Safari end - Duncan wins in a Mustang

We keep short on the stages today, as there has been no change in the top10 any more. Though this is not a sign that long rallies turn boring after a while. One has to note that the gaps on a Safari Rally are bigger than on European events. Also the huge variation of conditions and challenges means that the next day can favour totally different drivers and cars to the previous. As an example Duncan’s lead of 7 minutes going into the last day – if Loeb had that lead in a WRC event we would all switch off in boredom – in Safari this is a tiny gap! Only on this occasion it was leader Duncan who extracted another nearly 3 minutes in only one day, even though 2^nd placed Björn Waldegaard had a trouble free day. Or as another example how tiny a lead of 7min is, 3^rd placed Steve Perez lost 12min in only the last day.

   

Day10 set off from Taita Hills Lodge rest halt with a reverse version of the stage leading into the Taita Hills on day2. In fact you can compare day10 Taita Hills-Mombasa to day2 Mombasa-Taita Hills. On day2 we had one Mombasa savannah stage followed by a long stage leading into Taita Hills and one stage that proved extremely challenging fully Taita Hills. Today the first stage was a reverse version of the middle stage of day2 with then 2 rather than only 1 stage in the Mombasa delta.

   

In fact the opening stage started and finished like the day2 middle stage (finish in Mackinnon, not Mäkinen, Road), but the middle section of this stage has been diverted up North and then turning into a long straight, such the stage was longer and a lot faster.

   

First victims were everybody in the top5 bar the hot top2 battle. But it wasn’t major technical drama, just unlucky with punctures. 3^rd placed Steve Perez/Datsun 260Z: “"We go the whole rally without a puncture and then we have, not one, not two, but three on the last day ! We had two on the first section and then, when we had one on the second section after replacing the spares in service, there was no service before the third so we had to go through that with just one spare and many prayers to the Pirelli Gods.” Perez 3^rd place however was rescued when 4^th placed Gerard Marcy reported the same. Marcy actually showed immense speed that made him deserve more than 4^th place, altogether he won 5 out of 24 stages, but a day3 (Kilimanjaro-Usamabaras-Black Cotton) incident put paid to that: “Where we had the problem that cost us so much time it was not really a case of the road being rough, just a hole in the edge of the road that twisted the rear suspension out of line and prevented our continuing. And the punctures. We had two more today, one in the first and one in the third section.” 5^th placed Thomas Flohr/Porsche 911 also could not profit from the dramas ahead, as he too had a puncture in this same 1^st section of the day!

   

Geoff Bell in the underpowered, top speed 155km/h Datsun 180B really was the tragic figure of the rally. He swapped between 4^th & 5^th places for 8 days until he crashed. And he still suffered from this accident damage. The Datsun is so much bent that today on the 1^st stage they discovered a suspension bolt rubbing on a wheel and they drove really slowly through this section to prevent a puncture. No more than 10^th place is no reward for this heroic drive.

   

The next 2 stages both were in the Mombasa delta. To call them savannah stages is not really fitting, the area has grass and fields, is fairly level, yet dusty and technical stages as the land becomes flatter, getting closer to the ocean and reaching Mombasa from the South.

   

The main CS23 (2^nd section of the day) drama happened to French Datsun 240Z driver Michel Pucheros and his local navigator Nicolas Patel: "We had a puncture on the second section today and stopped to change the wheel. Unfortunately some of the wheel nuts worked loose and we broke a couple of studs. This meant we started the third section with only two nuts holding on the rear wheel. Thus it was necessary to stop twice in the third section to check that those two were still hanging on."

   

Last stage dramas then for Thomas Flohr and Crispin Sassoon in their Datsun 1600SSS, who had a rear shock absorber fail and complete the stage with this! Kenyan Crispin Sassoon has competed on many Safaris as a navigator, starting from 1985, though his biggest success is probably coming 3^rd on the London-Sydney marathon 2000 alongside East African Safari Classic organiser Mike Kirkland in a Peugeot 504.

   

The very last sec drama happened to Andrew Siddall & Mike Borrisow, who finished 11^th overall on the Roger Albert Clark Rally two weeks ago in an original Roger Clark Works Escort. Here 25^th in a rented Datsun 260Z they found less of a friend than the famous LAR 800P Escort turned out to be: “For me it was really a rally of two halves - when the car went well it was great but when it didn't it was terrible. Mind you, she had a last little go at us today - at the end of the last section she just died. We were towed away from the time control and bump started it - we think the battery failed."

   

There are two very experienced local Datsun 260Z crews that had more drama throughout the event than deserved. Stefano Rocca and Piers Daykin, both front running team members on recent IRC Safaris too, were pre-event favourites, even seeded at N° 4, but they never ever seemed to get a clean run. Only now they showed their worth. It was the last stage of the rally when they collected their first stage win!

   

Also the troubled Jayant Shah/Lofty Drews/Datsun 260Z crew had a trouble free day for a change. However the team still ended in 23^rd place (and Rocca 16^th). A shame, Lofty Drews won the Safari in 1973 alongside Shekhar Mehta in a 240Z, 3^rd in 1974 in a Lancia Fulvia with Sandro Munari, 2^nd in 1975 in a Lancia Stratos again with Munari, followed by 4 podium finishes with Rauno Aaltonen in Datsuns and lastly a 2^nd in 1984 & 4^th in 1985 with Rauno in a works Opel Manta 400. Also Jayant Shah is no news for Lofty Drews, as he retired twice with him with technical problems in a Nissan 240RS in the Safari 1986 and a Nissan 200SX in 1990. However Shah/Drews came 7^th in WRC Argentina 1985 in a 240RS.

   

Usually Jayant Shah’s navigator of the 1980s, including his two top5 Safari finishes (5^th in 1982 Nissan 160J & 4^th in 1983 Nissan 240RS) was Aslam Khan. Khan tried himself as a driver and enjoyed a trouble free last day to finish the 2009 edition 29^th in a Ford Escort Mk1 RS1600.

   

There were also a lot of European star navigators on this event, and all were full of praise at this new old experience. Top finisher of this category was Staffan Parmander, former regular navigator to Kenneth Eriksson in a selection of Toyota, Mitsubishi, Subaru and Hyundai works cars. The pair won 5 WRC events together. Here Parmander came 3^rd alongside British Kick Vodka owner Steve Perez in a Datsun 260Z. Parmander, who also turned 52 today (1^st December): "We had a little drama but it was a fantastic day. And it's a great birthday present to finish on the podium on the Safari. For an event like this finishing on the podium means the same as a win." His chauffer Steve Perez also sees this Safari Rally as the greatest challenge: “This result means more to me than any of the rallies or championships that I have won in the UK - and it was certainly much harder work!"

   

Stéphane Prevot is known for sitting alongside Bruno Thiry in works Ford Escort Cosworth, Escort WRC and later Subarus, later he co-crove Francois Duval and only this year (2009) we found him in a Citroen C4 with Chris Atkinson and Evgeny Novikov. In the Safari 4^th in Gerard Marcy’s Porsche: "This was an interesting and unique experience, very much like the old Safari rallies of the 1970s and 1980s, and I saw for the first time what these East African roads are like in the wet !"

   

Denis Giraudet is another star navigator name. He sat alongside too many drivers to name, maybe most noteworthy Didier Auriol, with whom he spent many, many years in WRC with Toyotas, later Seats and Peugeots, but also with Armin Schwarz in Toyotas, he also contributed to Juha Kankkunen’s WRC title in 1993. Here he came 30^th with Hardev Singh Sira in a Ford Escort Mk1: "This was my first time on the Classic, the next best thing that one can do to having competed on those original old Safari rallies. We were under no particular pressure here so it has given me a chance to know what this rally is like an learn how it works. Maybe there will be the chance to come and do more. One thing I saw was that the original road book was very good and that the additional information coming from the 3-day car that we were given was very bad."

   

Leaves some of the unusual cars. Or first another comment about the rally itself by 9^th placed Porsche 911 driver Paul-Eric Jarry: "I got the impression that the rally this time was much quicker and rougher that when I did it last in 2007. It's a shame because it is a real pleasure to drive fast on most of these East African roads and it is not so nice to have to really take such care in those rough places. But there was enough to enjoy - and we did."

   

A rare trick was delivered by the first Philippino crew to go international rallying, Martin Aguirre/Luis Mirasol, 17^th in a Porsche 911: “We can honestly say we've not had a single puncture. We would like to do more rallies than this one but for the moment our only future plans involve a drink and a bath." It was noticeable that the Filipino pair drove very gingerly across the holding area so as not to ruin their punctureless reputation.”

   

Over to a more unusual type of Porsche car, Jean-Marc and Patricia Bussolini in their Porsche 924 came 22^nd and felt their car got better and better for this event after its initial problems on the first day. "Very enjoyable and enjoyable because it is different. We never imagined that it could be such a variety of conditions. We had of course some problems in the beginning but now the car is going very well and we had no problems today."

   

Another car that got better and better throughout the event, a very unusual car is the Citroën DS21 Proto of Frédèric Daunat and Guy Chriqui. It is the only DS group5 Proto still existing, a car that finished 6^th in Portugal 1972 and Daunat drives it as he works for the Citroën conservatory. They came 28^th with this unusual car with hydropneumatic suspension. “It seems now the car is going perfectly - perhaps we need another ten days to really get going!"

   

The Mitsubishi Lancer of Ekya & Zahir Shah is the only full ladies team on the event and finished 32^nd after another trouble free day. They would have been in the top30 had it not been for a troubled day out of Amboseli rest day halt.

   

In total we had 46 starters and 37 cars at the finish, finishing last was the Renault Alpine A110 by former F1 star Eric Comas. He had all the troubles, but the sister car of Charles Firmenich proved a low and light A110 can work in Kenya, as they finished 34^th but where close to the top20 until persistant clutch problems on the 2^nd half of the event. Well, to be honest Renault came with a huge team of works Alpines to the Safari in 1974 & 1975, but the cars were eventually outpaced by the R17 Gordinis, but neither got a real top result.

   

Mercedes tried a major African attack with 280E (W123) and 450SLC (W107) models, but mostly they were beaten by the much lower profile and cheaper operating Peugeot team. Mercedes’ best Safari result was 2^nd for Hannu Mikkola (450SLC) in 1979. This time the car was driven by another former navigator, Marzio Kravos (9^th in 1986 in a Lancia Rally 037 driven by Greg Criticos). The team parked up after radiator and driveshaft troubles coming back from Rift Valley into Nairobi and eventually, despite missing stages being allowed, not crossing the finish ramp resulted in becoming a certain non-qualifier.

   

So once again, like in the classic David vs Goliath battles, the Mercedes 450SLC was beaten by the Peugeot 504 Coupé. In fact the 504 of Jean-Louis Juchault and Steven Funk hit troubles in the same 150km Rift Valley stage as the Mercedes, but this wasn’t the car’s fault when the team collided with a tree at rather high speed. Although missing some sections since, the car was fit enough for the last day and cross the ramp in 33^rd place. "We had great fun but there was just one too many trees for us, or one particular tree. The shame was we had got into the groove and had just set eighth fastest time on the section before it happened." They got a very warm reception from representatives of all the charities that they had been supporting during the event and anyone wanting to know more can visit www.race4change.org.

   

The top battle however was throughout the event (except day1, when Marcy/Prevot led) firmly between Björn Waldegaard and Ian Duncan. And either way it would have been a historic victory.

   

The World Championship was created in 1973 as a manufacturer series, obviously. When in 1979 a drivers title was added, Björn Waldegaard became the first WRChamp in history after a tight battle with his Ford team mate Hannu Mikkola. In fact it was the only time except Loeb/Hirvonen 2009 that the drivers title was decided by one single point. That was 1979, but when Björn joined Ford from the 1977 season (starting with the RAC 1976), the Safari that year was his first big victory for the famous Waldegaard/Ford combo. Björn then went on in his later career to win the Safari 1984, 1986 & 1990 in Toyotas and again in 2007 in a Ford Escort (a Mk1 RS1600 rather than the Mk2 RS1800 he had for 1977). This makes Björn Waldegaard the only driver other than Shekhar Mehta to win the Safari 5 times. A victory in 2009 would have made Björn the sole record holder, but it wasn’t to be.

   

Björn, now 66 years old, won 5 stages out of 24 and bullied Ian Duncan throughout the rally. He was lucky to even start. If you wondered about his high seeding, N° 47 for the winner of the last edition, his original car did not turn up and he drove the car entered for Iqbal Sagoo, who then turned a navigator. Originially Björn wanted to start in a Porsche with his son Mads, who was sitting alongside him in 2007. Björn at the finish: "so many people in Kenya seem to know me. When we came out of that last stage, there were so many people on the main road - and they all wanted to shake my hand. We are happy to be here and have enjoyed the rally very much. We did have one last problem on the first section today when the car jumped a bit high at a ditch, we landed sideways and swiped the back end against a bank neatly removing the rear bumper. In fact it has been a bit tricky today as, after yesterday and the repairs last night, the exhaust is quite noisy so I have had to back off to hear what Iqbal was saying even through the intercom. But the car was good and we are here in second place so maybe even the driver was not so bad either ."

   

Ian Duncan winning was also historic. For a start he is one of the locals’ big favourites. As part of the Toyota works team he won the Safari Rally 1994, the last Kenyan to win it as a WRC scoring round. Though 2009 is only his 2^nd Safari victory. Maybe even more amazing his car: A Ford Mustang Mk1 (1966-1972) with a 5.0 V8 engine. The Mercedes 450SLC heroics proved that Safari is not about big engines and power at all. Plus Ford did not help, this whole project was the idea and the car prepared by Ian Duncan and his navigator Amaar Slatch, all private money, private brain storm. Ian Duncan promises it is pure coincidence that the colour scheme of this classic Ford Mustang reminds strongly of Henning Solberg’s WRC colours. First he wanted the car to be bright orange and only later Good Year turned up as a sponsor and asked sections of the car being graced in different shades of blue. Ian entered the Mustang for the first time in 2007, when following top4 times he gave up after only 1/3^rd of the distance when a number of minor problems threw him well out of contention.

   

Ian at the finish: "That was a long way. We're so glad to have done it and won this rally at last especially after the disappointment with the Mustang last time, two years ago. Really we are so pleased and we owe so much to my guys who prepared - and serviced - this car. Great event."

   

That this time a Ford Mustang won must move the history books for Ford. Even though Peugeot and maybe Datsun are more historically known for winning many Safaris, Ford must have won it now in a larger selection of cars than anyone. The Ford Cortina Mk1 & Mk2 always seemed to come 2^nd to the Peugeot 404s. Have you ever heard of a Ford 20M RS? It is an enlarged German version of the Cortina of the late 1960s, probably more comparable in size to the British Ford Zodiac, which was never sold in Germany. When this car won in 1969, it was this rare car that eventually ended many years of utter, nearly boring Peugeot 404 domination at the event. Then came the 1972 Safari victory for Ford. It was not the first rally success of an Escort Mk1 RS1600 by a long way, but it marked Safari history because the Ford Escort Mk1 made Hannu Mikkola/Gunnar Palm the first European crew to beat the Kenyans/Tanzanians at the Safari after 20 years of trying! Then in 1977 we had Björn Waldegaard/Hans Thorszelius win in an Escort Mk2 RS1800. And of course Colin McRae won it twice in a Ford Focus WRC. But back to the Mustang, RWD, 5.0 V8 power, what an unusual car. Ford never won the Safari with an American style muscle car, attempts in the Ford Falcon 4.7 V8 bitterly failed. In fact I do wonder if 1955, when D.P. Marwaha won in a Ford Zephyr, was the only time so far any car of this category ever won the Safari.

   

Final Results:
1^st – Ian Duncan EAK/Amaar Slatch EAK,   Ford Mustang,   18h09m02s

2^nd – Björn Waldegaard S/Iqbal Sagoo USA,   Porsche 911,   +9m52s

3^rd – Steve Perez GB/Staffan Parmander S,   Datsun 260Z,   +1h10m07s

4^th – Gerard Marcy B/Stéphane Prevot B,   Porsche 911,   +1h35m33s

5^th – Thomas Flohr CH/Didier Breton F,   Porsche 911,   +2h25m49s

6^th – Graham Alexander AUS/Ross Runnalls AUS,   Datsun 260Z,   +2h52m53s

7^th – Steve Troman Gb/Calvin Cooledge GB,   Porsche 911,   +3h04m30s

8^th – Jean-Pierre Mondron B/Dan Erculisse B,   Porsche 911,   +3h06m03s

9^th – Paul-Eric Jarry F/Jean-Francois Andreoil F,   Porsche 911,   +3h08m46s

10^th – Geoff Bell ZA/Tim Challen EAK,   Datsun 180B,   +3h38m45s