Thursday, 19 December 2024

Natasha Tundo


Natasha co-driving for her father, Frank

Natasha Tundo is a Kenyan rally driver whose usual car is a Subaru Impreza. She is from a rallying family; her father Frank and brother Karl are also rally drivers. Her first experience in a rally car was at the age of three, when her father drove her around part of the Safari Rally course in his own car.

She started driving in rallies in 2015, after several years of co-driving, often for Frank. She and Carl won the 2012 Guru Nanak Rally together in 2011, with Carl driving the family Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX.

She and Chantal Young drove a Subaru Impreza STi in the 2015 Kenyan championship, under the team name “Rally Chix”. Natasha’s best finish was 19th, in the Nakuru Rally. She had entered the Safari Rally earlier in the year, but had to retire; this was her only non-finish of the year. She was 32nd in the Kenyan championship, tied with Rob Hellier and George Njoroge. 

In 2016, she did a full season in the Kenyan championship, in the Impreza. Her best result was an eleventh place in the Safari Rally. This was one of four top-twenty finishes she achieved that year.

Another season in the Kenyan series followed in 2017. Her best finish was twelfth, in the Fly540 RSC Rally. She was also fourteenth in the Eldoret Rally. This was her last time in the driver's seat for a while. Her attentions turned to co-driving for her father again, making trips to New Zealand, Bulgaria and the UK, in this case the 2021 Roger Albert Clark historic rally. Their usual car was a Triumph TR7, but they used a Ford Escort RS1800 for the Silver Fern Rally in New Zealand.

Her comeback as a driver was in 2022, when she was second in the 2022 Lioness Rally with Chantal, in the Impreza. This was an all-female event In Kenya, won by Maxine Wahome in a similar car. Chantal had sat beside Maxine in the previous year's Safari.

In 2023, she was eighth in the Safari Rally, her best result in a mixed event. She does not appear to have competed in 2024.

(Image from monitor.co.ug)

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