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AMERICAN ODYSSEY

Some people's itinerary to get to the Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic Rally looks to be almost as arduous as the rally itself. Tim Mammen, who was born in Kenya but currently lives and works in the USA, has set out from Boston to London last night and, all being well, should be on a direct flight to Nairobi today. There he will meet up with his Datsun 1600SSS and co-driver, Kishen Bhanderi and they will then drive down to the start in Mombasa, a distance of some 540 km (340 miles).

The Datsun is the same model that finished first and second on the 1970 East African Safari with Edgar Herrmann and Joginder Singh. Tim has driven both the last two Clasic Safaris in this car. In 2003, he finished thirteenth overall and won his class, but in 2005 the car gave a lot of problems and he was lucky to finish. On those two occasions, his co-driver was Jaspal Matharu and the team manager was Kishen Bhanderi, but for 2007 they have swapped roles.

The Datsun has been subjected to a major re-build and its engine has been prepared in Australia by Stewart Wilkins so that part of the car will have travelled even further than its driver before starting the rally. It is to be hoped that both engine and crew travel the whole length of the rally and return to Mombasa on December 3rd having experienced no more than the usual hardships of an East African Safari Classic.

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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