EA glory in sight for TZ driver

Mombasa. Tanzania’s Jayant Shah was among drivers who went over the ramp when the eighth edition of the East African Safari Rally was flagged off here on Thursday.

Shah, the 74-year-old Tanzanian oldie, is one of East Africa’s most accomplished rally drivers who is returning to the competition for the umpteenth time.

Mombasa governor Hassan Joho flagged off the rally at Sarova Whitesands where 30 cars embarked on the day one 500 kilometres journey through the Old Tukai Lodge in Amboseli National Park.

Shah, who is partnered with co-driver Ravi Chana, off the ramp at 17th position, said he was happy to be back for the regional safari and expressed optimism to perform well.

He is one of the very few competitors who have participated in all editions of the Safari Classic Rally from 2003 to date. Lofty Drews was his co-driver from 2003-2013, and Ravi Chana stepped in from 2015.

The partnership resumes for this year’s rally, where the duo uses a Porsche 911 prepared by Tuthill Porsche.

Shah and Chana tested their Safari Classic Porsche 911 on the Kobil Kilimanjaro Rally in Tanzania and survived the demanding conditions to finish fourth overall.

Team Tido’s Stig Blomqvist of Sweden was the first off the ramp yesterday followed by Kenya local drivers Carl “Flash” Tundo, Baldev Singh Chager and Ian Duncan .

Other Kenyans to watch include Raaji Singh Bharij and Rajay Sehmi who will be unveiling Kenya’s first ever locally build Porsche 911. Driver Bharij actually started his mainstream rallying career with Rajay and owes lots of his success to their partnership.

The first stage of the rally was a technical 94.07km run through busy villages all the way from Kasava to Samburu. Mackinon -Taita Grid was the second high speed run through the wildlife Savannah plains and wash-aways totalling 90.53km

Last but not least was the 23.29km which led the cars through to the first overnight stop at Olive Tukai Lodge.

This year’s Safari Classic Rally includes a number of significant tweaks to the rally regulations, which have encouraged many new European competitors to ship their cars to Africa for the nine-day event.

Power steering is now permitted on the grounds of comfort and safety, and the cut-off age for cars has been stretched to 1985.

While four wheel-drive and turbocharged cars remain ruled out for safety and balance of performance reasons, extending the age range brings new cars to Safari, including the Group B Mazda RX-7 of respected Le Mans and Dakar Rally competitor, Frenchman Philippe Gache.

The Kenya Airways East African Safari Classic Rally 2017 is co-sponsored by Safaricom, Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), Vipingo Ridge, Dodhia Packaging, Copy Cat Group and Internet Solutions whose.

How they started yesterday

1. Stig Blomqvist /Matias Edelson (Team Tido-Porsche 911/Sweden)

2. Carl Tundo /Tim Jessop (Triumph TR7/Kenya)

3. Baldev Singh Chager (Kabras Sugar Racing-Porsche 911/Kenya)

4. Ian Duncan (Ford Capri/Kenya)

5. Geoff Bell (Best Whyskey-Datsun 260Z/South Africa)

6. Jorge Perez Companc (Viking Motorsports-Ford Escort RS1800/Argentina)

7. Richard Jackson (Porsche 911/Britain)

8. Raaji Bharij (Intra Africa Insurance-Porsche 911/Kenya)

9. Onkar Singh Rai (Kabras Sugar Racing -Porsche 911-Kenya)