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Mombasa, Sunday evening The first competition section has run and, with no parc fermé tonight, some of the competitors are back and have work to do on their cars. Björn Waldegård was the first to arrive back at Whitesands with Iqbal Sagoo in their Porsche 911, the same car with which Sagoo did the 2007 Safari Classic and which has now been fully rebuilt by its original owner, Jiri Koteck from the Czech Republic. Said Waldegård, "The stage was a bit Mickey Mouse, too many corners and unlike the normal Safari roads, but it suited a Porsche. There is noting wrong with the car and, apart from a quick check over, it's ready to go tomorrow." Unofficial timing gives Waldegård fourth fastest time over the stage so he will start fourth on Monday morning. Graham Alexander with his Datsun 260Z was the epitome of Australian cool as he climbed out of the car that he had just put inside the top ten times. "No problems, it all went well in there and we are looking forward to tomorrow." Fastest man through the stage was Gerard Marcy in his green Tuthill Porsche 911 sponsored by a strong Belgian beer, Duvel. "There were some soft places in there with sand. I thought my tyres were all on very low pressures or something as there was no acceleration and no braking, but it was just the feel that surface gave. Otherwise, the car is perfect and we are happy to be starting first." Roddy Sachs also mentioned the sandy surface and said that it was sufficiently slippery that he had been off the road - in a minor way - twice. "But the real problem was when an overhanging branch caught the master electrical cut-out switch on the rear of the bonnet of the Datsun 180B and everything just stopped. It took us a moment or two work out what had happened." A man whose car was not suited to the tight section was Marzio Kravas in the massive Mercedes 450SLC. "It was not ideal by any means. An automatic gearbox, a big car and a sharp bend every 100 metres and it was a lot of work for little progress. Anyway, the car came through OK and we are all ready for those faster stages in the rest of the rally." Paul-Eric Jarry in another Tuthill Porsche 911 had a steady, trouble-free run but Steve Troman in another of Tuthill's cars found it "a bit tough and I understeered off at one point which cost us a bit of time but I suspect that in the grand scheme of things, thirty seconds will not matter too much in a week's time." Another Porsche with no problems was that of Belgian Albert Michels who commented that "it was a nice stage, almost enjoyable in a Porsche. I am looking forward to tomorrow." One of the quickest cars through the section was the Datsun 280Z of Stefano Rocca who tied for second fastest time with Ian Duncan in the Ford Mustang. Rocca claimed that he had been "prudent of that slippy sand. I remember that I rolled in stuff like that last year in first gear so I am much more careful now. I think I have learned my lesson ! Great day, nice section, bring on tomorrow." In the Alpine Renault camp, Charles Firmenich came in looking pleased with his steady performance. "Since they softened the suspension yesterday and dropped the tyre pressures, the car is much nicer to drive and I really enjoy it. I don't try too hard and try to be kind to the car so it is kind to me. But for Eric [Comas, the team boss and driver of the second car] it is not so good. My car was finished last and was flown out so it has all the latest transmission pieces. Eric's is still with some old parts. He broke three drive shafts testing in France and now he has broken another one now in the section." Comas eventually got his car out of the section and the Comas Racing mechanics hope to have it ready and fit for the morning. Jean-Pierre Mondron in another Belgian Porsche 911, this one prepared by his own company Kronos Racing, winners with a Peugeot 207 and Kris Meeke of the 2009 International Rally Challenge, is benefiting from the considerable rally experience of his co-driver, Dan Erculisse. "I enjoyed that section and I feel it really suited the Porsche. But I am learning Africa, indeed I am eating quite a lot of it with all thus dust ." The Datsun 180B of Geoff Bell was commendably fast through the section. However, he said that "the car is good, it's only the driving that is a problem. I had two minor excursions from the road and once very nearly rolled it in a tight corner. What it needs of course is another 100 bhp and we would be right there !" One of the very few people with punctures was Jayant Shah. His Datsun 260Z had one at the rear on the driver's side but it came only a few kilometres from the end of the section and he and Lofty Drews decided to drive out of the section without changing it. "You see, it was not Lofty's side of the car so I took full responsibility. Everything else is OK and things look good for the rest of the rally." The British pair of Nick Mason and Adrian Grinstead got out of their Datsun 240Z looking rather more travel stained than many of the others. "I don't know how it gets in but the dust is just phenomenal. These slow sections it just comes in everywhere, even round the seal on the rear hatch. We need some quicker roads and then it will be better." Aziz Tejpar, who has lived in England now for some years and claims to be a genuine Essex man was the first Ford Escort to arrive back at Whitesands. "That was nice stage for a car like this. My usual rally car at home is a Subaru so remembering how it was to drive with just rear wheel drive is taking some time. And this was my first real experience of the car as I just drove for while on the farm roads before it was shipped. But it feels good and I think we shall stand a reasonable chance of being back here at the finish." He was delighted to learn that his efforts had put him inside the top ten. Father and son, both in Datsuns but Dad, Jonathan Savage has a 260Z and his two sons, Quinten and Russell - Quinten is the eldest and drives - have a 180B. But this time, the son was fastest with Dad taking a rear seat in the classification by almost half a minute - but still in the top ten. One crew that looked as if they and their mechanics were in for a long night was Jean-Louis Juchault and Steven Funk. Their Peugeot 504 Coupé had bent its rear axle during the section and they were now faced with a major intervention to straighten it and be able to carry on. The Tuthill armada seemed to have one question mark as there was an unconfirmed report that Martin Aguirre/Luis Mirasol had encountered fuel supply problems with their Porsche 911. With the results now in, there is confirmation that Gerard Marcy and Stephane Prevot are leading with the fastest time through the section in their Porsche with Stefano Rocca and Piers Daykin second some seventeen second behind with their Datsun 280Z and they are just one second ahead of the amazing Ian Duncan in his Ford Mustang co-driven by Amaar Slatch. Fourth is Bjorn Waldegard and Iqbal Sagoo in their Porsche 911 and the young brothers, Quinten and Russell Savage fifth with their Datsun 180B. The full results are attached and this will be the starting order for Monday morning when the rally leaves Whitesands to cover three competition sections before arriving at Taita Hills. The starting order is not precisely as per the section times as, for safety reasons, the Stewards have moved up some drivers who have encountered a problem today but are known to be fast drivers and thus it is safer not to start them behind a lot of slower cars. Mombasa, 19:30
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