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Blomqvist, Waldegard to test drive on local terrain

Access Kenya Director Jonathan Somen (left) presents the Motorolla Radio Canopy to East African Safari Rally Director Surinder Thathi. The company has come on board as internet service providers (ISP) for the event.

TWO of the worlds greatest exponents of yesteryear are set to conduct a test programme in Kenya ahead of this year's East African Classic Safari Rally. Historic Motorsport Swedish duo of Bjorn Waldergard and Stig Blomqvist will assess the settings of the Ford Escort Mark 1 1974 models that will be shipped in from Britain early next month.
Surinder Thathi, the Classic Safari event director said he is in negotiation with the two former world champions on possibilities of testing during the KCB Safari Rally in March. The KCB Safari Rally which is a round of the African Rally Championship (ARC) and the Eurosport-backed International Rally Challenge (IRC) series coincides with the intended test programme. Their initial plan was to test behind Ngong Hills, Rift Valley and Kajiado but we have suggested to them the viability of using one of the cars as route openers for the KCB Safari Rally, Surinder said. Waldergard and Blomqvist were the first to confirm participation as entries opened last September.
But Belgian Porsche 911 driver Gerald Marcy was the first foreigner to test in the country in early December. Crews want to ensure that their cars are in sound mechanical shape before embarking on the grueling journey in December, said Surinder.Historic Motorsport Limited displayed their brand new Ford Escort Mark 1 during the January 11-14 Autosport International Show at the NEC Birmingham from where East African Safari Classic Rally was well represented.
Mark Solloway from Historic Rally Sport Limited had also displayed the Ford Escort Mark 1 used by Gerard Marcy and Alain Lopes from Belgium in the 2005 event.
Marcy was leading the event at one stage prior to electric gremlins.Surinder said the Classic Rally will run on a very similar format to the event in 2005. It will be 9
days long with four days of rallying, a rest day and another four days to the finish. It starts and ends at the Coast of Mombasa from November 25 & December 3 traversing through Nairobi, Naivasha, Eldoret, Amboseli Taita Taveta, Arusha, Tanga and back to Mombasa.
Meanwhile, Access Kenya has come on board as Internet Service Providers (ISP) for the EA Classic Rally. Jonathan Somen, the Company Managing Director while presenting the Motorolla Radio Canopy (for internet connectivity) said they are proud to come on board as co-sponsors. Access Kenya will provide resourceful internet connectivity for journalist to send in their reports to all corners of the world.