Mud cars to be allowed in Classic Rally

The Datsun PA10 of Armstrong and Sudle got veer a jump during a past event. [Standard Sports]

Mud cars will be allowed in specific stages of the East African Safari Classic Rally if recent rains continue into this year’s edition set for end of November.

The Safaricom-sponosred event team is already checking the final sector of the competition in Tanzania to make sure all plans are in place. The same team has already checked the stages on the Kenyan sector.

The nine-day competition, will start from Mombasa before crossing over into Tanzania.

This year’s edition is split equally in both countries, with four days each in Kenya and Tanzania respectively.

The mechanics will get a chance to rebuild the cars, within a set time of six hours. The rally, first ran in 2003, is now entering its 9th edition.

On each of the day, the rally consists of three competitive stages, and transport or liaison sections. On any given day of the rally, crews will be expected to cover between 390 – 500km (combined distance of stage and transport). Classic rallying is all about endurance, and crews should get ready for mammoth stages of up to 160km long.

Raju Chagger, the Clerk of the Course for the ninth edition of the marathon raid rally, said he was happy so far with all the preparations for the world famous event.

 “I am also happy with the deal with Safaricom, which will go a long way to help the team with most of the expenses. We have done almost 12,000kms of checking the route for the event which will kick off from the Sarova Hotels in Mombasa,” said Chagger.

The East African Classic Safari Rally has been running every two years since 2003 and is open to two-wheel drive, naturally aspirated rally cars built before 1985.

The rally is set to cover more than 4,500 kilometers in Kenya and Tanzania over nine days