Latest News

The Eleventh Hour

Iain Freestone tested his Ford Escort during the Mombasa Rally held last weekend. Unfortunately he failed to finish with mechanical problems.

With the Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic only days away from its start in Mombasa, competitors are still trying out their cars and skills.

Iain Freestone, who has competed and finished in the top ten on the last two Safari Classics, took his Ford Escort out on the KCB Amana Account Rally held last weekend around Mombasa. Initially, he was quickest of the two-wheel drive cars but later succumbed to a mechanical problem. Freestone ruefully commented that "You never expect to have problems but, if you are going to have them, best to do it here than on the KQ Safari Classic."

Another entrant on the Safari Classic who had a rallying setback recently was Bert Dolk from Holland though this was nothing to do with his Safari Volvo. He travelled to northern England with Jan Berkhof in his Alfa Romeo Gulia Sprint to compete in the Rally of the Tests, a re-creation of how the pre-war RAC Rally used to be run. This was the car and crew that had won the Rally of Tests in 2006 and the car that won the Tulip Rally in 2005 with Jan's son, Erwin, co-driving. However, this time clutch failure sidelined them on the first day. Dolk's co-driver for the KQ Safari Classic will not be a Berkhof as Peter van Egmond will be in the hot seat of the Volvo 122S but young Erwin will be there co-driving for Kurt Vanderspinnen in another Volvo, this one a 142S.

For press enquiries, contact
E-mail: safari.press@btinternet.com
News will be issued daily during the event on www.eastafricansafarirally.com
Photography is copyright free and can be found at www.mcklein.de all downloads of high resolution photos of the daily action are free of charge.
John Davenport Tel: +44 7973.334297
Francesca Davenport Tel: +44 7976.918968