Kenyans love the sound of a mighty engine, and if you can mix it up with some mud even better. The East African Coronation Rally was Kenya’s first major motor sport event that took place in 1953 organized to commemorate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The rally was scheduled to be annual and its popularity grew with several drivers flying into the country to compete; fans gathered around different zones of the rally track to watch the cars speed into the air and invariably get stuck in the mud. As the energy towards the rally increased, more drivers signed up for the event showcasing more cars and giving more thrills to the spectators as Kenyan lovers of adrenaline waited along dusty and muddy murram roads – this was the heat and the action of the Rally.
Chandrashekhar Mehta was 21 when he began participating in rallys. He made his premier on the dusty track behind a BMW wheel. After a few runs he found his vehicle of preference and began endorsing Datsun cars. There are some names that are just designed to birth heroes and Shekhar Mehta is one of them. His was the name on the lips of many Kenyan boys growing up in the seventies and eighties. In 1973, the rally had been renamed to the East African Rally and that year was listed for the first time on the international circuit of the World Rally Championship (WRC).
On August 25th of that year, the East African Safari Rally was held with a king-sized entry of 77 starters. The rally began from Nairobi to Nanyuki to Nakuru and back to Nairobi with the The Intercontinental Hotel marking the finishing point. Shekhar with his co-driver Lofty Drews powered their Datsun 240Z into the lead going into Nanyuki – the rally’s first stopover.
The interesting thing about rallys is that they often take a whole weekend and thus night stopovers are marked. The drivers continue the following day based on their arrivals the previous evening. Shekar and Drews who arrived first proceeded on Sunday with a significant lead all the way to the finish line with only 16 points lost. The duo made headlines in the Daily Nation as they clinched the flag for Kenya at the World Rally Championship event.
From then on, Shekhar Mehta’s presence was the golden ticket Kenyans sought each April when the rally would take place, constantly cheering him and his navigator on. For Shekhar rallying was more than just a sport, a race, it was his passion and his hall of fame in rally history was his four-time consecutive win between 1979 and 1982, including his 1981 win at the Africa Rally Championship in his super pumped Nissan Violet.
While he retired from driving in the late 80s, he remained an active member of the International Association of Recognized Automobile Clubs – the governing body for international racing events and was elected as president of the association in 1997.
Throughout his rally career, Shekhar Mehta participated in 47 rallies, proudly presenting Kenya as a real contender in the world of motor sports.
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