Kenya Kwanza Team – Dakar Rally 2008

Glen Edmunds is one of the most well-known and leading rally drivers in Kenya. Kwanza means “first” in Kiswahili, the national language of Kenya. Glen and his team, Kenya Kwanza, will be the first Kenyan team to participate in the Dakar Rally!

The Rally Team

Glen Edmunds – Professional Rally Driver

Glen Edmunds is a household name in Kenya and Glen Edmunds Rallying has been the most professional team in the Kenya National Rally Championship since Glen began his rally career 14 years ago.

Glen Edmunds is very successful in the Kenya National championship and often finishes in the top three places on the podium.  Glen won the world renowned Safari Rally in 2003 & 2005.

World Rally Champions Tommi Makkinen and Richard Burns chose Glen Edmunds as their Local Driving Consultant and Spotter in the chase helicopter when they came to Kenya to participate in Kenya's Safari Rally, the most grueling event of the World Rally Championship. Glen was also the Local Driving Consultant for top international rally drivers: Alistair McCrae, Francois Delacour and Freddy Loix, during their years of participating in the Safari Rally.

Glen is a regular member of Mitsubishi Ralliart's team and has frequently attended other rounds of the world championship elsewhere in the world such as Hong Kong-Beijing, Argentina, Australia, and Indonesia.

As the nominated driver for Africa with Mitsubishi Ralliart, the team has strong links to the factory, and also has the privilege to being the only driver in Africa to be given "works" cars form the factory as well as technical and parts assistance from Mitsubishi Ralliart Europe and Japan.

In 2001, Glen was awarded the prestigious and coveted Motor Sportsman of the Year Award - motor sports highest accolade in Kenya.

Glen is a graduate of the famed Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in (USA) and STOOF-International (Amman).

Glen is owner and director of Glen Edmunds Performance Auto Services (GEPAS), a mechanical workshop specializing in 4wd vehicles in Nairobi.

Dez Page Morris – Professional Rally Navigator

The most experienced Navigator in Kenya, having participated annually in the Kenya National Championship since 1989. Winner of Safari Rally in 2005 with Glen Edmunds and winner of the inaugural Kenya Cross Country Raid Championship with Glen Edmunds in 2004. Dez was also two time winner of the prestigious and highly demanding Rhino Charge, an annual cross country event in Kenya. 

The Support Team

Rally Raid UK was founded over 10 years ago by Paul Round who wanted to compete in the world famous Paris Dakar Rally but was unable to find any English speaking support that could help him achieve his dream within a realistic budget.

Ten years on and Rally Raid UK has grown into one of the largest and most professional privateer teams with a string of achievements to its name. Paul and his son Mark, between them have 9 Dakar finishes in cars to their names and have assisted dozens of other people achieve their dreams of a Dakar finish. To achieve this, Rally Raid UK has designed a purpose built set of support vehicles offering both T5 and T4 support services. T5 vehicles include a pair of Ford F350 pickup trucks, a Nissan Patrol, a Land Rover Discovery and a pair of custom built 6 by 6 assistance trucks and of course 4 by 4 T4 race support truck.

Rally Raid UK' s past track history of success is also worth considering when planning a race like the Dakar. Normally under 30% of the new entrants of each Dakar actually manage to make it to the finish and whilst Rally Raid UK can't promise you a top ten finish, they can offer you a better than average chance of success. Over the past five years their efforts have delivered in excess of 60% to the finish at Lac Rose.

Rally Raid UK delivered 1st place diesel class winner in 2005 in a Rally. Raid UK designed and built Desert Warrior along with a string of finishes over the past 6 years with a best place position of 17th overall and 8th in stage.

Their impressive range of achievements have been delivered across a wide variety of English Speaking nationalities, including: Dutch, South African, American, Portuguese, Spanish, USA and of course English. Whilst the team is based around English speaking personnel it also includes fluent French and Spanish speaking personnel with excellent relations with the French Rally Organizers, ASO.