Last week, after the start of the East African Safari Rally Classic in Kenya and Tanzania, it looked like a Porsche would finally win what is regarded as the toughest rally in the world. And, it did happen but it was a close call in what many old hands say was the toughest, wettest and muddiest Safari Rally since 1977.
Bjorn Waldegård and his son Mathias Waldegård took the checkered flag in a 1971 Porsche 911 prepared by Tuthill Porsche in the UK and sponsored by Steven Funk’s Race4Change charity.
In the first few days it looked like the battle for victory would be between Ian Duncan, a five-time Kenyan champion rally driver in a Ford Capri, five times WRC champ Stig Blomqvist in a Ford Escort, Geoff Bell in a Datsun 260Z and Grégoire de Mévius in a Kronos Vintage Porsche 911. At one stage or another each won stages and took the lead for a while.
By the middle of the 2,500-mile, nine-day event the Waldegårds had built up a healthy 40-minute lead, but their rally nearly came to an end after they slid into a truck stuck in mud and damaged the roll cage. This dropped them to second place behind Bell, but he too suffered problems and Waldegård regained the lead two days before the finish. The podium was rounded out by Bell and Blomqvist.
It was a very satisfying win for Waldegård as his first ever (pre-WRC) International rally win was in a Porsche 911 S on the Monte Carlo Rally in 1969. Later he finished second in the 1974 Safari Rally in a Porsche 911. He eventually won the Safari four times, once in a Ford Escort RS1800 and three times in a Toyota Celica, before retiring from the WRC series in 1992. Recently he has competed in several classic rallies, including a win in the East African Safari Classic Rally in 2007, driving a Ford Escort. How appropriate that Waldegård should finally give Porsche its first win in the Safari, 42 years after his first major victory in a similar vintage 911.
Related posts:
- 2011 East African Safari Classic Rally – Will a Porsche 911 Finally Win?
- Porsche Leads East African Safari Classic Rally
- Travis Pastrana Going on Safari
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