It is time to hit the road: Regional crews up against foreigners as KQ Safari Classic zooms off on Wednesday

By ERNEST NDUNDA 

Kulwinder Sandhu and Harpal Sudle tackle a murky section during a past KQ Classic rally. [Photo: FILE/STANDARD]

Multiple Kenya rally champions Ian Duncan and Alastair Cavenagh are the locals to watch as the Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic Rally revs off from the Sarova Whitesands in North Coast on Wednesday.

The duo will lead 18 drivers from the East African region in the fight against the foreign legion, which has two former World Rally champions – Stig Blomqvist and Bjorn Waldegard. Cavenagh will be navigated by Carl ‘Flash’ Tundo in a Ford Escort MK2.

Former World Rally Championship (WRC) winning co-driver Phil Mills (navigator for Petter Solberg), who has built Cavenagh’s MK2 for this year’s Safari Classic, has been in the country for a couple of weeks to monitor the car’s performance.

Mills’ company, Viking Motorsports from mid Wales, has entered three cars in the Classic and Mills is keen to see one of them achieve a podium finish.

“It will be interesting to see how the car performs. I believe Kenyans have a head-start  since some KNRC events have been held on the Classic route,” said Cavenagh.  

A total of 60 cars will on Wednesday set off for the mammoth 4,000km run around some of the most historic and picturesque East African terrains.

Duncan, navigated by Amaar Slatch in a Ford Capri, leads the home assault with veteran Aslam Khan in a Porsche and Ramesh Vishram in a Ford Escort.

Legendary Lofty Drews from Australia will be back to navigate Arusha-based industrialist Jayant Shah in a Porsche.

Another local driver preparing for the event is Ramesh Vishram and the ‘Rally Queens’ comprising Samira Khan and Chantal Louis Young.

The girls were scheduled to contest the long event in a Ford Escort but less than a month before the start, they were offered a Tuthill Porsche by Aslam and Arshad Khan.

This means that, while Samira is a veteran of the arduous rally, having finished inside the top 30 overall in 2011, she will begin this year’s epic adventure with minimal mileage in the new car.

more horsepower

Samira said: “We have managed about 150km of testing so far in the Porsche but being a rear engine drive, it has a lot more horsepower than our Escort. It is very different to drive. The first few days of the rally will be a steep learning curve for us! Chantal and I are grateful to all our sponsors and supporters.”

Vishram’s car was stripped, painted, and is being fitted back with a new engine, drive-train, suspensions and other components.

This will be Vishram’s second Safari Classic though he was part of the old type East African Safari Rally before it was scrapped.

“The Classic is going to be a real test for man and machine. We will have to tackle long sections, literally doing a KNRC rally every day for nine days! Driving and maintaining the car continually for nine days needs mental and physical strength, stamina, good planning and a reliable team,” said Vishram.

Meanwhile, today’s itinerary will see cars tackle the Taita Hills section, which is part of the Shelembwa stage. Due to extensive road works going on between Vipingo and Kaloleni, organisers cancelled the Vipingo spectator stage but retained the Athi River super-special scheduled for November 24.

From Whitesands today, cars will head towards Majengo via Nguu Tatu and onwards to Mazeras, where the first stage at Matope-Majengo starts.

“Since we were going to use the exit road from Kaloleni to Mazeras, we had no choice but to cancel the spectator stage at Vipingo, which was initially meant to be a treat for coast spectators,” said East Africa Safari Rally Ltd’s General Manager Ashok Bhala said. Ashok Bhalla. The first competitive section today is a massive 85-km run all the way from Majengo to Matope and is designed to offer crews a real test of the coast challenge. Thereafter, cars will go through the stage from Mackinon Road to Wildlife Works.