East African Safari Classic Rally 2007

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http://www.eastafricansafarirally.com/results07/reusltsday-4.htm

The tussle for victory on the Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic Rally 2007 continues to provide plenty of excitement. Tonight as the cars pulled in to the Ol Tukai Lodge in Amboseli, Bjorn Waldegård still led in his Ford Escort but he had suffered a torrid day, breaking a steering arm on the first competitive section and losing four minutes to his principal rivals. Gerard Marcy in a Porsche 911, who had been in second place this morning, came up in Waldegård's dust and lost two minutes but far worse was to befall him when he took a wrong turning in the third section and lost more than a quarter of an hour. These setbacks put him fourth in the overall classification tonight.

Stig Blomqvist took his Escort to its first fastest time on the third section and this was enough to catapult him up into second place ahead of Frederic Dor in a Porsche 911 so that the Historic Motorsport Escorts are currently running 1-2 on the Safari Classic. Saddest story of the day was that Ian Duncan, who set fastest times on the first two sections taking a total of two minutes out of second fastest man on both, Blomqvist, is reported to have broken his Ford Mustang's gearbox on the third section. Even if his service crew can fix the problem and get him into Amboseli, he will have dropped back considerably in the classification.

Still fifth overall, despite his first taste of serious problems, is Geoff Fielding in a Porsche 911. Even eleven minutes of road penalty to fix a steering problem has not dropped him behind John Lloyd in a Datsun 240Z though the gap has narrowed to just a couple of minutes. Next up in seventh is Steve Perez, who like Fielding is a driver enjoying his first Safari, and whose Datsun 260Z is just a minute ahead of the similar car of Jonathan Savage. Rounding out the top ten are Paul-Eric Jarry in a Porsche 911 and Geoff Bell in a Datsun 180B. With just over an hour of penalties covering the top ten, all are aware that the second half of this unpredictable event can easily prove to be like a game of snakes and ladders.

Generally, the competitive sections today have been very well received by the competitors since they are faster and smoother than some of the sections from the previous three days. Tomorrow, Thursday, is a rest day when the cars can receive extended service before setting out for the second half of the rally down to Tsavo West and Tanzania. The rally restarts Friday morning with a long competitive section up from Amboseli towards Emali.

Provisional results for the top ten, Wednesday evening, 18:00

Pos Driver/Co-driver Vehicle Total penalty

1 Bjorn Waldegard/Mathias Waldegard Ford Escort Mk1 07h32m31s

2 Stig Blomqvist/Ana Goni Ford Escort Mk1 07h42m05s

3 Frederic Dor/Didier Breton Porsche 911 07h44m35s

4 Gerard Marcy/Alain Lopes Porsche 911 07h59m22s

5 Geoff Fielding/Preston Ayres Porsche 911 08h17m48s

6 John Lloyd/Adrian Cavenagh Datsun 240Z 08h19m46s

7 Steven Perez/Michael Stuart Datsun 260Z 08h29m10s

8 Jonathan Savage/Quentin Savage Datsun 260Z 08h30m03s

9 Paul Eric-Jarry/Craig Redelinghuys Porsche 911 08h31m43s

10 Geoff Bell/Steve Harris Datsun 180B 08h34m15s

Notes on the Cars

Car No. 1 Bjorn Waldegard

Mr Waldegard's first exclamation as he opened the Escort's door at Amboseli was "Fie Fahn": a Swedish expression which does not indicate the day went entirely well. He suffered problems in each of the three competitive sections: a broken steering ball joint, the loss of fourth gear and a puncture. "That is Safari," he said philosophically. "One day is good and the next day is bad but this Safari is getting a little too unpredictable for my liking." Waldegard is still leading by nine and a half minutes despite these problems.

Car No. 2 Stig Blomqvist

Blomqvist set fastest time on the last section by a minute and a half, and second fastest times on the other two sections. He and co-driver Ana Goni got out of the Ford Escort at Amboseli looking quite fresh and pleased. "No punctures and no problems," said Blomqvist. "It's good to be here and moving up a few places."

Car No. 3 Gerard Marcy

There was a navigational error in the Belgian Porsche which caused a detour of about 32 kilometres which cost them just under 24 minutes on the last section. It was somewhat silent as the crew climbed out of the car at Amboseli. Marcy said: "The car is still good and there should not be too much work tomorrow."

Car No. 4 Frederic Dor

"We had one really phenomenal piece of luck, one of those things that happen so rarely in rallying. At the Corner Baridi service the two halves of the service crew each thought put eighty litres of petrol in but in fact neither had. I thought the gauge looked a pessimistic so I said stick another twenty litres in. In fact that was all we had and the car ran out of petrol approaching the end of the second section. We just made it into the control but then had to push it out of the control. We were so lucky."

Car No. 5 Ian Duncan

Having set fastest times in the first two competitive sections, Duncan broke his gearbox fifteen kilometres into the third section and is waiting retrieval by the service car. It is definitely his intention to fix the Mustang and continue on Friday morning

Car No. 6 John Lloyd

Lloyd suffered his first mechanical problem of the event in Mike Kirkland's Datsun 240Z. About a third of the way into the last competitive section it seemed like a rear damper had blown a seal. "We just had to nurse it the rest of the way through," said Lloyd. "But today all the stages were fantastic."

Car No. 7 Keith and Mary Anne Callinan

"That's the real Africa. Almost like the Nullabor but no kangaroos. We had a puncture in the first competitive section about half way through and then when we changed it the Escort fell off the jack. We hadn't done our tyre change practice like we should have done. But the rest of the day was great. We got a bit of pace and we could get the car moving and passed a couple of cars which always feels good. And the sandy stuff is always interesting - where you want to go doesn't have much relevance."

Car No. 8 Steve Perez

Last night the Datsun 260Z was reset on the original Riega suspension and going away from the start this morning they softened up the damper settings. The front end now seems about right and during the rest day the crew will concentrate on the rear end, probably using some of the suspension from Stefano Rocca's car. "We had no problems with the car," said Perez. "But we had to nurse the car a bit because of the suspension."

Co-driver Mike Stuart said: "We had a small wrong-slot at the end of the second stage but we were so close to the finish that we could come back to the main track and I don't think it cost us any time. Steve and I are now working much better together at identifying some of these tracks and roads so we're both a bit more relaxed about that."

Car No. 10 Geoff Fielding

"We broke the steering rack mountings of the Porsche in the first section this morning but managed to get out with hardly any loss of time. There wasn't much we could do in the short service so we just bodged the mountings and carried on into the second stage. Of course it didn't last long but again we got it out of the stage with only a few minutes lost but then we had to fix it properly and we took probably eleven minutes road section penalty before the last stage. This meant that we had a lot of cars in front of us and to add to our woes the gear lever broke. But this doesn't mean I'm not enjoying myself and I'm still pleasantly amazed at how well we're doing."

Car No. 11 Graham Alexander

"The full story of our problems yesterday is that towards the end of the second stage both bolts fell out of the bottom of a front strut. We fixed it in the stage by taking one bolt out of the other strut and using it to fix the broken one. The sad part was that just a couple of kilometres after the finish of the stage we hit a massive drift and one bolt was not strong enough to hold the suspension. There was a bang and wheel and strut disappeared over the bushes. We had to wait there for our service car and lost a bundle of time before we got into Naivasha last night. Today I'm afraid that the engine has lost a couple of cylinders thanks to broken valve springs in a four cylinder 260Z. We've been driving a bit more slowly and in fact we stopped twice on the last long stage because we thought there might be someone behind us, but there wasn't."

Car No. 15 Richard Martin-Hurst

"You know the starter trouble we had yesterday, well it wasn't the starter. The ring gear on the aluminium flywheel had broken and thus we spent all yesterday evening taking the gearbox out to fix the flywheel. Fortunately that's now working ok and the car has gone well today to the point where we can actually say we're enjoying ourselves."

Car No. 16 Steven Troman

From co-driver Martin Rowe: "The car's been perfect and Steve's driven brilliantly. Today was faster and more enjoyable. It was amazing to do a 131 kilometre stage. The character was changing all the time from quick open stuff to sandy, nadgery tracks through the bush. As a co-driver it keeps you on your toes and it was a bit stressful as it's difficult navigationally. But it was just great and we finished today on a real high."

Car No. 18 Jayant Shah

"Well I must say it's nice to come into the parc ferme in the daylight. The car is now running really well and the only trouble we had today was on the third section when the bonnet pins came out of the front and the bonnet flew open. Fortunately we saw it happen and were able to stop before the bonnet wrapped itself round the windscreen."

Car No. 19 Paul Kane

"I thought the exhaust was dragging on the ground but when we got here we discovered the Pan hard rod had sheared. It always happens at the end of the day. And also the exhaust is blowing quite badly. We also had two punctures both on the same side. The last thing I want to do at the age of 61 is fix punctures."

Car No. 20 Paul-Eric Jarry

"Pretty good day on the whole. We had a puncture on the first stage and stopped to change it then nothing happened until two kilometres before the end of the last stage when I hit a tree. Really enjoying it."

Car No. 21 Jonathan Savage

"That was awesome. Lovely sections and much faster. In the last section I went a bit agricultural and nearly took out a couple of trees. We replaced the shocks yesterday but I think we might have the same problem with a bust bump stop in the rear suspension."

Car No.22 Albert Michiels

"We had no problems with the Porsche today and really enjoyed it. However a few things have started dropping off the car." At this point M. Michiels turned round and discovered that one of them was the driver's wing mirror.

Car No. 25 John Rose

"Just before we went into the second stage we could hear a noise and when we looked we thought it was just the exhaust touching but ten kilometres into the stage a propshaft universal joint failed at high speed. It didn't come into the cockpit but we knew we needed a spare to fix it. I couldn't get a mobile signal where we are but a guy passing on a motocross bike leant the bike to me and I went up the hill to get a signal. Then he leant me the bike to go and get the bike which Michael then fitted." It should be noted that John was Kenyan motocross champion in 1970 and still rides enduros to keep fit for rallying.

Car No. 26 Josef Pointinger

"We had a little bit of everything today. Before the first stage the Escort got a misfire and this stayed with us all the way through the section. We changed the plugs before the second stage and that was fine but then we met a whole herd of cows which didn't want to make way for the car. On the last section we nearly hit a private car coming the other way. It was much much faster today: too fast for our car but the last section was really good."

Car No. 29 Aslam Khan

"We had a good day today. There were no problems and now we're just going to try to drive for a finish. We lost the intercom for the last 70 kilometres of the last section."

From the co-driver: "Losing the intercom was fine - it meant the driver couldn't swear at me."

Car No. 30 Hardev Singh Sira

The Peugeot 504 went fine and completed all three competitive sections. Unfortunately on the first section the tripmetre automatically recalibrated itself and began to run slow which meant a triple caution jump came up with no warning. The Peugeot took a bit of a nosedive and damaged the front but both the crew and the car were fine. The biggest effect was to lower the engine in the chassis by bending the cross member. The crew drove the next two sections and really enjoyed them.

Car No. 31 Imi Dewji

"It was nice to have a full day's rallying at last."

From co-driver Gabriele Mahler: "No problems, nice fast roads: good for the car, good for us."

Car No. 32 Larry Horn

"We had a nice day and the sections were much more interesting. The car's been fine."

Car No. 33 Roddy Sachs

'"Really enjoying it and going well. Nothing with the car - all we had to do was put petrol in it."

Car No. 34 Ian and Val Swan

"Nice to do three stages and not give the boys any work to do. All we did all day was take petrol and replace one tyre. We really enjoyed these fast stages. The road book was excellent and everything came up just spot on."

Car No. 41 Kurt Vanderspinnen

"Our problems really started after the first stage on the first day. When we came out onto the main road the car was losing power and when we got to the main service it was decided that we should change all four pistons in the Volvo engine. That took us about ten hours and we got into Nairobi at three in the morning. Second day was a little better with three punctures but then on the third day we broke a wheel on a rock hidden in the grass on the first section and as a result the car was stuck and needed a service car to come in and get it out so that was the only stage we did that day. However today has gone really nicely and hopefully our problems are behind us and we can enjoy the second half of the rally."

Car No. 42 Bert Dolk

"Today was great. I really liked the last section. It was really good: flat out in fourth gear. We were running a bit low on fuel and no way of accurately measuring it so we decided to take it easy through the last twenty kilometres but overall it was great."

Car No. 43 Tim Mammen

"We caught Martin-Hurst's Capri on the first stage and at one point thought that we might even get past but we had a small off in his dust and bent a front tie rod which slowed us a bit but was worse when it actually snapped six kilometres from the end of the stage. But now it's fixed, although the car still handles peculiarly. And hopefully we can find the cause for that tomorrow. Incidentally I can confirm that today we were running with the full set of wheel nuts."

Car No. 44 Neil McGrigor

"It was a good day but it was more suited to the faster cars. Those Datsuns excelled in the circumstances so they've been catching us up on the straight bits but then we were catching them in the twist sections, regretting having let them past before. We had no problems today so it's been the best day we've had yet."

Car No. 45 Geoff Bell

"A good run until the last stage. When we slowed for a triple caution bump the car slid off in the sand, into the ditch and bent the steering. To add insult to injury while we got out of the ditch and fixed it several cars went through."

Car No. 46 Minesh Rathod

"The car finally behaved today and we had a thoroughly enjoyable time. Our problems were mainly on the first day when we broke a left arm on the front suspension during the first stage and lost the steering on the second stage. Every day after that we had problems with the idler arm bending but that is now pretty well sorted."

Car No. 47 Peter Harland

"Today was lovely. Really nice stages and very fast. The navigator did extremely well and the car is running like a humming bird. We also caught someone which always makes you feel good."

Car No. 48 Ekya and Prina Shah

"We had a great day. It was just a shame that the car stopped in the middle of the last section and wouldn't start. We had to get the service crew in and it was then we found out one of the leads had pulled off the distributor."

Car No. 49 Jeremy Bennett

"We're very much alive and kicking. In fact we're getting quite extrovert. In the middle of the last stage we turned a little early in a village and to correct things I had to do a 360 spin in the middle of the village square in front of all the school children who seemed to find it very entertaining."

Car No. 50 Nick Mason

"The problem yesterday was a whole lot of damage in the rear end including not just the differential carrier beam but also quite a lot of the bodywork supports. We had to totally rebuild the entire rear end. Today we've had just one small problem, comparatively: the left rear damper has popped through the turret but that's not hard to fix. After the event I need to go home, think about what happened, and how to prepare the car accordingly."

From co-driver Adrian Grinstead: "Yes it's definitely a car wrecker this one."

Car No. 58 Michel Puchercos

"We hit a few birds today but that was the worst thing since we didn't get lost despite it being hard to find the right way at the end of the third section. The car is very solid and doesn't seem to give any trouble and we're going well."

Cars Nos 12 & 14 Alexander Hack and Bo Axlesson have retired and the cars are on the way to Mombasa.

[Z-point]

While this is a rest day for the men out there, perhaps it is nice to have a look at the 500 pictures from 2005.

http://www.z-pointt.nl/eas2005sub/index.html

[Z-point]

Car No. 5 Ian Duncan

Ian has decided that he and his Ford Mustang will not be continuing on the Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic Rally 2007. "There are ten reasons for not going on and none for continuing." the Kenyan rally star revealed at lunchtime today. "I am almost two hours behind the leader and, even with the mileage still to come, I don't stand a hope of making it back in amongst the front runners even though the organisers have been good enough to put me fifth on the re-start list. What I do stand a chance of doing, however, is wrecking my car and winding up with absolutely nothing. I don't like these non-reccied events where you are driving blind off navigation notes. No matter how good they are, it is never the same as having your own notes on these rough roads. Still I enjoyed myself in what we did and I am really pleased that in eleven stages, we set three fastest times."

Car No 24 Dave Kedward

Since their engine expired on the first day, Dave Kedward and Crispin Sassoon have been two men in search of an engine for a Ford Escort RS1600. Initial searches were centered on Dave's home in the UK but when he learned that the engine in Alexander Hack's now-retired Escort was fully healthy, he has been contacting Mark Solloway of Historic Rally Sport whose car it is to see if a transplant could be arranged so that number 24 can continue.

Double past winner of the Safari Classic, Rob Collinge, returned from the USA earlier in the week and on Wednesday combined his current sporting obsession with rallying by following the cars through to Amboseli in his gyrocopter.

Fred Gallagher, Clerk of the Course on the Wales Rally GB, has taken time out of his busy schedule [the Rally GB starts in ten hours time] to point out that we were a tiny bit wide of the mark when we quoted Bjorn Waldegård as saying after the first day that he had not been in the Taita Hills since "the mid-1980s". Fred's comment was that "Well, he drove me round them every year from 1986 to 1992 !". And to good effect too since Bjorn and Fred did compete on seven Safaris on the trot in those years and won in 1986 and 1990, finished fourth on two occasions - 1989 and 1991 - were seventh in 1988, and retired in 1987 and 1992.

It would be churlish of us not to mention the means by which we are able to send you this information, even from the remotest of the Safari lodges. Jonathan Somen, the Managing Director of Access Kenya, has provided the hardware plus a support crew to ensure that we can have a reliable Internet connection every day. There was a slight worry yesterday when the mini-bus transporting the Wi-Fi set-up wizard to Amboseli developed a problem, but that old-fashioned technical hitch has been the only one so far.

[Z-point]

http://www.eastafricansafarirally.com/results07/reusltsday-6.htm

The rain in the night certainly enlivened the Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic Rally 2007 and gave the surviving crews a new challenge in their first two sections on Friday. On the first, Bjorn Waldegård, as the overnight leader opening the road for the other cars, suffered most from the soft, slippery conditions and was caught and passed by his team mate, Stig Blomqvist, towards the end of the section. This reduced Waldegård's lead by two minutes but he promptly answered back with fastest time on the second section. The two Escorts finished the day in the same positions, first and second overall, now seven minutes apart.

Behind them, the true pace setter was Porsche driver, Gerard Marcy who took fastest time on the first and third sections and has consequently closed the gap slightly to third placed man, Frederic Dor, in another Porsche 911. Fifth is Geoff Fielding in yet another Porsche who now has a comfortable gap between him and John Lloyd's Datsun 240Z after the latter's encounter with a river crossing. Steve Perez is seventh in a Datsun 20Z with a hard-charging Paul-Eric Jarry just a minute and half behind him in a Porsche 911. The best local driver is Jonathan Savage in ninth place with his Datsun 260Z. This is despite a near miss with a bridge after a management decision to land the right way up in the river rather than roll over the parapet and land upside down in the river. In tenth is the ever-popular Roddy Sachs from South Africa in the first of the three Datsun 180Bs.

The main excitement of the day was provided by some of the later runners who, faced with the first big river crossing of the rally in the middle of the second section, tried to turn the rally into a regatta. Among those requiring help from the willing local inhabitants to reach the far shore were John Lloyd (Datsun 240Z) and Joseph Pointinger (Ford Escort). The general feeling from the crews was that the muddy sections had been great fun, not too rough and not much chance of getting stuck, while all the sections had been much smoother than even the previous day.

Tomorrow, Saturday, the Safari Classic goes into Tanzania with two classic sections just across the border before the night halt in the shadow of Kilimanjaro at the Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge.

Provisional top ten results

Pos. Driver/Co-driver Car Total penalty

1 Bjorn Waldegard/Mathias Waldegard Ford Escort Mk1 09h14m03s

2 Stig Blomqvist/Ana Goni Ford Escort Mk1 09h21m08s

3 Frederic Dor/Didier Breton Porsche 911 09h26m53s

4 Gerard Marcy/Alain Lopes Porsche 911 09h36m48s

5 Geoff Fielding/Preston Ayres Porsche 911 10h05m21s

6 John Lloyd/Adrian Cavenagh Datsun 240Z 10h16m26s

7 Steven Perez/Michael Stuart Datsun 260Z 10h21m03s

8 Paul-Eric Jarry/Craig Redelinghuys Porsche 911 10h22m39s

9 Jonathan Savage/Quentin Savage Datsun 260Z 10h34m40s

10 Roddy Sachs/ Peter Young Datsun 180B 10h48m48s

Almost before the rally cars got into the first competitive section away from Amboseli, the dramas were starting - amongst the service crews. The overnight rain had turned the old pipeline road from Loitokitok to Emali into a mud slide and first Tuthill Porsche had their big truck slide into a ditch and get firmly stuck, and then forty kilometres on, the Historic Motorsport truck did the same. The latter was worst off since the front tyre punctured in the incident and then the man with the ignition keys was spirited off which made later retrieval a bit tricky. It even had the misfortune to rip out a brake pipe while being retrieved. Tuthill's truck made it to Taita in time for service but the Ford truck was itself in need of service and will turn up later.

Notes on the cars and crews.

Car No 1 Bjorn Waldegard

"We had a medium day. On the first section there was a lot of black cotton and it was very sticky. We were first on the road that meant the others could see the right line to take. At one point we hit a sticky patch and Stig took a cleaner line and passed us. We also have a slight misfire. We thought we fixed it yesterday but it's still there and on that last fast section the engine was not pulling properly and we lost some time." On arrival at Taita, the mechanics discovered that the pinch bolt for the distributor was completely loose - and had been slightly so for days. This is now being replaced and the Waldegaards should not have to worry about misfires in future.

Car No. 2 Gerard Marcy

"The first section was very muddy and the second section was OK. The third was very fast - I think we got to a top speed of 206kph."

Alain Lopes : "Normal day for the co-driver, we followed the route !"

Car No. 3 Stig Blomqvist

"There was no problem today. We try to go not too fast for the conditions but the driving is very nice."

Ana Goni : "For Bjorn it was really bad luck to be first car through that first section".

Car No. 4 Frederic Dor

"Marcy passed us in the first section - perhaps we were being a little too careful. When it is twisty I can get nearer to Stig and Bjorn but not on the fast stuff. And I didn't want to go flat out on that last part of the last section: 15 km flat out can take 1000km off the engine."

Car No. 6 John Lloyd

Lloyd's 240Z was the first casualty of the river crossing in the second section. He got stuck for about six minutes and had to be pushed out. "The concrete looked as if it was broken," he said. "So we took another route which didn't prove to be the best. It certainly had the deepest water and sandiest bottom." They also had problems with the brakes in the last section and in Lloyd's words "took a detour through a hedge."

Car No. 7 Keith Callinan

"This was the best day out. We're very happy. No problems in the mud and that last section certainly got the adrenaline going."

Car No. 8 Steve Perez

After the rest day the 260Z is now running at the rear on the MCA suspension from Stefano Roccas 260Z which rolled out of the rally on the third day. "The suspension is much better," said Perez. "But we could still do with a little more power, especially on that last 15 kilometres on the last section."

From co-driver Mike Stuart: "The suspension is a lot better. Steve drove a perfect pace. We got caught by Jonathan Savage in the first section but, as a local, he gave us a bit of a driving lesson in how to rally in these conditions and Steve was right on him until the end."

Car No. 10 Geoff Fielding

"We took it steady on the first section because it was very slippery. Africa was showing us another face but I'm still really enjoying the stages."

Car No. 11 Graham Alexander

"We got the valve springs fixed yesterday and we're back on six cylinders. But on the third section the radiator was leaking and we had to stop twice to re-fill it with water."

Car No. 15 Richard Martin-Hurst

"Unfortunately we didn't fit new front tyres in Amboseli and, with the rain last night we were a bit all over the place on the first two stages but it was enjoyable nevertheless. The car's giving non problems."

Car No. 16 Stephen Troman

From Richard Tuthill: "Steve has gone off 5km from the start of the third section and unfortunately he's ripped the front arm off the chassis. He can't drive the car but a service car has gone back and will collect him when the section has finished. Only the car is damaged and the crew are fine."

Car No. 18 Jayant Shah

"We had just a perfect day. Typical Safari: totally enjoyable."

Car No. 19 Paul & Mary-Ellen Kane

The Mustang developed a taste for fan belts in the second section. The Kanes changed one themselves but when the second one went they decided to get towed into service where it was changed again. They drove straight to the Taita Hills Lodge keeping the revs low. "But we still enjoyed it," said Mary-Ellen. "This way we get to see the landscape properly and meet the people and we'll be up and running again tomorrow."

At the moment the Mustang's fan belt problem has been diagnosed as stemming from the alternator.

Car No. 20 Paul Eric-Jarry

"Today was OK. We're here on time: nothing broke and there were no accidents. The first two sections were very slippery but we took it 'easy-does-it' and we got through. We tried to drive smoothly and keep up the pace. We've been running with the windows open because we've had a smell of petrol."

Car No. 21 Jonathan Savage

The 260Z of the Savages had an encounter with a different river to most in the second section. They were a bit fast into a sharp left into a narrow bridge only a couple of kilometres after the start and decided rather than hit the parapet and roll into the river the best option was to steer into it. "It was about a twenty foot drop," said Savage. "And then about hundred local guys lifted the car and me up the other side. It was lucky I hadn't filled her up otherwise we might have needed 120."

Car No. 22 Albert Michiels

"No problems. I've really enjoyed today. A nice mixture of slippery, twisty and then fast."

Car No. 25 John Rose

"We have a problem that's developed with the odometer whereby when it vibrates the display disappears so Michael has to try to keep a hand on it all the time. Sadly this caused us to take a wrong turning in the third stage at a fork where the driver's instinct was to go right but, thanks to the fault, the co-driver thought it was left. When we found out we were wrong we had to turn around and go back and go right."

Car No. 26 Josef Pointinger

"When we came to that big river in the second section we made a bad choice and went into the deepest bit. I can't tell you quite how deep but I can tell you that now the Austrian Navy has one submarine. Wolfgang got out to organise the twenty people who were pushing us out but in his enthusiasm he fell forwards and disappeared into the water. I thought he'd gone fishing. He had to have a complete change of clothes at the next service point."

Car No. 30 Hardev Singh Sira

"A nice fast uneventful day. So nice to enjoy the rally after all our problems in the first few days."

Car No. 32 Larry Horn

"It was a good day. The first sections were slippery but entertaining. We had a few knocks here and there but everything is OK with the car."

Car No. 33 Roddy Sachs

The Datsun 180B arrived at Taita Hills Lodge with a smashed windscreen. "We had a great day rallying until the last transport section when we hit a water buck which was a really sad end to the day."

Car No 34 Ian and Val Swan

Both driver and co-driver looked immaculate as they got out of their Volvo. "We had three good stages with no problems," said Ian. "We only to put petrol in the car. We also managed to pass a couple of Porsches which always makes me feel good."

Car No. 37 David and Sarah Rayner

"The first day without anything dropping off so were quite pleased. Yesterday I fitted some bigger bolts - actually Alllen screws - and that seems to have done the trick."

Car No. 39 Rommi Bamrah

"I should've had a radio for that last stage with that long straight. But at least we had no problems or incidents today which makes a nice contrast to the first half of the rally."

Car No. 41 Kurt Vanderspinnen

"Everything is going well until we hit a small problem on the final section. The engine started to lose power and once we almost came to a halt but then the engine picked up again. We'll have to find out what's causing that in the service."

Car No. 42

"A very nice day. Slowly but surely we are rebuilding our car and enjoying ourselves."

Car No. 43 Tim Mammen

"Not a bad day but for two things: in Amboseli our mud tyres weren't inflated so we had to carry on with the normal ones and then just coming into Taita lodge the fuel filter mounting broke and filled the boot with fuel."

Car No. 44 Neil McGrigor

"The day was uneventful from the point of the view of the car and incidents. Beautiful sections. I particularly liked the two muddy ones at the start, not much you can do on those 14 km straights with a 1600cc engine."

Car No. 45 Geoff Bell

"Well it looks like I'm well out of the running now. The 180B was on three cylinders all day and last night we changed everything we possibly could without success. I made a very bad decision to try to fix it during today and I've lost maybe two hours. I'm gutted."

Car No. 46 Minesh Rathod

"A much better day and really enjoyed it."

Car No. 47 Peter Harland

"Great to do a stage when you're flat out in fifth gear for so long. It was a fabulous day and I'm sure there's more to come."

Car No. 48 Ekya and Prina Shah

The husband-wife team unfortunately rolled in the first section. Prina has damaged a finger and is going to Voi for an X-ray but the crew are otherwise OK. They didn't start the second section but they did complete the third and are planning to continue tomorrow morning.

Car No. 49 Timothy Bennett

"A fantastic day. We were cautious on the first section and had one big bang at the back when we hit a culvert. The starter motor failed at the beginning of the second section so we had to have a few push starts. The last section was flat, fast and furious. Bessy (the name of their Escort Mexico) got up to 140 kph."

Car No. 50 Nick Mason

"To try and avoid punctures we've been running with the tyre pressure quite hard but after I'd driven the first section this morning in all the mud I had to try and let them down to get a bit more grip. Sadly we then got a puncture on the second section and on the third. This is a fantastic event and despite problems we're enjoying it immensely."

Car No. 52 Iqbal Sagoo

"It's been a very good day. It wasn't actually as muddy and slippery as I expected. I found the last 15 km of the last section a bit boring."

From co-driver Jurgen Bertl: "When it came to choosing which way to go at that river, I knew that the water flows fastest where it is shallowest so we chose correctly and went over the concrete."

Car No. 53 Wayne Keitswetter & Rob Hellier

"The first sections were slippery and there were some interesting lines. We bust a rear trailing arm before the third section and the rear end kept trying to overtake us coming down the tarmac into service but we managed to fix it. The 180B's going well but we look at one another and wonder if there isn't something wrong with the weight to power ratio."

[Z-point]

Since the site was out of order for a few days, you missed a lot :disappoin

Well, we go on with day 6.

The rain in the night certainly enlivened the Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic Rally 2007 and gave the surviving crews a new challenge in their first two sections on Friday. On the first, Bjorn Waldegård, as the overnight leader opening the road for the other cars, suffered most from the soft, slippery conditions and was caught and passed by his team mate, Stig Blomqvist, towards the end of the section. This reduced Waldegård's lead by two minutes but he promptly answered back with fastest time on the second section. The two Escorts finished the day in the same positions, first and second overall, now seven minutes apart.

Behind them, the true pace setter was Porsche driver, Gerard Marcy who took fastest time on the first and third sections and has consequently closed the gap slightly to third placed man, Frederic Dor, in another Porsche 911. Fifth is Geoff Fielding in yet another Porsche who now has a comfortable gap between him and John Lloyd's Datsun 240Z after the latter's encounter with a river crossing. Steve Perez is seventh in a Datsun 20Z with a hard-charging Paul-Eric Jarry just a minute and half behind him in a Porsche 911. The best local driver is Jonathan Savage in ninth place with his Datsun 260Z. This is despite a near miss with a bridge after a management decision to land the right way up in the river rather than roll over the parapet and land upside down in the river. In tenth is the ever-popular Roddy Sachs from South Africa in the first of the three Datsun 180Bs.

The main excitement of the day was provided by some of the later runners who, faced with the first big river crossing of the rally in the middle of the second section, tried to turn the rally into a regatta. Among those requiring help from the willing local inhabitants to reach the far shore were John Lloyd (Datsun 240Z) and Joseph Pointinger (Ford Escort). The general feeling from the crews was that the muddy sections had been great fun, not too rough and not much chance of getting stuck, while all the sections had been much smoother than even the previous day.

Tomorrow, Saturday, the Safari Classic goes into Tanzania with two classic sections just across the border before the night halt in the shadow of Kilimanjaro at the Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge.

Provisional top ten results

Pos. Driver/Co-driver Car Total penalty

1 Bjorn Waldegard/Mathias Waldegard Ford Escort Mk1 09h14m03s

2 Stig Blomqvist/Ana Goni Ford Escort Mk1 09h21m08s

3 Frederic Dor/Didier Breton Porsche 911 09h26m53s

4 Gerard Marcy/Alain Lopes Porsche 911 09h36m48s

5 Geoff Fielding/Preston Ayres Porsche 911 10h05m21s

6 John Lloyd/Adrian Cavenagh Datsun 240Z 10h16m26s

7 Steven Perez/Michael Stuart Datsun 260Z 10h21m03s

8 Paul-Eric Jarry/Craig Redelinghuys Porsche 911 10h22m39s

9 Jonathan Savage/Quentin Savage Datsun 260Z 10h34m40s

10 Roddy Sachs/ Peter Young Datsun 180B 10h48m48s

Almost before the rally cars got into the first competitive section away from Amboseli, the dramas were starting - amongst the service crews. The overnight rain had turned the old pipeline road from Loitokitok to Emali into a mud slide and first Tuthill Porsche had their big truck slide into a ditch and get firmly stuck, and then forty kilometres on, the Historic Motorsport truck did the same. The latter was worst off since the front tyre punctured in the incident and then the man with the ignition keys was spirited off which made later retrieval a bit tricky. It even had the misfortune to rip out a brake pipe while being retrieved. Tuthill's truck made it to Taita in time for service but the Ford truck was itself in need of service and will turn up later.

Notes on the cars and crews.

Car No 1 Bjorn Waldegard

"We had a medium day. On the first section there was a lot of black cotton and it was very sticky. We were first on the road that meant the others could see the right line to take. At one point we hit a sticky patch and Stig took a cleaner line and passed us. We also have a slight misfire. We thought we fixed it yesterday but it's still there and on that last fast section the engine was not pulling properly and we lost some time." On arrival at Taita, the mechanics discovered that the pinch bolt for the distributor was completely loose - and had been slightly so for days. This is now being replaced and the Waldegaards should not have to worry about misfires in future.

Car No. 2 Gerard Marcy

"The first section was very muddy and the second section was OK. The third was very fast - I think we got to a top speed of 206kph."

Alain Lopes : "Normal day for the co-driver, we followed the route !"

Car No. 3 Stig Blomqvist

"There was no problem today. We try to go not too fast for the conditions but the driving is very nice."

Ana Goni : "For Bjorn it was really bad luck to be first car through that first section".

Car No. 4 Frederic Dor

"Marcy passed us in the first section - perhaps we were being a little too careful. When it is twisty I can get nearer to Stig and Bjorn but not on the fast stuff. And I didn't want to go flat out on that last part of the last section: 15 km flat out can take 1000km off the engine."

Car No. 6 John Lloyd

Lloyd's 240Z was the first casualty of the river crossing in the second section. He got stuck for about six minutes and had to be pushed out. "The concrete looked as if it was broken," he said. "So we took another route which didn't prove to be the best. It certainly had the deepest water and sandiest bottom." They also had problems with the brakes in the last section and in Lloyd's words "took a detour through a hedge."

Car No. 7 Keith Callinan

"This was the best day out. We're very happy. No problems in the mud and that last section certainly got the adrenaline going."

Car No. 8 Steve Perez

After the rest day the 260Z is now running at the rear on the MCA suspension from Stefano Roccas 260Z which rolled out of the rally on the third day. "The suspension is much better," said Perez. "But we could still do with a little more power, especially on that last 15 kilometres on the last section."

From co-driver Mike Stuart: "The suspension is a lot better. Steve drove a perfect pace. We got caught by Jonathan Savage in the first section but, as a local, he gave us a bit of a driving lesson in how to rally in these conditions and Steve was right on him until the end."

Car No. 10 Geoff Fielding

"We took it steady on the first section because it was very slippery. Africa was showing us another face but I'm still really enjoying the stages."

Car No. 11 Graham Alexander

"We got the valve springs fixed yesterday and we're back on six cylinders. But on the third section the radiator was leaking and we had to stop twice to re-fill it with water."

Car No. 15 Richard Martin-Hurst

"Unfortunately we didn't fit new front tyres in Amboseli and, with the rain last night we were a bit all over the place on the first two stages but it was enjoyable nevertheless. The car's giving non problems."

Car No. 16 Stephen Troman

From Richard Tuthill: "Steve has gone off 5km from the start of the third section and unfortunately he's ripped the front arm off the chassis. He can't drive the car but a service car has gone back and will collect him when the section has finished. Only the car is damaged and the crew are fine."

Car No. 18 Jayant Shah

"We had just a perfect day. Typical Safari: totally enjoyable."

Car No. 19 Paul & Mary-Ellen Kane

The Mustang developed a taste for fan belts in the second section. The Kanes changed one themselves but when the second one went they decided to get towed into service where it was changed again. They drove straight to the Taita Hills Lodge keeping the revs low. "But we still enjoyed it," said Mary-Ellen. "This way we get to see the landscape properly and meet the people and we'll be up and running again tomorrow."

At the moment the Mustang's fan belt problem has been diagnosed as stemming from the alternator.

Car No. 20 Paul Eric-Jarry

"Today was OK. We're here on time: nothing broke and there were no accidents. The first two sections were very slippery but we took it 'easy-does-it' and we got through. We tried to drive smoothly and keep up the pace. We've been running with the windows open because we've had a smell of petrol."

Car No. 21 Jonathan Savage

The 260Z of the Savages had an encounter with a different river to most in the second section. They were a bit fast into a sharp left into a narrow bridge only a couple of kilometres after the start and decided rather than hit the parapet and roll into the river the best option was to steer into it. "It was about a twenty foot drop," said Savage. "And then about hundred local guys lifted the car and me up the other side. It was lucky I hadn't filled her up otherwise we might have needed 120."

Car No. 22 Albert Michiels

"No problems. I've really enjoyed today. A nice mixture of slippery, twisty and then fast."

Car No. 25 John Rose

"We have a problem that's developed with the odometer whereby when it vibrates the display disappears so Michael has to try to keep a hand on it all the time. Sadly this caused us to take a wrong turning in the third stage at a fork where the driver's instinct was to go right but, thanks to the fault, the co-driver thought it was left. When we found out we were wrong we had to turn around and go back and go right."

Car No. 26 Josef Pointinger

"When we came to that big river in the second section we made a bad choice and went into the deepest bit. I can't tell you quite how deep but I can tell you that now the Austrian Navy has one submarine. Wolfgang got out to organise the twenty people who were pushing us out but in his enthusiasm he fell forwards and disappeared into the water. I thought he'd gone fishing. He had to have a complete change of clothes at the next service point."

Car No. 30 Hardev Singh Sira

"A nice fast uneventful day. So nice to enjoy the rally after all our problems in the first few days."

Car No. 32 Larry Horn

"It was a good day. The first sections were slippery but entertaining. We had a few knocks here and there but everything is OK with the car."

Car No. 33 Roddy Sachs

The Datsun 180B arrived at Taita Hills Lodge with a smashed windscreen. "We had a great day rallying until the last transport section when we hit a water buck which was a really sad end to the day."

Car No 34 Ian and Val Swan

Both driver and co-driver looked immaculate as they got out of their Volvo. "We had three good stages with no problems," said Ian. "We only to put petrol in the car. We also managed to pass a couple of Porsches which always makes me feel good."

Car No. 37 David and Sarah Rayner

"The first day without anything dropping off so were quite pleased. Yesterday I fitted some bigger bolts - actually Alllen screws - and that seems to have done the trick."

Car No. 39 Rommi Bamrah

"I should've had a radio for that last stage with that long straight. But at least we had no problems or incidents today which makes a nice contrast to the first half of the rally."

Car No. 41 Kurt Vanderspinnen

"Everything is going well until we hit a small problem on the final section. The engine started to lose power and once we almost came to a halt but then the engine picked up again. We'll have to find out what's causing that in the service."

Car No. 42

"A very nice day. Slowly but surely we are rebuilding our car and enjoying ourselves."

Car No. 43 Tim Mammen

"Not a bad day but for two things: in Amboseli our mud tyres weren't inflated so we had to carry on with the normal ones and then just coming into Taita lodge the fuel filter mounting broke and filled the boot with fuel."

Car No. 44 Neil McGrigor

"The day was uneventful from the point of the view of the car and incidents. Beautiful sections. I particularly liked the two muddy ones at the start, not much you can do on those 14 km straights with a 1600cc engine."

Car No. 45 Geoff Bell

"Well it looks like I'm well out of the running now. The 180B was on three cylinders all day and last night we changed everything we possibly could without success. I made a very bad decision to try to fix it during today and I've lost maybe two hours. I'm gutted."

Car No. 46 Minesh Rathod

"A much better day and really enjoyed it."

Car No. 47 Peter Harland

"Great to do a stage when you're flat out in fifth gear for so long. It was a fabulous day and I'm sure there's more to come."

Car No. 48 Ekya and Prina Shah

The husband-wife team unfortunately rolled in the first section. Prina has damaged a finger and is going to Voi for an X-ray but the crew are otherwise OK. They didn't start the second section but they did complete the third and are planning to continue tomorrow morning.

Car No. 49 Timothy Bennett

"A fantastic day. We were cautious on the first section and had one big bang at the back when we hit a culvert. The starter motor failed at the beginning of the second section so we had to have a few push starts. The last section was flat, fast and furious. Bessy (the name of their Escort Mexico) got up to 140 kph."

Car No. 50 Nick Mason

"To try and avoid punctures we've been running with the tyre pressure quite hard but after I'd driven the first section this morning in all the mud I had to try and let them down to get a bit more grip. Sadly we then got a puncture on the second section and on the third. This is a fantastic event and despite problems we're enjoying it immensely."

Car No. 52 Iqbal Sagoo

"It's been a very good day. It wasn't actually as muddy and slippery as I expected. I found the last 15 km of the last section a bit boring."

From co-driver Jurgen Bertl: "When it came to choosing which way to go at that river, I knew that the water flows fastest where it is shallowest so we chose correctly and went over the concrete."

Car No. 53 Wayne Keitswetter & Rob Hellier

"The first sections were slippery and there were some interesting lines. We bust a rear trailing arm before the third section and the rear end kept trying to overtake us coming down the tarmac into service but we managed to fix it. The 180B's going well but we look at one another and wonder if there isn't something wrong with the weight to power ratio."

[Z-point]

Problems for ex-World Rally Champion Stig Blomqvist caused a bit of a shake-up on the seventh day of the Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic Rally 2007. His Ford Escort broke a half-shaft in the first competitive section today and he took a maximum penalty. Once the car was fixed, he soon bounced back to set third fastest time on the long second section and has managed to hold onto eighth place overall.

The rally leader is still his team mate, Bjorn Waldegård, whose Escort now has a lead of some sixteen minutes over new second place man, Frederic Dor, driving a Porsche 911. But the rally has been set alight by the driving of Gerard Marcy, now third in a Porsche 911 who set fastest time on both sections today, outpacing his nearest rivals by two and a half minutes on the first 75km section and a minute and twenty seconds on the second 116km section. The gap between these two Porsches is now one minute and ten seconds which, on a Safari Rally, is a mere blink of the eye.

Still slightly amazed by his good position on a rally that he has never driven before is Geoff Fielding whose Porsche 911 now lies fourth overall, some way behind Marcy but twelve minutes ahead of Frenchman, Paul-Eric Jarry, in yet another Porsche 911. Jarry has been driving steadily all week, starting just outside the top ten and improving by about one place a day until now he lies fifth, a minute ahead of Steve Perez in a Datsun 260Z. John Lloyd has fallen back again with his Datsun 240Z after having the misfortune to discover that he had a puncture right on the start line of the first section. He had to change it in the section and then later had an off road excursion that resulted in a broken fan belt.

Blomqvist lies eighth behind Lloyd and is doubtless looking to erode the eight minutes between them in the next two days of rallying. Roddy Sachs from South Africa is ninth in a Datsun 180B despite suspension trouble at the end of the day and his team mate, Wayne Kiewetter is tenth in another Datsun 180B. There are no local drivers left in the top ten since Jonathan Savage had the misfortune to roll is Datsun 260Z just four kilometres from the end of the second section. The crew are unhurt but the car is unlikely to continue according to eye-witnesses at the scene. Thus the top local crew are John Rose and Michael Borrisow in their Datsun 240Z in fifteenth place. The best local individual is of course, Peter Young, who is co-driving for Sachs.

Tomorrow, the rally comprises a loop circumnavigating Mount Meru from the Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge outside Arusha that again provides just two competitive sections. However, the first is 154km and the second is 62km so no one is expecting an easy day's drive. After that, there is just one long day on Monday back to the finish in Mombasa with three competitive sections one of which is in the infamous Usambara Mountains.

Provisional top ten results

Pos. Driver/Co-driver Vehicle Total Penalty

1 Bjorn Waldegard/Mathias Waldegard Ford Escort Mk1 11h30m19s

2 Frederic Dor/Didier Breton Porsche 911 11h46m24s

3 Gerard Marcy/Alain Lopes Porsche 911 11h47m34s

4 Geoff Fielding/Preston Ayres Porsche 911 12h31m45s

5 Paul-Eric Jarry/Craig Redelinghuys Porsche 911 12h44m19s

6 Steven Perez/Michael Stuart Datsun 260Z 12h45m20s

7 John Lloyd/Adrian Cavenagh Datsun 240Z 13h00m46s

8 Stig Blomqvist/Ana Goni Ford Escort Mk1 13h08m57s

9 Roddy Sachs/Peter Young Datsun 180B 13h17m14s

10 Wayne Kieswetter/Rob Hellier Datsun 180B 13h42m39s

Car No. 1 Bjorn Waldegard

"On the second section it was very twisty. I thought we were near the end and I asked Mathias how much longer to go. When he told me there was still 70 km I was quite surprised. It felt as we'd already done 100km of the 115 km section. With the misfire completely gone after the lads fixed the distributor yesterday the car is going really well. The only problem we have is a hole in the exhaust but that's quite straightforward to fix."

Car No. 2 Gerard Marcy

Marcy set fastest time on both sections despite breaking a front right damper 20 km into the first section. "Other than that the car is good," he said. "Perhaps if it hadn't broken I would have gone even faster on that section. On the last section I caught Waldegard and had to drive 50 km in his dust. Just no way to get past."

Car No. 3 Stig Blomqvist

The Escort broke a half-shaft 9 km into the first section. "I jacked the car up and started to take the broken shaft out," said Blomqvist. "But the broken bit inside the diff was twisted so when the service car came eventually we had to take the whole differential out in order to remove the broken part. That all took a very long time so we turned round and went back to the main road and down to the second competitive section."

From co-driver Ana Goni: "We passed eight cars in the second section though I have to admit that two of them were actually in ditches."

Car No. 4 Frederic Dor

The Porsche 911 broke a rear damper in the first section. "I saw Stig stopped and then my damper went so I decided to drive slowly and carefully," said Dor. "I knew the service after that section was short so I wanted to cause as little damage as possible. The last section was very twisty."

Car No. 6 John Lloyd

The crew of the 240Z realised the car had a puncture just as they pulled up to the start control of the first section. "We had to change it once we started the stage," said Lloyd. "And then we came over a massive jump and went straight into the bush. Finally we had to change the fan belt probably as a result of that excursion. I reckon we must have lost about sixteen minutes in all."

Car No. 7 Keith & Mary Anne Callinan

"We had a good day. We got caught in someone's dust 25 km into the first stage and managed to pass them at 52 km. The second section was brilliant - awesome. There were lots of things to catch you out but it all went fine."

Car No. 8 Steve Perez

After a big jump at the end of the first section the 260Z broke one of its engine mounts which allowed the engine to drop onto the steering rack which then stiffened up. "The steering was quite heavy on that last section," said Perez. "On a straight you can take your hands off the wheel and it goes on its own but of course on that second section there aren't very many straights. In fact it seemed to go on forever. It was nice to have a good transport sections and time to complete them."

Car No. 10 Geoff Fielding

"We had a puncture 5 km into the second section and had a few problems with the jack. We were passed by Jarry and Perez while changing the tyre but we overtook them again later in the section. It was good because I was catching them so the adrenaline was going and I didn't feel tired. The stages were fantastic."

Car No. 11 Graham Alexander

"The head gasket started leaking on the first transport section to the border. We're not quite sure where it is leaking but I've had to take it really easy all day, especially up hills where I haven't been able to use the engine to its full capacity. Now we have to look in service and see if there is anything we can do."

Car No. 15 Richard Martin-Hurst

"We broke a half-shaft 59 km into the first section - that's just 15 km from the finish. Tony stripped out the shaft and diff while we were waiting for the service crew to come in. We told them what the problem was on the sat phone so when they arrived it was quite a quick job but we were still OTL at the end of the competitive section so there was no point in proceeding to the next one and we came straight to Arusha for service."

Car No. 16 Stephen Troman

"We lost the brakes a bit 10 km into the last section - I think we were losing brake fluid. The last section was very twisty and was more I'm used to. It was great to drive."

From co-driver Martin Rowe: "After our experience yesterday Steve was a bit slow to get into it today but it wasn't long before we were going over things that were at least as bad as the one that ripped our suspension off yesterday."

Car No. 18 Jayant Shah

"No problem with the car, not even with the co-driver. A thoroughly enjoyable day of proper rallying."

From co-driver Lofty Drews: "We just don't care anymore. We are giving it hell."

Car No. 19 Paul & Mary-Ellen Kane

The Mustang finished the first section but has been seen stopped not far from the end of the second section. All is fine but the car is among those who has not yet arrived in Arusha.

Car No. 20 Paul-Eric Jarry

"That second section was one of the best that I have ever driven. It was wonderful. It's nice to see that we are slowly coming up the results and we're trying to do it by keeping the Porsche in good condition."

Car No. 21 Jonathan Savage

Unfortunately the local 260Z rolled 4 km from the end of the second section. The crew are both fine - the doctor drove in from the end of the section to give them the medical all clear.

Car No. 22 Albert Michiels

"Today was very good and we had no problem. The second section was very beautiful and I even had a chance to look at some of the scenery."

Car No. 25 John Rose

"Great. Classic stages - the best in the world. You could see the people watching were entertained. They don't see rallies come through much these days. No problem with the car which seems to be as solid as a rock."

Car No. 26 Josef Pointinger

The Escort ran into the back of Joginder Singh's official car in the thick dust on the transport section to the border. The crew are fine but unfortunately the car caught the spare wheel hung over the back of the Toyota Prado and did a lot of damage to the left front of the Escort including wrecking the radiator. It arrived in Arusha on a tow rope, having missed both of today's sections. Pointinger said: "We're fitting a new radiator and hammering out the car but at the moment the left hand side is 4cm shorter than the right hand side." The Escort is now in parc ferme and will therefore doubtless restart in the morning.

Car No. 29 Aslam Khan

"A nice day with just a few rough places. No trouble with the car so better than yesterday and even better than earlier in the week. We've got a slight oil leak from the rear but we believe it's only from the engine breather."

Car No. 31 Imi Dewji

From co-driver Gabriele Mahler: "We had a good day. There were a few small problems with the car but nothing major. In the last section we pulled Hardev (Singh Sira) 13 km to the end. They were stopped on the road with battery problems."

Car No. 32 Larry Horn

"I liked the first section but I wasn't so keen on the second. I'm not really interested in all that first and second gear stuff. We have tractors for that. It was also a problem for me to see over the 260Z's long bonnet and on the muddy bit in the middle of the second section we looked to be headed for an accident where the choice was between a big drop on the left and a ditch on the right. You can guess which option I chose but the car came up out of the ditch OK and doesn't appear to have a scratch."

Car No. 33 Roddy Sachs

"We burst a shock and broke a right rear wishbone about 25 km from the end of the last section. We hit a hole and I think Geoff (Bell) in one of the other 180Bs hit the same one. The sections were great, fantastic. In that last one I think I must have lost about 3 kilos in body weight from all the work I did."

Car No. 34 Ian & Val Swan

The Volvo broke a differential in the first section and they have come straight to Arusha.

Car No. 36 Shaheed Wissanji

"The car is much better today. We fixed the master cylinder for the brakes. We had some spares flown in from Mombasa late last night and then changed it before the first section. Now we've got brakes, we had a great day."

Car No. 37 David & Sarah Rayner

"OK and nothing with the car. We enjoyed that today even it was a bit slippery up on the top of that second section. When Stig came past us I wondered what motorway he was driving on."

Car No. 39 Rommy Bamrah

"Today was alright. The last section was quite muddy and we got stuck in the mud on a corner. Luckily Peter Harland pulled us out but we still lost about five minutes."

Car No. 41 Kurt Vanderspinnen

"That was a nice day in the office. No problems and I loved that second section - a real test of a rally driver."

Car No. 42 Bert Dolk

"About half way through the second section the Volvo broke one of its rear suspension mountings on the rear axle. There was nothing we could do to fix it so we just had to drive very slowly through the stage and get it to service. We lost maybe twenty minutes in the stage and by the time we got it fixed we were almost out of time on the transport section into Arusha."

Car No. 43 Tim Mammen

"We lost a rear damper on that second stage and thus drove most of it being a bit too careful. I think that was a mistake as in fact the car was pretty good even with the broken damper."

Car No. 44 Neil McGrigor

The Ford Mexico arrived in Arusha, having completed both of the competitive sections. There were no problems with the car. "And I haven't run out of 'Alive and Kicking' footballs yet," he said.

Car No. 45 Geoff Bell

"We hit a hole in the second section but there's been no other problems. There was mud on that section and it was in a real tricky place but we managed to keep the 180B out of the ditch."

Car No. 46 Minesh Rathod

"We lost an alternator today and also an oil seal from the diff leaked oil out into the axle tube but it was a nice day and we had no other problems. We found it a bit rough in the second section but no complaints."

Car No. 47 Peter Harland

"We had a puncture on the first section. On the second section we pulled out the 240Z of Rommy Bamrah who to add insult to injury then overtook us. There was a good tussle between Escorts and the 260Zs."

Car No. 49 Jeremy Bennett

"I am absolutely shattered. That last section was so long. We had a slight altercation with a bush. We cut a corner and went straight through it and out the other side. I don't think the co-driver noticed he was concentrating so hard on the roadbook. The Escort Mexico has been amazing - it's taken an absolute pounding and it just keeps going."

Car No. 52 Iqbal Sagoo

"That second section was the most physically and mentally demanding section I've ever done. I thought it would never end. Hard but enjoyable. No problems with the car but we did modify the rear bumper a bit."

Car No. 53 Wayne Kieswetter

"We took it easy on the long stage, the second one, mainly to make sure we had the navigation right. We went for it when we could but we're probably a bit slower than we ought to have been. It's fair to say they were good sections."

Car No. 58 Michel Puchercos

"That last section was very very long and it was twisty just like the Swiss Alps. We had a rear puncture 100 km into it and it must have taken about five minutes to change. I'll have a massage tonight and I'll be ready for tomorrow.

[Z-point]

Less drama today in terms of major reversals of fortune among the leading drivers on the Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic Rally 2007 but plenty of action, both in and out of the cars. The marathon 154km competitive section proved every bit as hard a test as had been predicted. Even the leader, Bjorn Waldegård, found that his Ford Escort was capable of giving troubles when he had to drive practically the whole section with no operative clutch and then had a steering problem caused by a loose steering rack. Behind him, Gerard Marcy took fastest time on the section with his Porsche 911 and not only overtook Frederic Dor's Porsche 911 on the section but also passed him for second place in the overall rally. But even he was not destined to finish the day without problems as a puncture on the second section saw him record a time three minutes slower than Waldegård. Thus the gap between first and second place remains at just over quarter of an hour.

Dor admitted that he was taking things a bit easily now to ensure finishing as he leads Geoff Fielding in yet another Porsche 911 in fourth place by fifty-three minutes with Paul-Eric Jarry fifth in a Porsche 911 a further twenty-five minutes in arrears. Sixth is Stig Blomqvist in the second Historic Motorsport Escort but he had a difficult time through the long section losing fifteen minutes after getting stuck once and sustaining a puncture.

Now in seventh place is Roddy Sachs with the first of the three South African entered, Australian prepared Datsun 180Bs. His team mate, Wayne Kieswetter, in another 180B lies eighth with local driver, John Rose ninth in a Datsun 240Z. Tenth is Australian, Graham Alexander in a Datsun 260Z but other big Datsuns have not fared as well. In the first section, John Lloyd rolled his 240Z out of the rally but without any injury to the crew. Not quite so fortunate was Steve Perez in his 260Z as he hit a very bad drift and the kick-back from the steering coupled with the shock of impact appears to have damaged his vertebrae. Amazingly, Perez was able to drive some 90km out of the section before he was taken to hospital for examination and treatment. The car has been retired.

Tomorrow is the last day of the nine-day Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic Rally 2007. The rally cars will leave Arusha at dawn for a long drive down through Tanzania with two competitive sections and then cross into Kenya for one last fling before the finish in Mombasa at the Whitesands Hotel.

Provisional top ten results

Pos. Driver/Co-driver Vehicle Total Penalty

1 Bjorn Waldegard/Mathias Waldegard Ford Escort Mk1 13h43m33s

2 Gerard Marcy/Alain Lopes Porsche 911 14h00m30s

3 Frederic Dor/Didier Breton Porsche 911 14h11m07s

4 Geoff Fielding/Preston Ayres Porsche 911 15h04m15s

5 Paul-Eric Jarry/Craig Redelinghuys Porsche 911 15h30m26s

6 Stig Blomqvist/Ana Goni Ford Escort Mk1 15h43m47s

7 Roddy Sachs/Peter Young Datsun 180B 16h12m01s

8 Wayne Kieswetter/Rob Hellier Datsun 180B 16h35m32s

9 John Rose/Michael Borrisow Datsun 240Z 17h01m29s

10 Graham Alexander/Ross Runnalls Datsun 260Z 17h03m46s

Notes on the cars

Car No. 1 Bjorn Waldegard

"When I drove the Escort out of the parc ferme the clutch disengagement was not working. We bled the system and it came back for a while but then we had to drive the first competitive section with no clutch - it wasn't too much of a problem if I kept the revs up but then after about another 50 km the steering rack came loose and the front wheels opened slightly. It was going everywhere except where I wanted. This time on this long (154 km) section Mathias asked me to guess how much longer. I said about 50 km and he then told me it was 90 km. We got all the problems fixed for the second section and that went well. The times don't seem so important when you hear the sad news about Tony (Fall) but, knowing him, I'm sure he would still have found the times were important."

Car No. 2 Gerard Marcy

"We lost about a minute in the fesh-fesh but it was fantastic. Fantastic. We also got trapped behind a cow so we were in first gear for about 300m - I couldn't believe it - and then we were trapped behind a bus. Then on the second section we had a puncture about 50 km into the stage when we hit a stone. But it was a good day."

As the Porsche 911 pulled up into the holding area at Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge it was a little low on the front left which it later transpired was a broken torsion bar.

Car No. 3 Stig Blomqvist

"Today wasn't too bad. In the first section when we crossed the river the engine didn't like the water. We had two front punctures - one on each section. The first was about 10 km into the first section so that was not so funny, the second was about 10 km from the end of the second section. Other than that no problems with the car."

Car No. 4 Frederic Dor

"Today was OK. In the middle of the second section we went into a small drift and the steering was knocked askew. You have to remember that the design of the steering on this car is about 40 years old and then we go and put big wheels and tyres on it. After that I just took it easy so as not to cause any more damage and to get out of the section. I think the dampers might be a little too soft which might have made the problem worse."

Car No. 6 John Lloyd

Lloyd rolled the Datsun 240Z on the first section. The crew are fine but unfortunately they will not be continuing as the car is too badly damaged. "I was slowing down from about 120kph for a drift and the back end of the car stepped out. This has happened a few times before and the worst thing that has happened so far is that we have spun and then carried on. This time the rear end caught a bank and threw the car into a series of rolls."

Car No. 7 Keith and Mary Anne Callinan

"That was an interesting day. We must have dropped about fifty minutes in the first section. We got through the river crossing OK but about 25 km in we went too far left and went about 2km before we bellied out. The local guys appeared from nowhere and dug us out. Then after about another 50 km we stopped dead and we discovered the alternator wire had come out - the vibration must have caused the clip to come away. The battery went and we had to get Mark (Solloway) to contact Wales to find out how to re-wire it. The last section was heaven-on-a-stick."

Car No. 8 Steve Perez

It was earlier reported that the 260Z rolled on the first section. In fact the car went into a large dip and hit a rock hard but did not actually roll. All the impact was taken on the cross member. Perez drove the car out of the section but on arriving at the end of the section it was decided to take him to Arusha hospital to give him a full medical check. The X-rays revealed that he had possible crushed vertebrae so the Flying Doctor has taken him on to Nairobi for further examination and treatment.

Car No. 10 Geoff Fielding

"That first long section was fantastic and the navigation was spot on. In the second section we had a front puncture 11 km from the end. But the car went well and we went well - were just keeping our heads down until the finish. The car is as right as nine pence and the only problem I have is that my driving gloves are worn out. Anyone got a spare pair?"

Car No. 11 Graham Alexander

"No problems with the head gasket after the work we did last night but I'm getting a real sore back from carrying this car around Africa. We got bogged in that sand 15 km from the start of the first section and once we got out the clutch slipped for another 30 km after that. On the second section we bent two wheel rims, one of which was rubbing on the brake calliper so we had to stop and change it. I was really annoyed when we went to use the jack because the electric gun that we use to wind the jack up and down and take the wheel nuts off had got a flat battery. If anyone wants one they've got to go and look for it in the sand. We wound the jack up with just a hand wrench which is not very quick. And finally when we came out of the last section into service we discovered we had a fractured oil pipe and there was oil all over the place. But the Datsun is probably good for another day at least."

Car No. 15 Richard Martin-Hurst

"I think I'm losing my enthusiasm for the Safari. I'm beginning to look on it as a destruction derby for 4x4s. Like so many others we got stuck in all that soft sand but somehow we didn't have any punctures probably because we're now driving very carefully to try to see the finish."

Car No. 16 Stephen Troman

"We had two puncture s the first section. The first one was very early on when we hit a rock with the front. The second was at about 90 km so we went quite carefully as we no longer had any spares. But we didn't get stuck and we didn't get lost - Martin (Rowe) was spot-on. The second section was good. We had no problems and the car's perfect. Just one more day to go."

From co-driver Martin Rowe: "No punctures all rally and now we get two on the first section. We didn't get stuck, did all the hard bits and then two punctures."

Car No. 18 Jayant Shah

"Quite a busy day. The engine flooded out in the first river and we then practically burnt out the clutch getting up the hill beyond it. Then we had a puncture and when we went to restart the engine wouldn't go so we had to be pushed to get it going. Then we were stuck in the fesh-fesh and once again when the engine stopped it was hard to start. Then the clutch slipped all the way out of the first section. We changed the gearbox and clutch in Arusha between the sections but we thought it was raining on the second section and put on mud tyres which turned out to be a bit of a waste."

Car No. 20 Paul-Eric Jarry

"We had a couple of punctures. In the first stage it wasn't so bad because twenty locals lifted the car - they nearly put it on its roof - and we were able to change the wheel without using the jack. But when we had the second puncture in the second stage our hydraulic jack wasn't working and we had to use a great deal of ingenuity to get the car up using one of the spare wheels so we could change the wheel."

Car No. 22 Albert Michiels

"During the first section the right rear upper-engine mount started to break away from the body and we had to use two straps to winch the engine back into place and keep it held up. We didn't get stuck anywhere but we did lose some time on the second section when we got lost coming out of the dry river bed and had to come back almost 7km."

Car No. 25 Michael Rose

"We had a good day. In that sand it was like the Dakar. At one point we thought we had a problem because there was a lot of vibration - we thought maybe a drive shaft or a propshaft had gone - but I think it must have been the sand inside the wheels. At a couple of places we had to crawl because the sand was so deep. Our service crew (led by Michael's son and former Kenyan rally champion Lee Rose) got lost and were directed by locals into the stage where they pulled out about 12 other competitors. If they hadn't have been there we might have pulled up a couple more places."

Car No. 26 Josef Pointinger

"Surprisingly the car has run ok after its accident repairs yesterday but we did get stuck going away from that river 3km after the start of the first section. And then got stuck again right next to Larry Horn in all that soft sand and had to be pushed by the Masai."

Car No. 29 Aslam Khan

"We got stuck on that hill out of the river just into the first section but that wasn't too bad and we weren't there too long. But further on I went to climb out of a drift a bit too slowly and we got stuck so that we had to use the jack to get the car onto the hard track and away again. We didn't have any punctures but the sump guard came loose and for a moment we thought the whole car was falling apart. And we do have a rear leaf spring shackle broken. Very nice sections all day."

Car No. 30 Hardev Singh Sira

"We had no operation for the clutch for the last 30 km for the second stage so we had to drive all the way in second gear."

Car No. 31 Imi Dewji

"A pretty good day on the whole. We had no punctures and only got stuck where other people got stuck. Everyone says that the front end of my Datsun 240Z is too high and I probably agree with them but I think I'll leave it that way now until the end of the rally."

Car No 32 Larry Horn

"We got stuck like so many others coming out of that river at the beginning of the first section and then on the fesh-fesh 30 km further on. We were there some time and I think we've almost run out of push money but despite that all in all it was a good day and we're just happy to be through."

Car No. 33 Roddy Sachs

"We got stuck twice in the first section - I think we were the first to be pulled out by Lee Rose. The second section was the best in the event so far. My hand's strapped up because I broken a small bone yesterday but I don't feel any pain until I see the finish board of the stages."

Car No. 36 Shaheed Wissanji

"We were stuck in all that soft sand on the first stage which mad the car and us very dirty and then on the second stage we got lost coming away from the river."

Car No. 37 David Rayner

"The steering broke again in the first section. It always brakes the steering arm that's bolted to the bottom of the strut. I'm beginning to think that with the horizontal compression strut in the front suspension it's all too rigid and something has to give and that's the arm. It took a long time to replace because the calliper and everything has to come off. We didn't do the second section but came straight here."

Car No. 39 Rommy Bamrah

"In the first section we came up in the dust behind Jayant Shah and couldn't get past him and with the speed falling off we got stuck in the sand and must have lost almost half an hour before we got going again. To cap everything we had a puncture in the second stage. The car is beginning to look and feel a bit tired but at least we're still running and hope to see the finish."

Car No. 42 Bert Dolk

"Two major problems today. The first was we had a bolt come out of the centre prop-shaft mounting but it only came out after we had left service so we had to stop and fix that ourselves. Then going between the first and second stages the engine suddenly refused to deliver anything like the amount of power that it should and by the time we found the problem which was the float levels in the carburettors it was time to come back to Arusha. In that first stage we got stuck at one point and amazingly ten guys practically lifted the car out."

Car No. 43 Tim Mammen

"On the whole a good day, if a very dirty one. We got stuck in that powder towards the beginning of the first section and after you've been messing around in that stuff for a while even driving rallies loses a bit of its appeal. Otherwise no problems."

Car No. 44 Neil McGrigor

"Our car just doesn't like the water. We had a very long stop to dry out electrics on the first section and then we encountered four cars stuck in the soft sand. We could not find a way round it so we went all the way round on our route during which we span all on our own. We did both sections and didn't have any punctures."

Car No. 45 Geoff Bell

"We got stuck coming away from that first river crossing but fortunately there were lots of helping hands including Jim Heather-Hayes to get us on our way. On the second section we came up in the dust of Alexander and promptly had a puncture which split the rim and made changing it very difficult."

Car No. 47 Peter Harland

"That first section was the worst of the whole rally for us. We got stuck in the sand and we had two punctures. We got the second with 60 km still to go so we had to back off but when we got to the last 20 km I went for it. The 260Z's not the same car she used to be. We've gone through four rims just today."

Car No. 48 Ekya Shah

"We're so pleased to be here. All that's necessary now is to get the car back to Mombasa. We had a smaller leak on the differential today but the guys can fix that and it didn't give us any problem."

Car No. 49 Jeremy Bennett

"We got stuck in the river, stuck in the sand and then we had punctures on the rocks. We got pulled out the sand twice by Lee Rose. On the way to the second section we bought some wooden planks from a local bedmaker just in case we got stuck again. On the second section we had another puncture and then just to add to it all we ran out of petrols coming up the driveway to the hotel."

Car No. 52 Iqbal Sagoo

"A pretty good day. I really enjoyed that first difficult section despite all the powder. We passed about five cars. However on the transport to the second section the car almost came to a halt and would barely move. Of course we checked all the normal things and it took time before we discovered that the fault lay with the ignition coil. We quickly changed that but we were four minutes late into the start of the next section."

Car No. 53 Wayne Kieswetter & Rob Hellier

"In the first section we got horribly stuck twice. The first time we were pulled out by Lee Rose - I think he's going to be very drunk tonight from all the beers that people will buy him. The second time we got stuck trying to get out of the ruts and go past Roddy (Sachs) then we had a puncture and there was a terrible smell of fuel when we re-started and we stopped again but couldn't find anything. The second stage was ok but we couldn't get out of the ruts."

Car No. 58 Michel Puchercos

"Just one kilometre before the start of the first section, going down the 27 km from the tarmac road, the shock absorber mount on one of the rear trailing arms broke. Then our service crew got lost for a while so by the time we met up with them and got it fixed it was a better strategy to go straight to the second section and miss the first. Happily, we didn't get lost and I think we did a good time and enjoyed it."

A sad note was struck when the competitors and officials on the Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic Rally 2007 learnt this morning that Tony Fall, one of the great competitors and supporters of the Safari Rally who was here working on the event, had died in his sleep during the night. All of those here on the Safari Classic send their condolences and best wishes to his family and all his friends throughout the world. Tony will be sadly missed by all those who love rallying and for whom he was a icon.

[Z-point]

results: http://www.eastafricansafarirally.com/results07/reusltsday-9.htm

There were last minute dramas on the last day of the Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic Rally 2007 but not enough to change the identity of the winning crew. This was Bjorn and Mathias Waldegård in a Ford Escort RS1600 who had led on Day One, momentarily relinquished their lead to Gerard Marcy and Alain Lopes in a Porsche 911 on Day Two, but then led all the way to the finish from the end of Day Three. For the ex-World Champion, already a four-time winner of the original Safari Rally, this was quite an emotional occasion since it is just thirty years since he first won the legendary event.

The dramas centred on Marcy who struck problems in the second section, the infamous Usambara Mountains, when he hit a rocky bank and broke his front suspension. He tried to drive out of the stage but failed. Consequently, he had to wait for the other competitors to finish the section and for his service crew to drive twenty-two kilometres in to mend the Porsche. Marcy set fastest times on both the first and third section today and received an enormous cheer when he drove over the finish ramp, on arriving after nearly all the other cars. Marcy fell back from second to fourth overall to the benefit of two other Porsche drivers, Frederic Dor and Geoff Fielding who occupied second and third places behind Waldegård.

Yet another Porsche 911, that of Paul-Eric Jarry, was fifth just ten minutes ahead of Waldegård's team mate and fellow ex-World Champion, Stig Blomqvist who took sixth place after what had been for him a troubled event. Behind Blomqvist were the two South African Datsun 180Bs of Roddy Sachs and Wayne Kieswetter whose steady performances were rewarded with seventh and eighth places respectively. The best local driver was John Rose in the Datsun 240Z built for his sixtieth birthday that he had celebrated at the beginning of November. Completing the top ten finishers was Australian, Graham Alexander with his Datsun 260Z which, in his opinion, was not destined to go much further.

In eleventh was a relative newcomer to the sport, Jeremy Bennett, competing in his first major rally who also won his class and had used his participation in the rally to promote the charity "Alive and Kicking". Another class winner was Safari Classic veteran, Richard Martin-Hurst who brought his Ford Capri Perana home in twenty-second place despite suffering major transmission problems in Tanzania.

In all, forty-two cars from the fifty-eight starters were classified as finishers and went over the ramp in front of the Sarova Whitesands Hotel north of Nairobi on Monday afternoon. The prize giving will be at Whitesands on Tuesday morning.

Final top ten positions

Pos. Driver/Co-driver Vehicle Total Penalty

1 Bjorn Waldegard/Mathias Waldegard Ford Escort Mk1 15h34m08s

2 Frederic Dor/Didier Breton Porsche 911 16h04m45s

3 Geoff Fielding/Preston Ayres Porsche 911 17h05m02s

4 Gerard Marcy/Alain Lopes Porsche 911 17h14m18s

5 Paul-Eric Jarry/Craig Redelinghuys Porsche 911 17h29m11s

6 Stig Blomqvist/Ana Goni Ford Escort Mk1 17h39m47s

7 Roddy Sachs/Peter Young Datsun 180B 18h13m20s

8 Wayne Kieswetter/Rob Hellier Datsun 180B 18h36m22s

9 John Rose/Michael Borrisow Datsun 240Z 19h02m20s

10 Graham Alexander/Ross Runnalls Datsun 260Z 19h06m05s

Car No. 1 Bjorn Waldegard

"It was quite a long day since the driver was not allowed to make a mistake and the co-driver was not allowed to make a mistake. The first section today was quite tricky and I would have liked to have attacked in the Usambaras but there was a bit too much traffic these days. I was a bit nervous all day but when I pulled up at Whitesands I felt fantastic. It's been thirty years since I won my first Safari. The car's been perfect all day."

From co-driver Mathias Waldegard: "I feel great to make it to the end and to win. We took it quite carefully as we knew we had to finish."

Car No. 2 Gerard Marcy

"Our problem today came out of the blue on an uphill left-hander at not much more than 50 or 60 kph. The car slid a little and I corrected and suddenly it turned sharp right and hit the rock. We tried to drive out of the section but after about 8km we realised that we were doing too much damage. The service crew came in when they could and found that we had broken the outer tract control arm joint so that the strut was completely free. They fixed it and we continued and did the last section where we did fastest time, as we had done on the first section. I'm very happy to have finished. This Porsche is fantastic and I've really enjoyed driving it on these roads."

Car No. 3 Stig Blomqvist

"That was a long hot boring day but we did it mainly without problems. It's a shame about our problems that came earlier as it meant that we were never really able to challenge for the lead but I've enjoyed myself and enjoyed the driving."

From co-driver Ana Goni: "Today was tough. The steering became loose half way through the Usambaras. I'm relieved to have finished. Compared to the other Safari Classics the event has been just as good as always."

Car No. 4 Frederic Dor

"It's not been a perfect day because we first had a front damper seize and then actually broke a rear one in the Usambaras. We were starting to run out of these special XTC dampers from New Zealand and therefore when we changed three before the last section, they were all pretty well used. The car is very soft now, nice to drive in traffic but not so good on the stages. When you drive fast on these roads the suspension needs to be stiff so that when you hurt your back you know you're going too fast."

Car No. 7 Keith & Mary-Ann Callinan

"I'm a very happy competitor to finish. We lost the clutch right at the beginning of the second section which made it pretty difficult but the section would have been just sensational if we'd had a clutch. We didn't have time to fix it so we had to do the third section with no clutch as well and get back to Mombasa. It's a fantastic feeling to finish. The East African Safari Rally is a true marathon."

Car No. 10 Geoff Fielding

"We took it good and steady. We bust a rear damper in the second section quite near the beginning and we had to nurse it through. I'd hoped to be in the top ten but to be on the podium is beyond words. It's absolutely fantastic, brilliant. The car is in perfect condition and I am just overwhelmed. What an event."

Car No. 11 Graham Alexander

"The car's been losing water all the time. We've had to top it up before a section and then sit on the start line with all the fans going to try and keep the temperature down. We've only used fourth and fifth gear in most of the sections. Frankly, I don't think the old girl would have done another day but we're naturally delighted to be here and to have finished in the top ten."

Car No. 15 Richard Martin-Hurst

"I can hardly believe I'm saying this but we had no problems today. We're so pleased to be here and also to discover that we've won our class."

Mike Kirkland congratulated Richard on getting a Capri around the Safari "something the Ford factory never managed". Shortly afterwards Mike had to repeat this when the Rayners came in with their Capri.

Car No. 16 Steven Troman

"That was a very tough rally. I was a bit out of my depth at first but it was a big help having Martin in the car because what he knows about driving is useful when you're struggling to adapt to new conditions. The road times were a bit tight. Before I came here I had the idea that it might be possible to stop on transport sections and have a drink but I soon found out this was not the case. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

From co-driver Martin Rowe: "As a novice co-driver I found it a bit tricky at times trying to help Steve with advice and concentrating on what I was actually there for."

Car No. 18 Jayant Shah

"We thought we had the car fixed on Sunday night when we did the clutch and tidied it up. But on the way to the first section we had the gear box play up again and had to change it. Not only that but the oil cooler split in the same section and that had to be fixed before we could start the first competitive section. This was a real shame as we'd just been re-seeded by the organisers and thought we'd have one day without a lot of dust but of course when we did this work half a dozen cars got in front of us. Hard rally, shame about the problems with the car."

Car No. 19 Paul & Mary-Ellen Kane

"We had a very interesting day again. We broke down in the first section when the fan's blade hit the radiator. The service crew towed us back to the start of the section at Same where we got the radiator fixed but the temperatures were still high so we missed the second section. Then when we stopped at the border the starter motor failed so we had to get push-started. We decided to miss the final section which meant we had to take the ferry over the harbour entrance. There was a long queue and the car was still suffering overheating but we couldn't turn it off due to the starter motor problems. Luckily I ran up the queue and found an official car which let us go in front of them. When we got off the ferry we managed to bump-start it off the ramp. But the Mustang got us here and she's taken us to some amazing places. The rally was pretty brutal - I've never seen stages like that - but it's great to be here."

Car No. 20 Paul-Eric Jarry

"No punctures and no damper problems. The day was short but not that short especially with Stig thirteen minutes behind us. I'm relieved to have finished. We've had no problems with the car apart from losing the horn at the end of the second section which was a bit of a problem going through Mombasa."

Car No. 21 Jonathan Savage

The crew re-started this morning after the scrutineers had checked out the remedial work on their Datsun 260Z and were satisfied that it was safe to continue. The car is best described as "Body by Datsun, styling by Savage".

"Not a very satisfactory day as the rotor arm in the distributor decided to self-destruct on the main road after the first section. Normally I would have a spare distributor but unfortunately I'd lent it someone after we'd had the accident. Thus I had to fix the rotor arm back on by wedging it with tape. It could still rotate so we were not too keen to attempt the next two sections and came straight to Mombasa. Great rally and we're so glad to have got it here."

Car No. 22 Albert Michiels

"The first section was very hard but very nice scenery in the tea plantation. We had no problems today and I think maybe the car is good for another Safari so we might just come back."

Car No. 25 John Rose

"Mike (Borrisow) missed a bulletin that was handed out this morning and we hit a concrete drift on the first section at about 160 kph. The car took off and shot over a pile of gravel and the drift but mercifully landed on its wheels with only a slightly bent cross-member to show for the impact. If we'd been going slower it would have been a major accident. Super rally and in some ways better for private owners as you get a proper rest and can drive more on the pace of the works cars. Our Datsun 240Z was built for my sixtieth birthday on the fifth of November ."

Car No. 26 Josef Pointinger

"We should've started the rally with this day. It was the first day we overtook moving cars including Marcy. I think the car is quite tired now having done three Classic Safaris."

Car No. 29 Aslam Khan

"We had a good day. The second section was great for the first 30 km. We passed Marcy and he was veering towards us so we tried to give him a wide berth but the cars just touched - perhaps we saved him going off again. Apart from day 2 and day 3 where we hit a rock and then suffered subsequent problems with the suspension we've had a great rally."

Car No. 30 Hardev Singh Sira

"I can hardly believe it but the clutch slave cylinder went again, this time in the Usambaras and we drove most of the stage in second and third gear. Still both the car and we are here and we have enjoyed ourselves very much."

Car No. 31 Imi Dewji

"We did it. The engine was blowing oil out through the breather in large quantities in the Usambaras. We had to keep stopping to fill it up but we still managed to do the last section and get the car here. The event was fantastic - much tougher than the other two Classic Safaris I've done. But it is out of this world - finishing this is like winning for us."

Car No. 32 Larry Horn

"We had an alright day and nothing major happened. The first part of the second section in the Usambaras was very entertaining. I've no complaints."

Car No. 33 Roddy Sachs

"Time for a cold beer and lets do it all again - backwards. Too many long transport sections - more competitive sections please."

Car No. 34 Ian & Val Swan

"Well, the car held together, although there must be a bush gone on the front of the axle because you can feel it moving in the body when you accelerate. Today we just kept our fingers crossed and gritted our teeth all the way. To be honest I drove like I was a hundred and ten . We started today with the objective of finishing and we did. It was a lot tougher than I expected and we've never been so glad to finish an event."

Car No. 36 Shaheed Wissanji

"We set out this morning from Arusha and the BMW was going fantastically on the tarmac all the way to the start of the first section. Once we got going the engine started to lose power and just before the tea plantation I think the big end bearings went. We tried heavier oil and some additives and it was no good. A real shame for this to happen so late in the rally."

Car No. 37 David & Sarah Rayner

"The Capri behaved herself today and we're both very grateful that the air conditioning is still working. Frankly, I think this was a bit too rough for genuine old cars. It was not too bad today but some of that stuff we went over earlier you just can't do with an old car, you have to use a silhouette."

From Mike Kirkland to David Rayner: "I hope I didn't talk you into something you weren't expecting."

Car No. 39 Rommy Bamrah

"No problems today except a lack of power. All day we've just been looking forward to the first beer. It feels fantastic to be here."

Car No. 40 Ben Muchemi & George Njoroge

"We had no clutch in the Usambaras - the slave cylinder for the clutch went - so that was fun. It's one hell of an event. I should have had my head checked before I did it. We've gone through everything. On God's Bridge we lost the sump, the differential, the tyres and the spare tyres, the headlamps and the boot. But it was still beautiful. I feel on top of the world to be here. I've done one of the biggest things in my life."

Car No. 41 Kurt Vanderspinnen

Sadly the Volvo's engine failed on the main road away from Arusha and the crew were faced with towing it 600 km to Mombasa. The problems seemed to centre on the pistons which had been changed on the very first day of the rally.

Car No. 42 Bert Dolk

"We had a puncture 5 km from the end of the last section with just the drive through Mombasa in front of us. But it was a nice day and, of course, the last one. Now the car is going well. I think the mistake we made was not give it enough ride height at the beginning, especially at the front where we had all those troubles. At least I shall know what to do for next time."

Car No. 44 Neil McGrigor

"I can't believe we've finished. It's the most outrageous rally in the world: the longest and the toughest. I have to take my hat off to my team mate in the other Escort Mexico, Jeremy (Bennett), who's judged this event amazingly well. Both the Mexicos have been fantastic - they've just gone on and on - and Iain (Freestone) did an amazing job in their preparation."

Car No. 45 Geoff Bell

"No problems at all today. The Usambaras were fantastic - the best rally road I know. We did a proper flying finish when I couldn't stop and went off at the corner."

Car No. 46 Minesh Rathod

The Colt went off in the Usambaras and rolled seven times down the hill into a tea plantation. The crew were virtually unhurt and when the sweeper car came along they helped them roll the car another four times down onto a road amongst the tea bushes and then towed them out of the section. Their service crew linked up with them and the latest information is that they are on their way to the finish.

Car No. 47 Peter Harland

Peter seemed reluctant to get out of his 260Z and when he did he said: "I don't want to separated from my baby. No problems and no punctures. Fantastic stages today and I'm delighted and overjoyed to be here."

Car No. 48 Ekya & Prina Shah

"Today was quite trouble-free. We had a slight problem with the accelerator cable and lost about fifteen minutes fixing it. It feels amazing to finish."

Car No. 49 Jeremy Bennett

"We had a problem with the gearbox that started at the end of the first section. We broke the gearbox mounting and our service crew had to tie it on with tie-wraps and jubilee clips but the gear stick was still swimming about. It's unbelievable to be here and to have done so well. We hoped to be maybe in the top twenty but we're just out of the top ten and have won our class. It feels great."

Car No. 50 Nick Mason

"On Saturday we had a damper problem and had to fit odd struts at the rear but then on the Sunday John Lloyd kindly leant us one of his spars and we were able to get a matched pair. Then we hit a rock and put a stone through the sump and one of our other dampers seized. We got another sump from Steve Perez's team and we owe both him and John Lloyd special thanks. The camaraderie on this event is second to none - it's what motor sport should be all about. It has been a very challenging event but come hell or high water we'll be back. Superb stages today, wish we were doing more. A very big thank you to our service crew: Nigel, Duncan and John."

Car No. 51 Peter Stoehr & Joseph Jusic

"All our problems started on the first day when the steering bent and this lead to a small accident which eventually cost us almost three days. The car is OK now although it's rattling all over but we're here and very glad to be here."

Car No. 52 Iqbal Sagoo

"Things were going so well on my birthday until between the second and third sections a little oil pipe burst and sprayed oil onto the hot exhaust. It caught fire in the engine compartment and neither of the fire extinguisher systems could stop it. Fortunately the Historic Rallysport service crew came along and they had lots of bottled water which we used to put out the fire. We decided not to do the last stage because the wiring loom had been burnt and the oil pipe was still leaking so we drove straight to the finish. Super rally."

Car No. 53 Wayne Kieswetter

"No problems. We could do it all again. Well the car could do it all again. Really enjoyed it and we're serious about doing the rally again."

Car No. 55 Jeff Amin

From co-driver Dan Erculisse: "A bit rougher than last time. Perhaps the philosophy for classic rallies should be to get most people round the entire route. The organisers are so friendly that it's a pleasure to do the rally. Our problems were really that the engine was prepared more for circuits than rallying and we had no torque and thus where it was possible to get stuck we got stuck."

Car No 58 Michel Puchercos & Constant Vanearschot

"Very varied stages today. Quick in places but then there was that last part of the Usambaras that was so rough. The car was no problem. It was prepared in Nairobi and we shared the driving. The only small problem we had today was that it lacked power in the first stage so we changed the ECU which didn't cure the problem so we had to change it again after the second. We've really enjoyed ourselves, especially as our main experience in the past has been on race circuits."

81 Big pictures

[kenyaman]

hey folks!

just joined and this was one of the topics is was chatting about in my new forum bla-di-blah!

i have attended this event live for 4 years in toronto this year so missing out although i did have the opportunity a few months ago to see some of these cars go through the motions and let me tell you they were BEAUTIFUL!!!

i ve spent me life working rallies so we did help out a few of the guys...

here is the best pic of a Z in the rally yet! btw savage is also a veteran Z racer in the KNRC 2wd championship!

FLATOUT AND SIDEWAYS!!!

peace.

kenyaman

[Carl Beck]

Although much belated... I wanted to thank Guus for providing such great coverage of the 2007 EAS.. Although our Z's didn't have quite the spectacular results they had last year, it is nonetheless amazing to see 35+ year old cars still being driven so hard... and providing their owner's with so much FUN.

Thanks Guus:

Carl Beck

Clearwater, FL USA

http://ZHome.com