Africa-Press – Kenya. Riyaz Ismail is one of Kenya’s busiest navigators with an uncanny ability to juggle between work and cockpit duties.
Despite skipping the last few events of the Tanzanian Rally Championships, Riyaz still managed to finish third overall in what has been a hectic but eventful year for the Nairobi-based driver.
“Well, what can I say? I’m actually happy to have finished third in the Tanzanian National Championships despite not doing some events and retiring in a few while in the lead. In Kenya, I’m second in my division with one rally to go and leading the Classic Car Championship,” said Riyaz.
He admitted that it has been tough (time-wise) to contest in both the Kenya and Tanzanian championships as some events fell on the same weekend. Then, in between came the Equator and WRC Safari Rally as well as the mini Classic Rally.
“I’m lucky to be able to get time off from my place of work as I work for my dad and I have an understanding wife who allows me to be away for rallies most weekends,” he said.
“My best ever finish was second overall in the Tanga Rally. I’ve raced with just one team in Tanzania, the Hari Singh Rally Team since 2016. At first, I was with Rajpal Dhani in the Subaru VAB. Last year, I moved to Gurjit Dhani in the Skoda Proto. I did a one-off rally with Kenyan Kailesh Chouhan this year in Tanga as well in which we finished, boosting my points tally.”
Riyaz has his opinions open as far as his future plans are concerned.
“Well, I’m open for offers. My trophy cabinet is still missing that one international championship trophy. For next year, I’m hoping to juggle between three national championships; Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda as well as do the main East Africa Safari Classic Rally as well as a few Rally Raid events in Kenya,” Riyaz explained.
For Tanzania, he desires to continue with Gurjit who’s shown some exciting pace in recent rallies but just a few teething issues to sort out on the Skoda Proto.
“In Kenya, I’ll be with Ramesh Vishram in the Classic Car category and for Uganda, I’m in talks with one of the championship contenders for next year,” he revealed.
Riyaz describes rallying as a great sport where you get to meet many different personalities and get to visit new places.
“I’m lucky to have rallied with such amazing teams and drivers, who treat me like family,” he said.
Riyaz made his rally debut with Joe Muchiri in a Toyota Levin back in September 2010. To date, he’s won two Rally Raid championships (buggy category with Tejas Hirani) and two Classic Car Championships with Vishram.
“I’ve sat in all car categories and the only one missing in my bucket list is an R5,” quips Riyaz, adding: “Many co-drivers have inspired me, main one being Abdul Sidi who introduced me to the sport. There’s also Kashif Sheikh, Amo Slatch, Dave Macharia groomed me well during the early days. Rob Collinge, Simon Sharpe and Bruce Field taught me a lot about Off Road navigation. I also keep in touch with Moses Matovu and Nicolas Gilsoul (ex-Thierry Neuville Co-driver) a lot and they really encourage and advise me on how to take my cockpit career to the next level.”
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