Kenya Airways East African Safari Rally

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Originally posted by mperdue

I don't know much about rally racing but these write-ups and quotes make it sound very exciting. 50 locals dropping in to push you out of a ditch?! Hahaha! Thanks for the updates - very interesting.

Michael

$^!# happens:tapemouth Car 50 in BIG problems

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Pos Car Driver / Co-Driver Vehicle Total Time

1 1 Rob Collinge / Anton Levitan Datsun 240Z 13:23:09

12 26 Balaraj Matharu / Timothy Mammen Datsun 1600 SSS 16:53:12

14 27 Chris Angel / Mike Bowen Datsun 1600 SSS 17:39:51

16 29 Aslam Khan / Arshad Khan Datsun 180B 19.40.13

33 36 Paul Haym / Tim Ryce Datsun 1600 SSS *08.48.01

36 18 Jayant Shah / Lofty Drews Datsun 1600 SSS *10.51.08

39 40 Imtaiz Dewji / Zeini Dewji Datsun 240Z **02.42.49

* one day behind

** two days behind

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always in repair!!! LOL

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* Dor and Rolt claim second and third respectively

The all-Kenyan crew of Rob Collinge and Anton Levitan won the legendary Kenya Airways East African Safari Rally today, the 50th anniversary of the world’s toughest rally. The Datsun 240Z crew cruised to the finish on the beautiful Diani Beach this afternoon, claiming victory by 47 minutes and 55 seconds. Frederic Dor maintained second position in the closing day of competition, with Porsche team-mate Stuart Rolt in a fine third overall. In total, 41 crews finished the marathon rally that covered 1,553.65 competitive kilometres in a total distance of nearly 5,000 kilometres through Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

The final day of the 2003 Kenya Airways East African Safari Rally took the crews from Tanga in Tanzania back to Kenya across the Lunga Lunga border post. The route encompassed 119.78 competitive kilometres over three sections before arriving at the Indian Ocean for the finish on the beach.

Rob Collinge and Anton Levitan cruised through the final day of the event, their Datsun 240Z never missing a beat. “This win is very important to me,” commented Rob at the finish. “I’ve always known I can win the Safari but it was tough as a privateer up against the factory drivers in recent years. This was a more level playing field; one rally car, one service crew, no helicopters or pace notes – back to what rallying is all about. The event was tough, but that was mainly dictated by the route Mike (Kirkland) wanted to run; he took us back to really classic sections. It was rougher than I expected, but we set the car up to deal with these specific conditions and it paid dividends. We must be the only crew to have simply changed shock absorbers as a precaution; we never broke one.”

Frederic Dor and co-driver Didier Breton put in a fine performance, arriving at Diani Beach in second position after problems in the closing days of the event. The French duo battled against a succession of broken shock absorbers and nursed their Porsche 911 to the finish of this gruelling event, despite breaking another two units in the first section this morning.

“I’m pleased, this event has been a real pleasure,” said Frederic. “The organisation has been incredible and it’s an amazing achievement for everyone and for all these old cars. Without our suspension problems I think we could have pushed Rob, but it was impossible and this is the best result I could have achieved. The car is perfect, we’ve not made one repair and I’ve not made any mistakes, spins or punctures. It’s been fantastic.”

Team-mates Stuart Rolt and Francis Tuthill maintained their third position and claimed a highly impressive result for Francis Tuthill’s team. In total, the squad had five Porsche 911s finish in the top 10.

“Both Richard and I are thrilled; it’s a great result,” said Stuart. “We came here thinking a top 10 finish would be great, third is fantastic! Aside from the really quick guys, we were on the pace every day and the car has been fabulous; I can’t believe what it’s done! The whole experience has been awesome, a terrific event and harder on the car than we ever thought. And for the team to have five cars in the top 10 is a real credit to Francis, Richard and all the guys in the team.”

Fourth position was claimed by Andrew Barnes and David Lewis, a mammoth result for the pair in only their fifth rally. They led the Ford challenge and ultimately finished one hour, 53 minutes and 8 seconds behind Collinge.

“This is a phenomenal achievement for us,” said Andrew. “The last section we were so nervous it was ridiculous! We cruised through it, but it was tense. We’ve now started five events and finished all of them, which is fantastic. It was physically and mentally harder than I’d imagined, and tougher on the car. It’s been a really emotional experience; the people have been incredible all the way along the route; quite humbling really.”

Fifth position was claimed by Bruce Field and Jan Thoenes in another Porsche 911 with Britain’s Iain Freestone rounding off the top six. The only casualty of the day was John Lloyd and Paul Amandini in the Historic Motorsport Escort, both of whom escaped injury after crashing. “We barrel-rolled the car in the first section of the day and it then caught fire,” said John. “It’s completely destroyed, along with all our passports, licenses and paperwork. It’s obviously disappointing after such a long event, but the important thing is that Paul and I are okay.”

Commenting on the success of the rally, Mike Kirkland, Event Director of the Kenya Airways East African Safari Rally said: “It exceeded all my expectations. We seem to have everyone loving it; I didn’t find one person who didn’t love it and that’s exceptional in itself. It’s a controversial sort of rally, different, and you would expect 10-15% wouldn’t like it because it’s so different to anything else, but there was no one. The numbers of finishers also exceeded my expectations by a long way; I’ve really got to praise the service crews for how hard they worked to keep the cars going. It was also a very friendly rally; people made lots of new friends and eyes were opened not only to the beauty of the region and its great variety of scenery, but also to the friendliness of the people. It’s been tremendous.”

Over the last 10 days, the Kenya Airways East African Safari Rally has also embraced a humanitarian side by pledging charitable donations along the route. “We donated some money to the centre for street girls with no homes and probably no parents, those who are adopted and live in a centre in Mombasa,” added Kirkland. “At Mount Kenya Safari Club there was a school where the kids had no desks and chairs so we supplied them. In Eldoret, we painted the school classroom, put in new windows, desks and blackboards and gave them many educational and sports equipment. We also gave blankets to the orphans in Eldoret as well as to a hospice. In the Masai Mara they said they wanted a fence built around the school as they’re trying to plant trees and the animals were eating the young shoots. We fenced the whole school in. Near the Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi there’s a school for crippled children and their requirements are very special in terms of desks and chairs. We helped them out with all this equipment.”

The Kenya Airways East African Safari Rally has been acclaimed by all as a huge success and a legendary event filled with special emotion. Most competitors said if they were told it was running again, they would enter on the spot!

Overall Results

Rob Collinge Datsun 240Z 17hr 42min 42sec

Frederic Dor Porsche 911 18hr 30min 37sec

Stuart Rolt Porsche 911 19hr 08min 31sec

Andrew Barnes Ford Escort 19hr 35min 50sec

Bruce Field Porsche 911 19hr 40min 33sec

Iain Freestone Ford Mexico 19hr 46min 57sec

Ray Bellm Ford Escort 21hr 00min 33sec

Wolfgang Pfeiffer Porsche 911 21hr 12min 56sec

Anthony Ward Ford Escort 21hr 22min 44sec

Paul-Eric Jarry Porsche 911 21hr 49min 24sec

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DRIVER QUOTES – DAY 10

2. Bruce Field/Jan Thoenes – EAK/EAK – Porsche 911

“I’m really glad all the overseas competitors have enjoyed the rally. I think some came with a degree of negativity towards the country, but they’ll be back. To be able to share our country has been wonderful. Jan has also never finished a Safari and he’s completely wrapped! To see others finish for the first time is also wonderful and the feeling on the beach was very special and really wound the clock back.”

3. Michele Mouton/Ana Goni – F/YV – Ford Escort

“Apart from our problems in the first day, it’s been great. We had no chance of victory, no fight, but we were here to see East Africa and that’s why we carried on. There was no question of withdrawing at all; it is still fun to drive fast over some wonderful sections. It was very tough, but extremely well organised and nice to come to Kenya. This rally is very special; the open roads, dust and the rough roads. There is no comparison to anything in the world; it is unique.”

5. Alastair Cavenagh/Carl Tundo – EAK/EAK – Ford Escort

“We’re happy to finish, but it’s a bit disappointing as the car’s not what it was supposed to be. When we had clean runs we were either first or second in the sections and we should have been able to give Rob more of a run for his money. It’s not been as tough as in the olden days, but it’s given us a feel for what it was like. I’m glad to have been competing two decades later though!”

6. Iain Freestone/Rod MacLean – GB/GB – Ford México

“I’m very pleased, it was fantastic! It was a hard and traumatic rally for us, but we’re well pleased for our first outing in Africa. It was a lot tougher than I expected, but I fancy doing it all over again tomorrow! Rod’s not done so badly either; it’s only his second event as a navigator!”

7. Ray Bellm/Pasquale Lanzante – GB/I – Ford Escort

“We’ve just been preserving the car today to get to the finish.”

9. Wolfgang Pfeiffer/Peter Knoebel – D/D – Porsche 911

“A fantastic rally, very very nice; very tough, but good. We’re happy to be here, especially as it is the first time I have done the Safari. We’re looking forward to the next one now!”

14. Richard Martin-Hurst/Tony Devantier – GB/NZ – Rover V8

“We had a broken main rear spring after the first section today and then realised at the start of the second that all the front suspension was hanging off. It was too dangerous to carry on so we drove non-competitively to the finish. We’re pleased to be at the end, but it’s obviously disappointing to have missed the last two sections; the only ones we’ve missed all event. It’s an old car, but it held up well; it’s not really built for these conditions.”

16. Anthony Ward/Mark Solloway – GB/GB – Ford Escort

“We were put off when we saw John Lloyd’s accident and have been taking it easy today.”

21. Brian Barton/Chris Fryer – EAK/EAK – Peugeot 504

“Yesterday’s leg was the best rallying of the event; we also really enjoyed Uganda but Tanzania was even better, real Safari routes. The roads in Kenya have deteriorated, some are real car-breakers and don’t necessarily demand driving skill. The event has been superb but we’d love to have been on the first page of the results!”

25. Paul-Eric Jarry/Craig Redelinghuys – F/ZA – Porsche 911

“We’ve just very quietly been getting to the finish today!”

27. Chris Angel/Mike Bowen – EAK/EAK – Datsun 1600SSS

“We’ve had prop-shaft and suspension problems, but it’s great to be at the finish, that’s what matters. I grew up watching this event and am so so happy to be here. Nothing can describe the feelings I have at the moment.”

33. Roddy Sachs/Geoff Bell – D/GB – Alfa Romeo 2000

“Yesterday we broke a ‘donut’ between the gearbox and prop-shaft and had to make a part from bits the Mercedes crew gave us. We skipped the last two sections but it’s been a fantastic experience and the organisation has been great.”

38. Marzio Kravos/Renzo Bernardi – EAK/EAK – Mercedes 200

“The objective was to get to the finish; we spent very little money and just had fun. We had an unfortunate second day when we blew the engine and got a six hour penalty, but it was re-built in Nairobi and we’ve made it.”

47. Richard Pugh/Liz Pugh – GB/GB – Volvo 122S

“We’re very pleased to be here but disappointed not to have done more of the competitive sections. There’s a certain sense that we’ve not done the rally, but it’s been a great adventure and our first time in Africa; wonderful.”

48. Peter Banham/Bettyann Banham – GB/GB – Mercedes 220SE

“It’s great to have finished; we’ve buried another demon! Second time round we’ve done it; it was a tall order though!”

50. Paul Maaskant/Peter Stone – NL/EAK – Austin Healey 3000

“In the last section today we had the scariest moment of the rally. At 140kph the wheel came off and overtook us.”

[HS30-H]

Thanks Guus for following this story right through to the finish, and to victory once again.

Isn't it great to see a Z ahead of the 911's and Escorts once more.

Here's my little tribute to the winners. A salute from the last Z to win an East African Safari Rally event...........

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Yes, it was marvellous to see Datsun number one lead the field all the way. We did it several times before so why should it chance. :classic: If you look at the photo’s you can dream 30 years backwards, lovely…

Great shot the number 1 plate.

You chanced you avatar as well is that the no 5 almost hitting a gendarme?:tapemouth

[g260]

Guus,

Just a small note that was overlooked. The winning 240Z was prepared in Sydney by Stewart Wilkins of Stewart Wilkins Rallying who I understand was invited over to be part of the service crew.

Regards,

Geoff

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Originally posted by g260

Guus,

Just a small note that was overlooked. The winning 240Z was prepared in Sydney by Stewart Wilkins of Stewart Wilkins Rallying who I understand was invited over to be part of the service crew.

Regards,

Geoff

That is number two who was prepared in Australia. Same as the Datsun 180B of Aslam Khan

Here is some advertising for steward

http://www.swmotorsport.com/home.htm

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http://www.eastafricansafarirally.com/finalpg2/index.htm

have a look at the finish photo's

[Ben]

Indeed!

The 180B of Aslam Khan was prepared here in Adelaide to compete in PRC next year, but was purchased by Arshad Khan only a few months back & shipped to Kenya. I packed it into the shipping container myself!

Preparation was performed by the original owner, but the car hasn't been campaigned in about 8 years. The work performed on it when it got to Kenya included - fitting of roof vent from a WRX, the installation of Proflex suspension and a few other minor mods (extra holes in the sump guard etc). The previous owner (and I!) are stoked that the car was able to complete such an event as the Safari with such little preparatory work performed.

He even ran it with the near stock-L18 & SU's!

You can see some photo's of the car as we packed it (complete with old livery) at:

http://www.versadev.com/ben/sst915

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The 2003 Kenya Airways East African Safari Rally started 10 December from beneath the famous elephant tusks on Moi Avenue, Mombasa. The tusks were originally built to commemorate the visit of Princess Margaret in 1953, and have recently been refurbished to their former glory and re-opened by the Earl and Countess of Wessex in July last year.