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Press Release : 015

November 26, 2009

Amboseli, Thursday afternoon

With two fastest times on the three competitive sections held today, Ian Duncan in his Ford Mustang has extended his lead over Björn Waldegård's Porsche 911. Duncan's lead is now just over five minutes, the large gap partially due to the fact that Waldegård suffered a puncture on the first competitive section this morning and lost four minutes, twenty five seconds to the Mustang in a single section. On the other competitive sections, the two leaders continued to spar for position and though the situation has changed considerably, they are still in first and second places and half an hour clear of third place man, Steve Perez in his Datsun 260Z. In his turn, Perez is comfortably clear of Geoff Bell in fourth place with his Datsun 180B. However, Bell and Graham Alexander in another 260Z are in a similar position to the two leaders with just less than five minutes of penalty separating them.

The Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic Rally 2009 has now reached its halfway point and the rally crews will take a well-earned day's rest tomorrow while their service crews try to repair and correct the damage inflicted by East African roads in the last four days. Starting on Saturday morning, there are another four days of rallying each with three competitive sections before the rally reaches its finish on the coast at Mombasa on Tuesday afternoon. At the moment, it is still anyone's event but, with the rally crossing back into Kenya this morning, the ever-popular Ian Duncan is now on home territory and increasingly the crowds' favourite.

Ian Duncan and Amaar Slatch had just minor problems with their Ford Mustang today. "A bonnet pin catch broke and we nearly had the bonnet wrapped round the windscreen but we improvised something to keep it closed with a bungee strap. That first section that we did first on Tuesday afternoon was much drier now but also more sandy towards the end. Just about everything is full of dust including our starter motor which is why I asked the guys to push me back into place in the parc fermé. How's it gone today? Well, you know when it goes well, it goes well - and when it doesn't ..."

Björn Waldegård and Iqbal Sagoo in their Porsche 911 hit a problem early in the day. "We were just a third of the way into the first competitive section and we had a puncture. I saw the rock and tried to run round it but unfortunately the rear wheel just caught it and that was it. The other two sections were also a bit of a problem and we had a wrong turning in the second one that was down to Iqbal, but then I made a mistake and almost spun on the last one. We went sideways and off into the bush and hit a small tree head on. It was pretty small and I can't see anything on the car so everything must be OK." It was at this moment that the lady from the Amboseli conservation group came up and reminded Björn that last time he was here two years ago, he planted a tree with Ana Goni, Stig Blomqvist and Yvonne Mehta and he should make time tomorrow to water it. Perhaps he should also now plant another tree?

Gerard Marcy and Stephane Prevot suffered a puncture on the second competitive section in their Porsche 911 and dropped some time. "I really don't know why it happened - we didn't seem to hit anything to cause it. In the third competitive section I thought there was a problem with the car - maybe another puncture - so we stopped to sort it out and I think we lost a minute. Perhaps we could have got fastest time on that section." They did in fact get fastest time despite stopping.

Several crews reported difficulty with the road book notes on the second section but Steve Perez and Staffan Parmander with their Datsun 260Z were one of the few to actually experience a real loss of time as a result. "There was one slight bend over a jump which was said to be a 'care' but it really deserved a big 'caution'. If we had gone straight that would have been the end of the rally but we got more than half-way round, went up the bank and got stuck. Geoff [Bell] stopped to help but by then we had the local populace organised and got off. But then just before the end of the section, a strut broke and we had to change it on the transport section. It was bit hard to make that control on time but we did it. We are very, very happy to be here in Amboseli. You almost feel that God is on your side when things like that happen. And, oh yes, on the third section, it said 'humps' and, can you believe it, there were two camels crossing the road and we had stop or hit them."

Graham Alexander and Ross Runnals in their Datsun 260Z reported no problems. "That first section was drier but lot more chopped up towards the end in all the sand where the rally had been through two days before. The only incident we had was when we drove a bit off course in the third section and a branch whipped off the nearside mirror."

Geoff Bell and Tim Challen are still going very well in their Datsun 180B. "Today was very good - excellent in fact. The only problem we have are some holes in the floor under the seats which let in a few unwanted elements." Bell also gave an update from Wayne Kietswetter who rolled on Monday and damaged his shoulder. Wayne's text read: "I have a grade 3 dislocation of the AC joint, the end of the collar bone has torn away from the shoulder blade. I may also have some rotator cuff damage, but will only know in two weeks when the swelling has gone down and they can do the scan. Meanwhile I'll be going to the farm to rest!" Sounds technical and painful.

They came in to the Amboseli control almost ecstatic. It was evident that Thomas Flohr and Didier Breton had had a good day in their Porsche 911. "Perfect day, wonderful, all we need to complete it is two cold beers. About the only thing that worried us was a drift that we didn't find in the notes for the third section where we stood the Porsche on its nose and ripped off the front right-hand side bodywork."

Charles Firmenich and Jean-Pierre Martin brought their Alpine Renault A110 into Amboseli direct from the end of the first section. "Well, we have all the new parts of the car now but it is still very harsh on the suspension. In the first section, the sand towards the end was just unbelievable. We lost the clutch when it filled with sand and then we were stuck just 4 kms for the end when the car bottomed out in the sand. It took us a long time to get free and only with help and our tow-rope. So with no clutch working, we decided to come straight here by the road used by the service crews - but even that was quite a road !"

Jonathan Savage and Gavin Laurence in their Datsun 260Z looked relatively happy. "We just could not get those road book notes to fit in the second section. It almost made me lose interest so I gave up and just drove on what I could see, so we were a bit slow in there. But the other two were fine. And the car is running sweet as a nut so - bring on the rest of the rally."

Quentin and Russell Savage, the brothers in the Datsun 180B, confessed to a mistake in the first section. "We had decided to take it steady but somehow managed to spin it on that mud coming into a village and got stuck. Fortunately there were Masai guys on hand to push us out so it wasn't too bad. The other two stages were great. We have no problems that we know of with the car but you can be sure that it will get a good going over tomorrow."

Steve Troman and Calvin Cooledge with their Porsche 911 had no problems with the car. "But the road book was not good in that second section. However, the first section was drier than before and the last section was really good."

The Kronos Racing Porsche 911 of Jean-Pierre Mondron and Dan Erculisse were concerned about their rear suspension. "It is a little tired and I think some new pieces will be needed for tomorrow in the service. The last section was great, real Safari motoring but the other two were more reminiscent of Paris-Dakar - rocks and sand. And the road book in the second stage was no help at all until we tried using the original unchanged notes and then it was better."

Disaster struck at the Porsche 911 of Paul-Eric Jarry and Jean-François Andreoli that had been lying sixth overall. "We broke the front suspension in the first stage. There was big contact and then shortly after, the front wheel bearing failed. We took the wheel off and did our best to correct the problem but it was useless so we just drove out of the section at 20 kph, losing maybe a total of an hour and twenty minutes. Then the service fixed it and we drove the last two sections OK." Richard Tuthill, the man running these five Porsches said "That was some big bang they gave that hub. I have never seen one like it. The bearing also failed because the wheel was so far out of line."

Aziz Tejpar and Andy Nagi in their Ford Escort Mk 1 also had a 'bit of a bang'. "It was 8 kms from the end of the third section when we bumped something, the wheel was taken out of my hands - again ! - and we shot over this tree stump or what ever. Luckily it went between the radiator and the front wheel missing both but hitting the track-rod end and bending it. Andy did some bush mechanics on it and we got the wheels relatively straight to get to the end of the section and back to Amboseli. We were very lucky - but now the car needs a good service and my wrist needs more therapy !"

Stefano Rocca and Piers Daykin might well have believed that their Datsun 280Z's store of bad luck had run out on Wednesday but they were to be proved wrong. "The differential went big time just as we came out of the second section and we had to call up the service crew from down the road to change it. It was not a quick job and we took almost an hour of road penalty. We could take consolation in that we did some respectable section times today. But I tell you that these big Datsuns with no power steering are hard work in places, so it is not too bad for an old guy approaching sixty."

Samid Gehlot and Asit Patel driving their Ford Escort Mk1 had a bit of exercise today. "We had a puncture in that sand on section three and we couldn't jack the car up in the sand so we had to push it out before we could change the wheel. Hard work ! And the boot lid had been trying to launch itself into outer space most of the day, breaking fastening pins. But the car is good."

Richard Arrowsmith and Norris Midwood are also Ford Escort mounted and came into Amboseli unable to reverse. "Transmission has been our problem ever since we hit a rock in the first section and opened the track of the front wheels. We pressed on but when we got to the sand with the wheels like that we bogged down. To get the car out, we had to jack both side and put wheels under it to be able to manhandle it to one side of the track. Of course, the sand and dust all got in the clutch while were trying to free the car and the clutch is now just about inoperative which has made everything very difficult. We did most of that last section stuck in third gear and praying that we did not come to a halt anywhere but the finish."

Michel Pucheros and Nicholas Patel had a generally good day in their Datsun 240Z. "The only problem was we came across car 33 (Arrowsmith and Midwood) stuck in the first competitive section and when we tried to go round them we got stuck and lost about half an hour getting out. The other two sections went well but there is a worrying noise from the rear axle - hopefully it can be fixed tomorrow."

Albert Michels and Patrick De Connick also had a much improved day after their encounter with a bus yesterday in their Porsche 911. "Everything was perfect today - a real dream. And today it was much easier to see. As for the bodywork of the car it will have to stay like that for the rest of the rally - we just see it as a special model."

Marzio Kravos and Renzo Bernandi had an excellent day in their Mercedes 450SLC. "Today we had no problems at all which is excellent. We're still nursing it though after our earlier problems. We haven't been able to reinforce the front suspension linkage arms yet and there's lots more work to be done on the car on the 'rest day' tomorrow. But it all held together today and it was more comfortable than most cars on those corrugations on the road coming into Amboseli."

The somewhat modified Datsun 180B of Roddy Sachs and Steve Harris had gone strongly after missing a day's rallying. "The only problem with this car now is that dust comes in through all the holes made when it rolled." Certainly the appearance of its inmates seemed to verify that and the little teddy bear, a gift from Roddy's daughter, now reinstated in its place of honour at the foot of the windscreen inside the car, looked as if it might appreciate a shower before starting again on Saturday.

Again a picture of people of people enjoying themselves immensely were the crew of the Porsche 924, Jean-Marc and Patricia Bussolini. "Nothing broken, no punctures, incredible roads, only pleasure today."

The Filipino crew of Martin Aguirre and Luis Mirasol driving a Porsche 911 in only their second rally continued their steady progress. "Unfortunately we got a bit lost towards the end of the first section. We made a diversion off to one side to miss all that sand and then could not find out way back onto the proper track. One really positive thing is that we have not had a single puncture as yet - and we hope to keep it that way."

Kishen Bhanderi and Keith Henrie gave an update on what happened to them yesterday in their Datsun 1600SSS. "We hit two mudholes, went off the road and took out a few trees. It bust the radiator and the fan and we lost the steering but luckily the engine was okay. However we didn't get in until midnight last night and the service crew worked on the car to get it back into shape. Today we just tried to get it home safely."

Peter Stoehr and Crispin Sassoon had no real problems in their Datsun 1600SSS. "It all went quite well. We had one big fright on the first section when suddenly out of the dust headed for us was the big Citroen and we only saw one another at the last moment and avoided a rather nasty accident."

Jayant Shah and Lofty Drews encountered some familiar problems today in their Datsun 260Z. "Our day started with two punctures on the first section and then all the sand got into the clutch and it locked solid so we couldn't disengage. We changed the clutch before the second section and drove to the start only to discover that the sand had wrecked the cooling fan and we now needed to change the cylinder head gasket and fit a new fan. Not a really good day for us."

Andrew Sidall and Mike Borrisow had a clean first competitive section in their Datsun 280Z. "But in the second section the engine started to overheat and on the third section we had to back off again because of overheating."

Minesh Rathod and Schin Sumaria suffered two punctures in their Mitsubishi Lancer. "One was on the first competitive section and the other on the second section. But it's all part of rallying and otherwise we had a good day."

Erik Comas and Ravi Soni were back in the rally today in their Renault Alpine but only did the second competitive section. "It went okay but we did hear a noise from the rear axle which might be the gearbox mounting. We didn't do the third section because the other Alpine (Firmenich and Martin) had come back and we wanted to see what their problem was. We also did lots of adjustments on the dampers on the transport sections and tested these so hopefully we can apply the adjustments to the cars for the last part of the rally."

Aslam and Farhaaz Khan didn't have the best day in their Ford Escort Mk 1. "Twenty kilometres from the end of the second competitive section the clutch started slipping and then 5 kilometres from the end it seized. We managed to drive it out in first gear and then changed the clutch but missed the next competitive section. The third section went okay but the car was running a little hot."

Nick Mason and Adrian Grinstead had an exciting day in their Datsun 240Z. "We hit a huge sandbank and knocked off the front suspension two thirds of the way through the first competitive section. We held it together as best we could with ratchet straps and came out of the section but missed the second section getting it fixed in service. The third section was going well until we hit a gully and broke a wheel but we managed to change it and get back on the road."

Jean-Louis Juchault  and Steven Funk were very pleased that they finished all three competitive sections in their Peugeot 504 Coupe. "We had a puncture in the second competitive section and lost a rear window. But we finished all three sections and now we're in the groove those top guys better watch out!"

Ekya and Zahir Shah had an improved day after yesterday's problems with the fuel pumps. "The first section was a bit tricky as we were stuck behind another competitor and on the second section we had a puncture. On the last section we think we set a good time. But there will be a lot of work to do on the car tomorrow: the gears keep jumping out and the rear differential is making a bit of a noise.

 

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East African Safari Classic Rally 2007
No.10, Metropolitan Estate
Chiromo Access Road (Off Riverside Drive)
P.O. Box 14910 - 00800
Nairobi
Kenya
Tel: +254-733-730556
Fax: +254-20-4440346
Email: info@eastafricansafarirally.com
Website: www.eastafricansafarirally.com