Chris Musumba
6 July 2008
column
Nairobi — THE JUST-ENDED SAFARI rally lived up to its billing as one of the toughest events in motor sports globally.
Of the 56 cars that were flagged off for the 670 km endurance race held in the Elementaita and Athi River areas, only 40 finished the race.
No world champion worth his repute brags of being a rally ace if he has not conquered the Safari.
It is for this reason that Nakuru-based wheat farmer Lee Rose driving a Mitsubishi Evo9 was elated at his win.
After years of futile attempts, Triton team driver Lee Rose, navigated by Piers Daykins put the jewel in the crown when he won the Kenya Commercial Bank-sponsored Safari Rally. Rose's win has boosted his chances of clinching the national rally series for the third time having won the Kenya National Rallying Championship series in 2003 and 2004. But it is the Safari Rally victory that he will cherish forever.
Rose won all seven stages in the Athi River leg, with his closest rivals Baldev Chager co-driven by Farak Yusuf in a Subaru Impreza N12 (also sponsored by Triton) and KNRC winner Carl "Flash" Tundo and Tim Jessop hot on his heels. Rose held on to win in a time of 2:54.48 hours, while Tundo recovered from a poor start in Elementaita to topple Chager from the second slot. Tundo, who is sponsored by Dalbit Petroleum Company, clocked 2:55.59 hours ahead of Triton's Baldev Chager, who settled for the third position in a time of 2.56.34 hours.
It was evident that local drivers had an advantage over foreigners, going by the table standings at the end of the race. The best placed foreign driver was Japanese Hideaki Miyoshi, co-driven by Hakaru Ichino in a Mitsubishi Evo9 in fourth place. Miyoshi was however happy to be the top in the Africa rally Championship (ARC) category.
Navraj Hans navigated by Frank Gitau in a Mitsubishi Evo8 car won the Young Africa driver category to move up the standings in the battle for the Pirelli prize of Ksh650 million ($9.84 million) to race in the World Rally Championship while Uganda's speed master Emmanuel Kato was the only Ugandan who finished. Riyaz Kurji and Jas Mangat bowed out.
The Safari Rally is serving as the third round of the Africa rally Championship and most of the 14 foreign drivers were battling it out for points for the continental title. Defending champion Muna Singh navigated by David Sihoka were seeded first but were curtailed by the dust and their Subaru Impreza N11 developed a gearbox problem at the rough Soysambu/Elementaita stage. Singh was leading the ARC series before the start of the KCB Safari Rally after good performances in Dar-es-Salaam and Kampala's KCB Pearl of Africa Rally.
It was also a frustrating experience for young driver Jon Williams navigated by Pierre Arries as their Volkswagen Polo S-2000 developed suspension problems. Also knocked out were Jas Mangat and Kashif Sheikh of Uganda with gearbox problems, while Olivier Costa and navigator Jean-Francois Ruhashyankiko of Rwanda suffered engine problems.
THE ALL-FEMALE CREW from South Africa of Lola Verlaque and sister Megan Verlaque failed in their second attempt at the Safari Rally, as a total of 12 drivers in the main event, five of them foreigners, also failed to finish the race.
The Safari Rally, which was run as a support event of the International Rally Challenge - a second cadre of the global rallying governing body FIA competition - is expected to return to the nine- round events next year. This will increase the number of foreign drivers and increase the challenge as Kenya seeks to return its premier rallying competition to the World Rally Championship.
The government has committed itself to seeing the country regain its lost status at the FIA World Rally Championship calendar. The last time the Safari Rally was held under the WRC status was in 2002, but poor organisation, cumulating debt to the global body and safety concerns forced the FIA to look elsewhere to stage the competition.
HOWEVER, THINGS ARE looking up as local organisers struggle to keep pace with the dynamic demands of the WRC and have even lured lucrative sponsorship from KCB who have pumped in Ksh105 million ($1.59 million), in the past three years. A new sponsorship deal is due to be negotiated for the next three years, with a hope of seeing the Safari Rally back to the WRC.
While flagging off the cars, Kenya's Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka underscored the need for the Kenya Motor Sports Foundation to work towards regaining the lost status of the Safari.
The government has been one of the major supporters of rallying, donating Ksh5 million ($75,000) last year in the successful quest for Safari to join the IRC nine-leg series, which is a second-tier event from the WRC.
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