Africa - Safari convoy heads to Tanzania
Dec-17 2003 / 17:45 EST

The eighth day of the Kenya Airways East African Safari Rally proved to be a tough one for many of the competitors, but the all-Kenyan crew of Rob Collinge and Anton Levitan continue to lead in their Datsun 240Z. Behind them, Frederic Dor has maintained second position, despite on-going suspension problems, and Stuart Rolt is still within striking distance of his Porsche team-mate, in third.

Forty two crews left Nairobi early this morning and the route covered two countries, three sections and 177.80 competitive kilometres. The opening section took the crews over 50.25 kilometres from Corner Baridi to Kajiado, immediately followed by a 61.40 kilometre run from Ulu to Olkejiado. The Kenya Airways East African Safari Rally convoy then crossed the border from Kenya into Tanzania, via the bustling Namanga border post, and rounded the day off with a twisty 66.15 kilometre section from Makuyuni to Jeshini, plains awash with Warusha warriors with decoratively chalked white faces. The crews then spent the overnight halt in Arusha, in the foothills of Africa’s highest mountain, the famous Kilimanjaro.

Rob Collinge powered through today’s sections, setting fastest time in both CS19 and 20 to increase his lead to 43 minutes and 26 seconds. The Datsun driver’s comfortable lead ensures he can ease the pace in the closing days, the reason he dropped time in the final section of the day.

“Everything’s been good for us today; the first section was very fast and we had to resort to sign language in the car when the intercom failed,” commented Collinge. “We’ve backed off a bit today because our lead is good, but you never know… all sorts of things can still happen. Tomorrow will be a telling day.”

Frederic Dor and Didier Breton have continued to struggle today, the French Porsche 911 crew now forced onto standard competition shock absorbers after breaking all their optimum specification units. In the opening section the crew lost nearly six minutes to Collinge and a further four minutes in the following test. After service however, Dor reverted back to an old set-up and posted fastest time in the first section in Tanzania this afternoon, clawing back 36 seconds in 66.15 competitive kilometres.

“We’ve driven a bit slower today but we have worn out so many shock absorbers,” commented Frederic. “Stuart (Rolt) passed us in the first section but then when we changed the shocks again, the ride height was too high and we had to go slowly. A difficult day.”

Tuthill Porsche team-mates Stuart Rolt and Richard Tuthill have therefore narrowed the deficit to Dor, but the Britons are still 26 minutes 48 seconds adrift. The pair was never out of the top four all day and is now focused on reaching the finish in Mombasa on Friday.

“The sections have all been good for us today, but it was very hard work for Richard in the final section where the navigation was so difficult; he did a brilliant job,” commented Stuart. “Our plan now is to look after the car, not do anything stupid and make sure we get to Mombasa in third position. Richard has helped me enormously and also built the car; it’s great having someone who knows it so well. He also keeps me under control!” added the 2003 post-historic Welsh Rally winner and son of Tony Rolt, winner of the 1953 Le Mans in a Jaguar.

Andrew Barnes and David Lewis are now piloting the leading Ford, the British pair fourth overall in their Escort after Iain Freestone lost 14 minutes 38 seconds in the final section and dropped from fourth to fifth overall this evening. All the more impressive is that Barnes and Lewis are contesting only their fifth rally and are beating considerably more experienced crews in one of the world’s toughest events. Their team-mate and business colleague John Lloyd, who got the pair into the sport, is seventh overnight in Tanzania, with Bruce Field sixth.

Tanzania will host the Kenya Airways East African Safari Rally convoy for day nine of the event, the crews contesting three competitive sections totalling 252.18 kilometres, the second longest leg of the event. The route heads east from Arusha for one section on the edge of the Mkomazi Game Reserve, before bearing south through the Usambara Mountains, a section that has claimed many competitors in Safaris gone by and which decimated the field of entrants to the ‘Magnificent Seven’ finishers in 1963. After a tough penultimate day of competition, the crews overnight in Tanga, on the coast.

Leaderboard after Day 8

Rob Collinge Datsun 240Z 13hr 23min 09sec
Frederic Dor Porsche 911 14hr 06min 35sec
Stuart Rolt Porsche 911 14hr 33min 23sec
Andrew Barnes Ford Escort 15hr 03min 24sec
Iain Freestone Ford Mexico 15hr 09min 37sec
Bruce Field Porsche 911 15hr 12min 56sec
John Lloyd Ford Escort 15hr 36min 54sec
Ray Bellm Ford Escort 16hr 12min 07sec
Wolfgang Pfeiffer Porsche 911 16hr 19min 13sec
Anthony Ward Ford Escort 16hr 22min 49sec

DRIVER QUOTES – DAY 8

2. Bruce Field/Jan Thoenes – EAK/EAK – Porsche 911: “I was chicken in the first section, lifting off too much but it was real puncture country. The final section was a bit of a cock-up, but we just went cross-country! Fantastic fun and we gained a lot on Iain (Freestone), even though we lost a bit to the guys in front of us.”

3. Michele Mouton/Ana Goni – F/YV – Ford Escort: “The last section was terrible, very very difficult.”

5. Alastair Cavenagh/Carl Tundo – EAK/EAK – Ford Escort: “A reasonably good day by yesterday’s standards, but we lost third gear in the opening section.”

6. Iain Freestone/Rod MacLean – GB/GB – Ford México: “We really need more power on the long straights, but the car’s been fine and I can’t complain. The last section was a disaster; we were lost for hours!

7. Ray Bellm/Pasquale Lanzante – GB/I – Ford Escort: “We caught John (Lloyd) in the second section and just as we were about to take him, a tyre blew. We managed to change it in a record three minutes though.”

8. John Lloyd/Paul Amandini – GB/GB – Ford Escort: “The crew did a huge service on the car last night, replacing the gearbox, steering, front suspension and clutch, such was the excitement of our day yesterday!”

11. David Kedward/Crispin Sassoon – GB/GB – Ford Escort: "The fuel pump broke in the opening section.”

12. Josef Pointinger/Wolfgang Nolscher – A/A – Ford Escort: The crew suffered a broken rear axle in the opening section and then drove direct to Arusha for the overnight halt.

14. Richard Martin-Hurst/Tony Devantier – GB/NZ – Rover V8: The Rover arrived at the end of the section leaking water and with a suspected broken head gasket. “The car kept cool for the rest of the day though and we’re still here. It could be a head gasket, we’re not sure.” Co-driver Tony Devantier actually has a vested interest not only in their Rover, but 12 other cars in the event; the New Zealander prepared the wiring looms for a number of the Porsches, Escorts and the Mustang!

26. Balaraj Matharu/Timothy Mammen – EAK/EAK – Datsun 1600SSS:
“We really tried to break the car in the opening section!! It was rough and rocky and there was a big ditch at the end that caught us out. Fortunately there was no damage.”

31. SMW Murji/Mo Verjee – EAK/EAK – Peugeot 504: “We’d like a Porsche engine please! Everything was fine for us though, but we took it easy in the first section, despite knowing it well; it was very rough and rocky.”

35. Andrew Barnes/David Lewis – GB/GB – Ford Escort: “Navigation in the final section was very tricky, unbelievably hard and we were clueless at times! It was just a question of trying to follow tracks.”

42. Steve Pickering/David Lea – ZA/ZA – Porsche 911-6: “The opening section was a good one for us; rocky, but good. We took a hell of a hammering though; the car was bouncing around all over the place as we’ve got no shock absorbers.”

44. Fergus Robley/Rachel Robley – EAK/EAK – VW Beetle: The crew did not contest the competitive sections and met the convoy in Arusha this evening.