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Aslam puts final touches to his Classic Rally preparations

Aslam Khan, the former ace rally navigator will be in action in Mombasa this weekend as he puts final touches to his preparations for the Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic Rally.

Khan will swap seats to test a Ford Escort Mark1 for the marathon 10-day event to start from Mombasa on 24 November. He was one of the biggest names during the 80s as navigator to Jayant Shah.

It will be his first event in a Ford model after having spent most of his life around the Datsun models.

The former champion navigator, who will be celebrating his third Classic rally this year, will be navigated by his nephew Imran Khan. Imran will also be in action over the weekend to guide Susheel Shah in a Subaru Impreza.

Briton Ian Freestone will also use the Coast Rally as part of his testing programme to test his Ford Escort. He will be assisted by Crispin Sassoon

Contrary, Ian Duncan, the former Safari Rally champion and one of the favorites for an outright victory in the KQ-sponsored Classic Rally, will not be in Mombasa for the rally.

Instead, he will spend more time at his workshop in Karen to prepare his Ford Mustang for the Classic Rally.

Duncan, known for his extravaganza to produce some of the most competitive and spectacular rally machines in the local scenes, has taken his exploration even deeper by preparing a Ford Mustang for the KQ-sponsored.

The car, which is yet to hit the road, will be powered by 5600cc engine and able to produce 400bhp at the highest peak of the throttle. The Robs Magic/Good Year-sponsored Mustang will be driven by the rear-wheels with a four-speed gear-box.

Duncan will be the top seeded Kenyan driver at number five among the list of international renowned drivers representing over 16 countries worldwide.

Rob Collinge, who won the 2003 when it was sponsored by Kenya Airways and then defended it successfully in 2005 driving the Datsun 260Z, has opted not to defend the title for the third time running.

Duncan is bound to face stiff competition from one time Safari Rally team-mate Bjorn Waldegaard, Stiq Blomqvist, Gerard Marcy among others when the rally kick off with a short spectators stage on the streets of Mombasa on Saturday 24th November.

Apart from Duncan, other locals will include Jonathan Savage in a Datsun 260Z at number 21, John Rose (Datsun 240Z) at no 25, Stefano Rocca in a Datsun 260Z at number 27, Ben Muchemi (Alfetta No 40) and Robert Kaugi (Toyota Corolla No 59) among others.

Safari Rally idol and one of the pioneers of the World Rally Championship, Waldegaard of Sweden is seeded number one in a Ford Escort.

His team-mate and former World champion, Blomqvist will follow him in the third position driving a similar car.

The rally proper will get under way on the morning of Sunday 25th November at 6am. A rest day in Amboseli National Park on the foothills of the famous Mount Kilimanjaro will be one of the attractions.

The finish will be back in Mombasa on 3rd December 2007.

The competition will be divided into four days of rallying on each side of the rest day at the Amboseli National Park.

The highlight of the event will be the spectator stage at the East African Portland Cement Quarry on its entry into Nairobi.

The stage was one of the most popular sections of the 2005 event when thousands turned up to see old but some of the most spectacular racing cars of our generation.