Champ Duncan in town for rally

By Feverpitch Reporter

"Panic, pack, go,"- this is what Ian Duncan said as local and international crews headed to North Coast for this weekend’s Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic Rally event.

But those who know Duncan would not believe he was telling the truth when he talked of panic!

However, Duncan was excited when he heard the Classic Rally neither demands high-necked, long-sleeved, long-legged fire-proof unmentionables that are excellent at keeping one overheated nor the overalls plastered with decals and messages.

Needs helmet

Duncan is packing pairs of shorts, a reflection of the dress of days of yore! He still needs a helmet for how else could he keep the intercom microphone and ear-phones in place?

The bright orange Ford Capri does not get packed. One can see it all if one goes out to watch the rally. You should be able to read his sponsors’ names: CYN Energy and Race4Change, the latter a worthy cause, the former a great example of how a woman can win in a man’s world.

Yasmin Mughal, CYN Energy’s Chief Executive Officer, however, expresses strong doubts that her support for Duncan would stretch to changing her lipstick and nail-varnish to match the car!

Going to the Coast is a command many would be happy to comply with.

In Duncan’s case, one wonders how he will do it. Definitely not in ‘the rally car.’

Duncan and his partner Amaar Slatch return to the Safari Classic to defend the title they won two years ago in a Ford Mustang.

The Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic Rally takes place from Saturday to November 28 and starts and finishes in Mombasa.

As the clock ticks towards the start, drivers are bracing themselves for some of the most demanding rally sections in modern times.

Competitive section

The longest competitive section of modern rallying are going to be run this year, of which two are in Tanzania and others in the Kerio Valley and Taita Hills.

They are a classic example of a living hell for drivers, spectacular view for spectators and a filmmakers’ paradise.

The shortest section planned by Kenya Airways is as a ‘motorsport day out’ for Nairobi residents will be 2km long at the East Africa Portland Cement’s Blue Triangle Quarry, Athi River to be run on Sunday 27th November with Car No. 1 starting very early at 10:30am.

Besides the 4,100km of rallying, drivers will tackle a 154km competitive section — the longest in the ten-day marathon which is the equivalent of a national rally event in Kenya and even longer than a normal European rally counting towards the world championship.

The section is between Lake Manyara via the Loibosot escarpment and back to Arusha overlooking the Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania which will welcome the drivers into Tanzania.

The Kerio Valley and the 50km Taita Hills sections make up three classical stages synonymous with the old-version of the Safari that put Kenya on the world rally map in the 1960s and 1970s."