - official results Archived 2012-02-10 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ↑ Daily Nation, 10 June 2010: Fourth Safari win for Tundo
  17. ↑ "WRC 2022 Rally Kenya". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.